Research Companies

Prior to interviewing for a job and accepting an offer of employment, you will want to conduct some research about the organization you are considering. What are its products and services? Who are its customer and competitors? Where are its various offices located around the world? What does the annual report say about the stability and mission of the company?

The following web sites provide a great deal of information about various companies and industries. Many also include career trends articles, salary information, message boards and discussions groups, and a variety of tools to assist you in your job search. You should also take a look at organization's own website or print materials.

Our Career Services Library at 201 Nassau Street offers print resources useful in employer research. In addition, the Princeton University Library system has immense resources, both in print and online, to assist with organization and industry research. The library has put together a useful guide to using their Career Resources. A reference librarian can also assist in finding these materials.

Researching Your Future, a feature on JobWeb, provides great articles on how to research employers as well as links to various publications and their "best companies to work for" lists.

CareerSearch, a tool that Career Services subscribes to, allows you to research employers by industry, location and keyword and download company and contact information.

Company and Industry Information

Hoover's Online is one of the most respected sites, that provides timely and detailed information on over 50,000 public and private companies. (Subscriber access is available through the Princeton library.)

Wall Street Journal Careers - A fabulous site for career trend articles, job search advice, salary information, and other career-related information.

WetFeet.com - Research careers and industries, get job search advice, and read employment trend information. FREE WetFeet insider guides to various careers, companies and industries are available here.

Vault Online Career Library - Provides excellent career and industry information. Many Vault Guides and Company Profiles are available for FREE to download here.

Industry Research Desk provides links to U.S. and international industry home pages in over 30 areas

Business.com offers news, research, and contacts for thousands of public and private companies.

PR Newswire provides full-text news releases from public and private companies and organizations.

Symplicity is currently one of the largest providers of information on organizations that recruit on university campuses. Use their Employer Profile and Snapshot features.

Lexis-Nexis provides millions of news articles about all topics, however you can search for the organization you're interested in to see when it's been in the news recently. (Subscriber access is available through the Princeton library.)

Career Guide to the Industries is an excellent U.S. government site with background information on many industries.

Bizjournals.com provides access to a number of city-specific business weeklies, most of which offer news on specific industries in that city. Click on your preferred city in the "News by Markets" drop down box.

Non-Profit Organizations and Government Agencies

Idealist.org is not only a great job search tool but also a way to research organizations. Use the Organization search to find out more about various non-profits.

FirstGov.gov - The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal - An exhaustive list of federal, state, and local government branches and offices, including links to individual agency websites.

GuideStar, the national database of U.S. charitable organizations, gathers and distributes data on more than 850,000 IRS-recognized nonprofits.

Financial Information

SEC EDGAR Database - You can review annual reports (10K), quarterly reports (10Q), or other reports such as 13Q ownership filings for public companies.

Yahoo! Finance pulls together such resources as Reuters, PR Newswire, Businesswire, and Market Guide to provide comprehensive information on public companies.

Financial Times is a great way to search for news articles and business reports of companies in the US and abroad.