Secrets to Researching Your Next Career Move

Secrets to Researching Your Next Career Move Secrets to Researching  Your Next Career Move   You all know that great research is a critical step in your job search process.  Duh, right?  So, why do career coaches,  like me,  continue to talk about it?  It is because we are  continuously surprised at the lack of research performed by job seekers every day.     I believe there are two main triggers  to  inadequately  researching your next career move:   One:  It’s easy to skip. No one will know, right?  Wrong!  It shows in your application, your networking,  and your interview (if you are fortunate to earn an interview).     Two: Job  seekers are overwhelmed with the amount of research available and the  hours  it takes to find the right research. So,  it’s too easy to say:  â€œI’ll do the research later, once I get the interview.” Sound familiar?     News flash:  To  compete for your next great career move, conducting upfront research on potential employers is mandatory.  Therefore,  I want to help you be more  efficient,  so you  learn to  conduct research early and often.     Research Tricks     With so much content and information available on the internet, there is no excuse for not researching  before  applying for a position and  before  an interview.  The challenge is to create and follow a research process for both applications and interviews that is effective. I have two tried and true tricks for  conducting  job search and interview research:     Trick #1:  Organize  the  research.  Over time, many job seekers will apply  to more than one  position within  a single  company. Organize the research by individual position but keep a separate file of the  entire company  that can be re-used each time a position is applied for.  Copy  over  the same  company  research into  the file  and add the research about each  specific job.     Trick  #2:  During the research, take notes, highlight key points,  and  don’t rely on memory.  Write down at least three key points for every  company or specific job.  Collect information  such as:  the  overall  industry, the  major competitors in that space, trends,  company structure,  etc.  Then refer to these three points  in  the  application or bring them into the interview, or both.   Mistakes and Excuses   I have observed  many  mistakes  and excuses  that job seekers  make  when it comes to  research.     Mistake #1:  Doing nothing at all. Not doing research prior to critical meetings such as phone screenings, conversations with a networker, phone interviews, or facetoface interviews.  Research must be done at  every step of the way.     Mistake #2: Not taking notes.  At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am  going to repeat it because  it’s so important:  Take notes  during  research  and  interviews.     Mistake #3: Researching the wrong information.  For example, when  interviewing with  a  company like,  General Electric, its not enough to say GE builds solutions in energy health and  home transportation and finance. Thats right from that companys overview page  and doesn’t show research effort.  Spend hours, not minutes,  conducting research.   Do  not  make the excuse that  there is no  time to research. The  company and the hiring manager are taking  the  time to write the job description,  identify  the skills theyre looking for, and interview  candidates.  To win  the job and show respect for their offer of employment,  you can  make the time.     What to  Research     Now that you know how important research  is, start by looking  up  information related to the  industry  at large, customer types, and competitors. Then delve into the company;  look up  their corporate structure,  and divisions, their  culture and values, and their products.  Research  online for top executive speeches, announcements, press releases issued, and articles written about this company.   As you research the organization’s  structure and  its  people, go to LinkedIn  to read about the hiring manager or any of the interviewers  that you may  with whom you may have  contact.  Every little bit of information helps.     In summary, the purpose  of all of this is,  of course,  to ace the interview  and land the job.  So,  whether its a phone  interview,  facetoface, or video  call,  be prepared by doing the upfront research.  Go get ‘em!     Join Dana Manciagli’s  Job Search Master Class ®  now  and get the most comprehensive online job search system available!