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Researching Employers
Researching potential employers is essential to decide whether to apply to the company and to impress at your interview.
Why researching employers is important
Researching employers before you apply for a job can give you valuable insights, such as:
- their main area of business
- who their customers and competitors are
- current issues affecting their business such as market trends or government legislation
It can also help you to understand what the job you are applying for involves, and the skills and experience the employer is looking for.
1. Visit the employer’s website
Find out about their core projects and services, their clients and the sectors they work in.
Read up on their latest news and gain insight from any 'About Us' sections. It’s a good idea to make a list of any key dates/achievements, such as any industry awards.
Graduate employers often have a dedicated careers section. This may include case studies of graduates talking about their role and what they enjoy.
Find out the values and principles of the company. These can give you an insight into the type of candidate they look for. Try to show how your values mirror theirs in your application.
2. Get insights from company profile sites
You can find further insights about employers, such as their recruitment processes, on the following sites:
- Organisations - find profiles on top graduate employers. Some of these include application and interview tips.
- Employers - guides to over 100 graduate employers, with hints on how to pass their assessment processes.
- Industry: a sector-by-sector guide - industry insights and information on graduate employers.
- Graduate Employers
- Job sectors
- Gradcracker - aimed at science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students and graduates. Includes employer hubs with company profiles.
- Inside Careers - includes employer profiles for accountancy, insurance and IP firms.
- Companies House - find company information, such as accounts.
- Vault - this is a US-based site with employer profiles and rankings. There is also insider intelligence on salaries, hiring practices and company cultures.
- Newcastle University Library: Company information - access a range of resources with company information, including financial data.
3. Follow them on social media
Follow the company on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. This will help keep you up to date with their news, events and any current projects. These can often tell you a lot about the company’s culture and what it’s like to work for them.
Watch our YouTube tutorial for advice on using LinkedIn for research: Make the most of LinkedIn: 2. Researching companies.
4. Get insider knowledge
You can get advice from people working within the company or sector using LinkedIn’s Alumni tool. This allows you to find Newcastle graduates working in the career areas or companies that interest you. You can read their profiles and get in touch with them to ask questions.
Looking at employee review platforms can show what it's like to work for the company, and the types of questions used in interviews, these include:
Be proactive: attend events to make the most of any opportunity to meet employers. When you meet employers, ask questions to help strengthen your applications and interviews.
5. Keep up to date with the latest news
Employers often look for commercial awareness in candidates. Keeping up to date with news, current affairs, trends and important topics in your field can help with this. Make sure you understand the challenges facing the industry and what impact they might have on the employer and their clients.
Have a look at any news sections on the employer's website or search for companies on Google News and set up search alerts for updates. LinkedIn, professional bodies and the news sites below are also good sources of events, press releases or news articles that may be worth mentioning during your interview.
Online news sites
- Newcastle University Library
- Financial Times
- BBC Business News
- Reuters
- Economist
- Investegate
- NewsNow.co.uk
Our Explore Occupations pages also have links to industry specific news and professional bodies for a wide range of sectors.
Finding companies to research
You can use the following business directories and listings to find employers.
- MyCareer – click on ‘Search’ then ‘Organisations’ to find a list of companies that the Careers Service has had contact with. You can filter by occupational area and region/country
- The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers - register for free for the digital version. This highlights the top 100 graduate employers in the UK.
- The UK 300 - this gives student rankings on some of the biggest student employers, so you can find out more about them
- Prospects: Employer profiles - learn more about some of the biggest employers in the UK. You can filter by sector and location.
- Journal Top 200 – the 200 largest companies in the North East
- Yell.com - search yell to find businesses in different sectors
- Philip Robinson Library business subject pages – search online databases for business intelligence and market research reports
- Companies House – search for information on over 2 million companies