Find Your Dream Job
by Targeting Employers

Target by Industry || Target by Location
Target by Whatever Interests You
Before Making Contact: Taking Employer Research to the Extreme!

This Google Custom Search will search this site plus select others that we feel will be helpful to you in your search for job and career information.

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Is it possible to actually have a Dream Job, one that makes you want to get up in the morning and get to your desk? Yes, it is. We all need a basic need for an income, but beyond this we all want to experience personal satisfaction in our work. It is what gives us pride in ourselves and leads us to find an opportunity, not just a job. You just need to decide what you want from an employer, then find the employer who meets your needs.

Keeping this in mind, you may need to take a temporary position so you can continue to pay the bills. But while you are doing this continue searching for an employer who matches your personal criteria. You are not limited by industry or location. In fact, your criteria can be anything of personal interest to you -- organization size, profit vs non-profit, policies regarding families, social consciousness, and much more. You can even opt to search for an employer in a specific location where certain personal interests can be satisfied. All you have to do is come up with a list of criteria to begin your search for that ideal employer.

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Target by Industry

This is how most of us begin our search. We select an industry that interests us, then we go about finding who is in that industry and make our connection. It is also one of the simpler ways to identify a group of potential employers due to the many business directories available online.

Unsure of how to focus your industry search because you are unsure of who can use someone with your skills? Try the Career Guide to Industries. While it focuses on industries, each industry profile includes a section titled "Occupations In This Industry". You can search this guide by keyword, such as your chose occupation, to see where you might fit. CGI also includes information on industry growth and decline, but these data are aggegated for the entire US. It is better to use the Industry Information from CareerInfoNet.org to find out industry growth and decline in your own location.

• Employer Locator from CareerInfoNet.org. Select "Search by Industry"
• Yahoo! Business to Business Directory
• Google Directory: Business
• The Fortune 500 - select the Industries tab to sort the list by that criteria.
• Unions, Assocations, and Societies, Rileyguide.com -- search for trade and professional groups representing specific industry areas
• Sites with Job Listings, Rileyguide.com -- many of the categories represented are also industry groups (such as Engineering). If I have a directory which is focused on one particular group, it is listed here.

There even more resources on our page for Business & Employer Research. Besides the Business Directories & Corporate Profiles, be sure to look at the Business Research Collections compiled by many college and university libraries. They links to good free as well as fee-based resources, some of which might be available to you through your local library.

You may think a search engine will help here, but it will return too many results. Stick with directories for now, even those compiled by the search engines.

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Target by Location

Do you actually know every employer located within 2 miles of your home? I doubt it. Besides the fact that the US economy is driven by small employers (many of whom fly under everyone's radar but the local taxing authorities), there are too many players on the field for you to know all their names. So while you are thinking "I want to go where the jobs are", the truth is the job may be just around the corner and you don't know it. This is why targeting an employer search by location is so useful.

Besides finding the job next door, it's possible to prepare for a job search due to a planned relocation -- you want to move closer to elderly parents or young grandchildren, or maybe you've always dreamed of living in Nashville TN and now is your chance to go! Starting to compile a list of employers before you go can help you prepare for interviews when you arrive.

These are some resources you can use to find lists of employers in specific locations.

• Employer Locator from CareerInfoNet.org. Select "Search by Location"
• Telephone Directories. Let your fingers do the walking through the virtual yellow pages!
• Newspapers, Magazines, and Headline News. Find local news and media outlets and check their websites for information on local businesses. For example, BizJournals, the business journal website of American City Business Journals, features over 40 metropolitan business journals from across the US. check the stories as well as the advertisers.
• ChamberofCommerce.com. Find the chamber representing the area where you live or want to live, then look for a list of members.
• State and Local Government on the Net. Yes, states and local government websites will help you find local employers. It's good for business and for the tax revenue.
• Local Information and Travel Guides, Rileyguide.com. Use these to find who is doing what where ever.

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Target by Whatever Interests You

Would you prefer a large, multinational employer or a small, family-owned business? How about an organization reknowned for its diversity initiatives, its social consciousness, or its efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle? Are you moving to provide a better education for your children or improved access to medical care? It is possible for you to do this. Just create your list of criteria and start your search.

• Business and Employer Rankings -- the Fortune 500, the Inc 5000, Working Mother's lists of best companies, and much more
• Resources for Diverse Audiences -- check the many categories here for directories and resources specific to you.
• Green Industry Associations, Job-Hunt.org. Professional and trade associations in this industry. Their members will be great potential employers.
• Local Information and Travel Guides, Rileyguide.com. Yes, you can search for a job in a specific location based on personal interests like "near rad skiing" or "Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses".
• Consider Relocating -- check for the best schools in the US, the least expensive place to live, and the highest concentration of medical specialists in certain fields.

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Before Making Contact: Taking Employer Research to the Extreme!

Many years ago, I had lunch with a woman who told me about an interview she had scheduled with a prospective employer. She was doing background research on the employer using newspapers from the company's home office when she discovered that the person with whom she was meeting had been accused of sexual harassment by several employees. It appeared the company transferred him across the country to quiet things down.

She canceled the interview.

There are many instances when things look good until you get inside the employer's offices. Then you wish you never accepted the job or even the interview. Here are some resources and ideas to use to dig deeper for information on a prospective employer.

Tip: This is a great use for your network! Ask if anyone knows anything about this particular employer! As one job seeker put it to me, "The organization's website tells me what they want me to know, but other resources tell me what I want to know!

One thing -- As you look at individual reviews from former employees, keep in mind that this person may have actually been fired for a viable reason, but he or she may not admit it. Don't take the word of one person. Gather as much as you can and sort it all, then make a reasonably informed decision.

• How to Research Companies -- This collection of tutorials will help guide you through researching an employer, including financial records.
• Business and Employer Rankings -- the rankings include categories such as "Best Places to Work"
• Newspapers -- As mentioned above, scan the news outlets local to employers to find out what kind of stories are getting press
• What it's Like to Work At.... -- a collection of insider guides to various employers.
• Search Engines -- yes, now you can hit the search engines! Search on the name of the employer, then start adding in terms like "news", "fired", "injunction", "lawsuit", and anything else you can think of to really dig it up.

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