Your career journal is an excellent tool for keeping track of your most private and intimate thoughts concerning your work life and preferences. It helps you to focus in on what is most important to you in terms of work. It also helps you to establish boundaries and identify what is and what is not acceptable to you, Knowing your work preferences will help you in deciding which companies to target in your job search. Identifying companies to work for is a simple three part process. To get started, you will need to identify your work preferences, conduct a customized search online and then select the companies that closest match your needs.
Bear in mind that before you can start identifying and researching companies you must first determine your work preferences. Ask yourself some key questions before getting started. For example, what does your ideal company look like? Where is it located? What size is it? What are the people like? What is the office setting like? Are there opportunities for advancement?, etc. These are just a few questions you should be thinking about before looking for companies to target. Take time to envision yourself working at your ideal company. Be sure to incorporate all of your five senses in your visualization and make note of those things that really stand out as you go through this experiment.
The second step in the process is to do a customized search for companies online using a business database such as Reference USA which is accessible via most public libraries in the United States. Your custom search can include such things as: a specific industry, the number of employees, the names and titles of key personnel, the company's credit rating, length of time in business, whether it's a publicly or privately held company and more. This database will even list the names of the competitors for individual companies and provide listings of any current job openings. Reference USA is a powerful database that when used properly can help you quickly identify companies in which to target.
The third step in the process involves doing a detailed search on each company of interest by going to Google.com or the company's corporate website. You may also want to look for online reviews and any information listed at the Better Business Bureau website to see what people are saying about the company. Negative reviews don't necessary mean that you should eliminate a company from your list of potential places to work. If the company is having problems in an area that you are familiar with then hiring you may be the perfect solution for them. Generally, companies who are experiencing negative media exposure are more open to new ideas and potential solutions to problems. Now, shorten list of prospects and select only those companies that closely align with your work preferences.
As you can see, your career journal can be a wonderful career advancement tool when regularly updated and maintained. Using it to target your ideal companies is only one of its many benefits. Identifying potential companies to work for does not have to be a difficult task. Simply follow the three part process that I have given you I.e., identify your work preferences, conduct a customized search online and then select the companies that closest match your needs. Doing these three things will serve you well in quest for the ideal company to work for.
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For the past 17 years, Sheila Savage has worked with ex-offenders to help them find suitable employment. To get more information about ex-offender employment and job searching please visit [http://www.sheilamsavage.com]
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