7 Ways to Get the Scoop on Companies

As part of a continuing series on job search and career planning, Part Three contains seven great resources for researching and getting the scoop on industries and companies. Frugality is all about being resourceful and this is a great list of resources for researching potential industries for employment and learning about the various companies that you are targeting, or interviewing with. Research is critical in any job search or career change as you can never be too prepared.

If you already have a job, these are great resources for researching the competition in your industry or you can use them to research companies for sales leads.

1. BusinessWeek Online – Company Research

Search over 42,000 public and 322,000 private companies worldwide. Find stock quotes, news and press releases, financial data and key competitors. Research compensation, biographies, and board relationships of key company executives.

2. Career Guide to Industries

The Career Guide to Industries provides information on available careers by industry, including an overview of the industry, working conditions, employment, occupations in the industry, training and advancement, earnings and benefits, employment outlook, and lists of organizations that can provide additional information.

3. Find Articles.com – Now Super-Powered by BNET

A great news and article search tool that allows you to search by most popular topics, publications or by key categories and industries.It’s helpful to find the latest news stories published about a company.

4. Forbes -Lists

Lists of everything imaginable – best small companies, best big companies, fastest growing, top private, world’s biggest and more.

5. Hoovers Online

A quick one-stop reference for business information: industry overviews, company directories, Fortune 500 lists and more.

6. The Inc. 500

Quickly get information on the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. With a quick click on Top 100 Lists you can drill-down and get all sorts of statistics on the top 100 fastest growing private companies.

7. Newslink

Easily search for news articles on the web on any given company, industry or topic. The site also has state and market links to every major media outlet: magazine, newspaper, TV and radio for easy access and on news with the U.S. and beyond.

Please let me know if you have other great resources for researching companies. Remember, knowledge is power and the more you know … the more prepared you will be.

Living Frugal Tips 7 Ways Series:

Part One: 7 Ways to Improve Your Job Security

Part Two: 7 Ways to Kick-Start Your Job Search