By Veterans Transitional Services

When most people look for work they begin by checking out the job postings either on-line or in a newspaper. Most of the time the most important thing that a job seeker is looking for is what is the amount the job will pay. The second thing is usually what is the job description. There is nothing wrong about this approach, but you might be able to improve the quality of the job you are getting, and avoid unexpected surprises by doing a little more research.

One thing to consider is who the employer is? There is nothing worse than finding a job and then discovering that the employer is going out of business. This is especially important if you are considering moving to a new area for that job. Then there is the surprise of finding a job that is just awful. The only reason that the job is available is that nobody wants to work there.

There are a few simple things that you can do in order to give yourself the best possible chance of matching with a good employer.

Pull up the company's website

You can learn a lot about a company by what is on their website. Often companies will put news articles about the company on the site. These articles can tell you what is important to the company and a little bit about their culture. You can also learn about the history of the company and their values. This information is good to incorporate into your interview. It shows that you did your research. On some sites the bio's of key employees are located and you can learn a lot about who makes up this company and where they came from. All this will give you a good gut feeling about who they are.

Use search engines One of the best ways to search is by using www.dogpile.com this site will compile information from all the other search engines. So instead of looking through each search engine this one will take out the duplicates and give you the most relevant information. Another good source is the Better Business Bureau in the city where the company is located. When you call ask them for a reference and see what type of reputation the company has established with them. The service is free to the public and they will tell you if there have been any complaints and what they were about.

Search the local newspaper

Another easy thing to do is go on-line to the local newspaper and search past articles using the company's name. While there do a search by using the name of the President of the company. When you find an article read to see what they are known for. In some cases you might discover that the company has a charity that they regularly sponsor. You might even find that the company was involved in some type of problems. Basically, you are looking for both good news and bad to help you make a good decision and avoid the surprises.

Talk to Employees

One of the best sources of information are current employees or even past employees of the company. Who better to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly of the company? But what if you don't know anyone at the company? Then talk to the receptionist. These folks usually know more about what is going on about everything and are willing to share if you treat them nicely. One way to score points with a receptionist is to talk to them when they hit the slow point in their day. In most cases this will be between 10:45am and 11:30am in the morning. By that time most of the morning urgent calls have already come in. When you talk to them tell them that you are considering working for the company and would appreciate knowing more about the company. Let them know that you value their comments and will keep it confidential. Many times the information you get from this source will be more valuable and complete than anything else you do.