EMPLOYMENT RESEARCH

 

Rearching A Potentional Employer

The college subscribes to two databases that can be extremely helpful in gathering information about a potential employer. They are:


Business Source Premier
    ** Try the new, easier to use Business Searching Interface from the Indexes, Articles & More page **

    You can search by keyword, author, company, publication, industry and subject. You can also browse Company Profiles, Industry Profiles, Market Research Reports, and Country Profiles. You will probably have an easier time finding information about publicly held companies here. For private companies (especially smaller ones), you may have better luck searching Lexis/Nexis Academic. Note: Always check the dates on reports that you are using - you may want to cross-check other sources to see if you can find something more up to date.
  • Company Profiles: these are Datamonitor reports that will provide you with a company history, a description of the business, key employees, major products and services, product and service analyses, SWOT analyses, top competitors, the company's own statement about their business, and lists of locations and subsidiaries.

  • Industry Profiles: These will give you an overview of a particular industry, often by geographical segment such as the United States, Europe, or Japan. Industry profiles will introduce you to key issues and challenges that a particular industry is facing.

  • Market Research Reports: These are more in-depth reports that focus on some aspect of a particular industry such as market insights, emerging trends, etc.

  • Country Reports: These reports give background information on political, economic, investment, and social overviews of particular countries.
LexisNexis Academic
    LexisNexis Academic is the best place to search for newspaper articles, however there is also a very extensive business interface that you can access by clicking on "Business" in the upper left hand corner of the main screen. You can search for business news, industry or market news, company financials, company profiles, SEC filings. There is also an interface that provides a way to search for companies based on sales, net income, number of employees, and location (see Compare Companies). Note: If you were unable to find a company profile in Business Source Premier, try searching here since LexisNexis uses a different source (Hoovers).
Company Web Sites
    Company web sites can be a very valuable source of information prior to an interview. These sites quite frequently include a company history, product information, links to annual reports, phone numbers and addresses for facilities that the company owns, as well as information about how the business is involved in the community and a statement by the president. If you can't find a web site for a company, check the company profile in Business Source Premier or Lexis/Nexis.
Books
If the company produces a branded product - check...

Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands [Ref. HF 5415.3 .E527 1994]. This reference contains information on the origins and development of particular brands, marketing strategies, history of brands, brand extensions, and outlooks for the future. You can supplement what you find here with articles you find in the databases above.

To find out about trade organizations to which a company might belong - check...

Encyclopedia of Associations, 3 v [Ref. AS22 .E5 41st 2004] This reference is a directory of more than 22,000 national and international organizations with descriptions and contact information. Includes trade, business and commercial, legal, environmental, technological, cultural, etc. organizations and associations. This is a good place to search for organizations that can provide information about a particular product, service or industry. Trade publications published by organizations are listed as well.

To find more information about Minnesota businesses, check...

Fact Book: The Directory of Business in Minnesota [Ref. HG5127 .C66 2004] This volume contains business rankings, company profiles, stock performance, top officers, web sites, and much more.

Beyond St. Olaf

There are two business libraries in the Twin Cities that are worth exploring if you are unable to find enough information at St. Olaf. They are:

Business Library at the University of Minnesota
309 19th Ave S.
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(located in the basement of Wilson Library on the West Bank campus)

James J. Hill Reference Library
80 West 4th Street
St. Paul, MN 55102
(This library shares the same building with the main branch of the St. Paul Public Library in downtown St. Paul. It is open and free to the public although resources on their website are restricted to use at their site.)