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Are you serious about landing the right job in retailing? If so, keep these two crucial points in mind:
- Don't mass-mail a one-size-fits-all resume all over town or online.
- Don't go on interviews knowing less about the employers than they know about you.
In order to target job openings and retailers compatible with your goals and expectations, research your market. Researching companies means you won't mass-mail your resume to every retailer in town. You can avoid applying to companies that wouldn't be a good fit or, worse, ignorantly taking a job that you'll hate, because you didn't know or bother to find out something important about the company before you started working there.
Knowledge Is Power
Research lets you narrow your job search's focus and save time by helping you:
- Determine which retailers you're interested in.
- Identify networking contacts within various companies.
- Gather information for writing targeted cover letters and resumes.
Additionally, research provides you with background intelligence on a company when on an interview. You'll impress the interviewer with your efforts to learn something about the organization before coming in. You should walk into the interview knowing:
- The company's line of business.
- The company's financial status (Growing or downsizing?).
- Expectations for the position regarding skills, education and previous experience.
- What you can offer the company.
Where to Look
How do you study potential employers?
- The Internet: Using search engines to find out if the company has a Web site is usually a good place to start. Many company Web sites have information about the firm's business, history, etc. While searching for the company's Web site, make sure to check out its competitors.
If you find a Web site for any related industry association or trade journal, you're liable to learn more about industry trends, pay scales, and upcoming industry conventions and seminars. Tapping into these resources can lead to valuable networking contacts.
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Public and College Libraries: Libraries are a great resource for publications, such as geographic, business, occupational, professional, industry and financial-status directories, business magazines, newspaper articles and newsletters. These tools can inform you about your target companies, and often provide names, addresses and phone numbers of people you can contact. Libraries may also house company reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission containing comprehensive financial reporting data.
- College/University Career and Job Placement Centers: Career and job placement centers typically maintain a library of corporate reports and other specialized career information not typically found in public libraries. Also, use alumni associations to identify graduates who are working in your target companies. If you are not a student or alum, contact the school to find out its policy regarding public access to such information.
- Call the Company: If a retailer is listed on a stock exchange (i.e., is public), call its investor relations department. Ask for a copy of its annual report, which describes the company's mission, successes, growth, history, goals and financial status. You can also ask for a press kit, marketing information and product/services literature. Usually, this information is free.
If a company is privately held (not on a stock exchange), call its public relations, communications or sales/marketing department. A private company won't have an annual report, but it will have product or services literature and perhaps a newsletter.
If asked why you want the information, say you're interested in learning more about the firm and thought it best to go directly to the source.
What About Networking?
Printed information and the Internet are useful, but they aren't perfect representations of the company. To thoroughly research the companies of interest to you, talk to people, using your contacts. Networking is the most personal way to find out about the company's culture, hidden job openings and what it's really like to work there.
