Subject Guides Prepared by the Swain Library

Career Resources

Researching a Potential Employer

Learning more about an organization and the people working there provides vital background information to help you determine if a job matches your needs. Doing research about an organization before going to an interview also demonstrates you are interested in what they are doing and helps you to ask more thoughtful questions during an interview. Below are some resources you might use to help you become more familiar with a potential employer.

Stanford’s Jackson Business Library Research Guides has prepared a number of excellent resource guides for finding information about a company or a financial sector.
Web Sites for Organizations contain a wealth of information such as current directories, as well as summaries and reports about research, educational, and financial interests and performance.
Newspapers/News Magazines — national, local, institutional, professional organizations, subject area or market sector — may also contain a wealth of information about an organization and its leaders. Below are examples of news sources that might be helpful:
R&D Information and Statistics are another source of information for benchmarking what’s happening at an organization.
- Science & Engineering Statistics (NSF)
- Derwent Innovations Index (Intl. Patent Database)
- Search databases such as Web of Science or SciFinder Scholar
Biographical information resources are a tool you can use to get an overview of people of interest. See:
- Biographical Information for Chemists and Chemical Engineers