Part 13 (1/2)

Most job hunters think that reading a company's web site is all the research they need to do before a job interview-but they are wrong. Guerrillas know that it is only a start. In fact, it is not even where most guerrillas will start. When an interview is imminent, guerrillas will visit the company's web site and those of their chief compet.i.tors. Then they Google the company for: * Articles* Personal and corporate blogs* Company newsletters* Industry newsletters* News clips* Speeches or keynote presentations* Members.h.i.+p in a.s.sociations* Resumes of former employees

The research skills discussed in this chapter enable you to fully research any industry or company any time, anywhere, and show you how to direct-source jobs like a headhunter. These 2 skills give you the inside track. You will be able to fill your opportunity pipeline full of jobs that other job hunters will never know exist.

YOUR RESEARCH BUDGET

Time, not money, buys the best research. Most of the information you need is available free through your local library or online. There certainly is a lot of information that you can buy, but usually these reports are summaries of information you can find yourself with a little digging if you know where to look. You won't learn these techniques anywhere else.

The basis for all good research starts with understanding what you need to know. You want to understand the intricacies of the industries that interest you and how to best position yourself-not just into your new job-but also into a succession of jobs that you can parlay into a 5-star career. To accomplish this, do your research in 3 steps: 1. Identify which industries you want to, or are qualified to, work in.2. Locate which companies in those industries are of interest.3. Evaluate who has the authority in those companies to hire you.

Researching an Industry

To select an industry to research, you need to know which industries employ people with the skills you are marketing. Skills a.s.sessment can be tricky if you don't have access to a career counselor or career coach. Don't fret; the fastest, most effective way to determine which industries use your skills is to visit America's Career InfoNet online at prehensive tool of its kind on the Internet, and it is free. Not only will this easy-to-use tool tell you which industries use your skills, but when used in conjunction with the Industry Information tools that are available on the site, it will identify opportunities in your city or town that match your skills. Even if you already have a strong sense of what you want to do and where you want to do it, don't pa.s.s up the opportunity to consider all your possibilities.

Figure 4.1 Industry sectors. Industry sectors.

[image]

Industry Information

The Industry Information section includes a menu-driven tool that allows you to look inside an industry and see which sectors employ those skills. If we use the Industry Information tool to look at the construction industry, here's what we find:

First we select ”Construction” as our industry (see Figure 4.1 Figure 4.1). We find the subsectors shown in Figure 4.2 Figure 4.2: Subsectors defined. Selecting the ”construction of buildings” option, we get the choices shown in Figure 4.3 Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.2 Subsectors defined. Subsectors defined.

[image]

Figure 4.3 Industry group. Industry group.

[image]Selecting ”Nonresidential building construction,” our choices become those shown in Figure 4.4 Figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4 Industrial or commercial. Industrial or commercial.

[image]If you select ”Commercial building construction,” we get a summary screen that includes additional links to the following information:* Employment guides on the industry* An up-to-date report on industry trends* Profile of an occupation in this industry* Employment trends by industry and occupation* Location of employers in this industry If you select ”Profile an occupation,” the link will detail all the occupations that use your skills in the construction industry. Selecting ”Locate employers” takes you to another menu-driven series of screens that allows you to find qualifying jobs in any area of the United States.

To demonstrate the power of this tool, I performed a search on construction jobs in Anniston, Alabama. Figure 4.5 Figure 4.5 shows a screen shot of my search results. shows a screen shot of my search results.

Figure 4.5 Select employer. Select employer.

[image]