Why would you want to research your next employer? What is the purpose of knowing about the employer before even writing your resume? Well, in today's competitive job market, you have to be more astute and more creative than other job candidates. Whatever they do, you have to do better. Being able to create a resume that targets one job at one company is the most effective way to beat out your competitors. That may land you an interview. Then, knowing as much as possible about the company can win you the job.

In order to use your research effectively, you have to research your next employer effectively. You need to research the job position and make sure you know everything you possibly can about it AND you need to research the company so that you can be prepared for the interview.

Researching the position obviously must occur before you write your resume. You must find out what the position entails and then match your skills and accomplishments to the requirements of that position. There are several ways to go about this, too.

Type in the position title in any given search engine and see what comes up. Many times you will gain some perspective by reading what other sites have to say about that job title. To tighten the search, check out the major Internet job boards and again, type in the position title. You will probably find a variety of ads for positions of the kind you are seeking and you can determine what some employers require. Lastly, check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site. The Occupational Outlook Handbook lists most jobs and what they consist of, how many people are employed in that field and what the job outlook is for that position.

Once your resume is targeted to the specific position, you can focus on researching the company so that you can be prepared for the interview. The best place to start out your research is the company's web site. What is the company's mission, projected growth, market share and corporate structure? Knowing this information and more can give you some valuable facts and figures to impress the employer as well as help you formulate the kind of questions that employers love to hear.

When you research your next employer, do it with these specific goals in mind and you will be leading the field of job candidates. Research the company and get the job.