Employer Research: Control where you work

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What if I told you that you didn't have to take every job that is offered to you? What if you could actually choose where you want to work? It may seem a little far fetched, but with a little research, you can be working for the company of your dreams! Too good to be true? Let's find out:

Know Your Needs

Understand what kind of company you want to work for. In order to really think about that, ask yourself the following questions:

• What core values do you have? 
• Are you philanthropic? 
• Do you do a lot of volunteer work? 
• Are you involved with any clubs? 

You get the idea. Once you can identify who you are as a person with your own emotional and mental priorities, the search to find a company in line with your ambitions will be much easier.

Research the Company
After you have found a few ideal candidates, start the research process. This is a company that is going to hire you to fix their issues; see where the issues lie. This may be difficult to do if the company is a private company but it is possible. Identify some of the following:

• Net Worth
• Bankruptcies
• Buyouts
• Acquisitions
• Business Units
• Core Products
• Customer Base
• Origin of the Company
• History of Values
• Country/State
• Glassdoor.com
• Reviews (biased and unbiased)
• Salary
• Benefits
• Interview Questions/Answers

Knowing a lot of the above will help to identify whether or not the company is a good fit for you. Of course, nothing is set in stone until the actual interview/job offer, but this is a good identifier if the company is going to move you to the next level of your career. After all, why else are you job hunting?

Know What to Offer
Now, you should have located the companies that align with your own morals and ethics, let's get started on what you need to be able to bring to the table:

• Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses
• Identify Your Trouble Areas
• Brainstorm Effective Possible Solutions
• How to Overcome/Strengthen
• Research Your Own Portfolio
• What Makes You Different
• What Kind of Impact Can You Make
• Know Why This Company Needs Your Expertise
• What Can You Bring to the Bottom Line
• Productivity Project Ideas

All in all, you want to make sure you know:

1. Who you are 
2. What you want
3. How to get it

We need to an effort to have solutions ready when we know where the company struggles. Perhaps you couldn't find any relevant information about the company. Think about what things you've done in the past to add to the bottom line. Did you streamline communications/operations/SOPs/ect... Be sure to know how to explain how/what you did to an interviewer. Essentially, every employer wants to know why they should higher you. Let them know what you can offer, what makes you stand out and how it will benefit the employer in the long run. Remember, you need to have a plan of action on how a basic execution would be when presenting solutions to your interviewer.

You're more prepared now. You got this. Remember--YOU EARNED IT!

This is part 4 of a 5 part series. Check out the next one here:
The Interview: The Ultimate Sales Pitch