How to research employers
The Careers Service has data on thousands of employers from multinationals to small local companies, from voluntary/charity work through to international organisations and conglomerates, to help you to research employers and prepare for careers fairs, selection tests, assessment centres and interviews. Please ask Information Specialist staff at the Resources Help Desk for help finding or using the resources. We also offer tailored information resources - for example:
- Preparing For The Autumn Careers Fair [Monday 15 October 2012]
- Preparing For The Engineering & IT Careers Fair [Friday 19 October 2012]
- Preparing For The Investment Bank and Management Consultancy Evening [Thursday 11 October 2012]
- How to research SMEs (PDF, 211 KB) - small and medium-sized enterprises - i.e. organisations with fewer than 250 employees
Key resources
Employers' graduate recruitment brochures
We seek to stock one reference copy of brochures for those employers who have visited the University of Bristol to attend a recruitment fair or deliver a presentation. Consult our blue-coloured employer files for the reference copy. The files may also contain annual reports, in-house company newsletters, employee case studies, contacts and Careers Advisers' employer visit reports.
Free publications - drop in to the Careers Service to pick up free copies of a number of annual publications including:
- Prospects Directory - includes details of graduate recruiters with job opportunities for final-year students.
- Times Top 100 Graduate Employers - you can also register for free to see the Times Top 100 online [online version includes news headlines about employers from the business pages of The Times newspaper; full text available from Lexis Library database].
- TARGETjobs GET directory - includes advice and information about graduate job vacancies. TARGETjobs.co.uk also has sections on career sectors and employer insights (reviews on graduate employers).
- Guardian UK 300
- Bristol Guide to Career Planning
Key resources maintained by the Careers Service inlude:
- Employer Links - details of employers who have recruited, or who have sought to recruit, Bristol students and graduates.
- Careers Network - careers support for current students from Bristol graduates.
- Careers Downloads - content from selected past Careers Service events, including audio recordings of guest speakers (MP3 files) and slides.
The Careers Service also subscribes to a number of databases, including:
- Employer Directory - information about more than 2000 companies that feature in various national league tables such as Britain's Most Admired Companies, Tech Track 100, and the Times Top 100 SMEs amongst other listings, as well as company data from the FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange) 100 and FTSE 250.
- Going Global - international job vacancies, internship opportunities, and country-specific career information including employer directories
- South West Top 500 Companies - a CD-ROM available at the Careers Service which provides details of the South West region's Top 500 Companies. The rankings, published by Insider, were obtained by measuring the performance of companies by a combination of their turnover and profitability. Company details, presented in Microsoft Excel format, include contact names and email addresses for the following key contacts: Managing Director, Finance Director, Human Resource Director / Manager, IT Director / Manager, Marketing Director / Manager. Also included on the database: Company name, Full address, Postcode, Telephone, Email addresses, Location (Town or City), Where in region (County), Line of business, Turnover £m, Exports £m, Total assets less current liabilities £m, Holding company, Parent region, Number of employees, Staff costs £m.
- Vault Career Insider - company research reports and employee surveys, occupational sector overviews, and industry career and employer guides.
- Videos about job hunting including LinkedIn for job seekers and How to research before your interview amongst other titles.
- WetFeet - downloadable insider guides about selection processes, job hunting, industries and employers.
Sources of company news:
- The University Library subscribes to Lexis Library - search UK newspapers for reports on employers and occupations, with full text coverage from the mid-1980s. Access Lexis Library via Metalib, the University's resource gateway. Select the 'News' tab on Lexis Library and you can filter results by year and/or publication. Please note: if you are using this off campus you should see the Library's advice on accessing external electronic library resources and databases for further help.
- For additional newspaper resources, search on Metalib using a cross-search by 'material type' and selecting 'Newspapers'.
- If you join your local public library you can get access to Newsbank, which provides full-text access to a number of newspapers. See Libraries West's 24 hour library services page on 'news and current affairs' for further details. If you live, work or study in Bristol you are able to join and use the public libraries.
- News aggregators such as Google News and individual news providers such as BBC News and Reuters.
Internet resources worth exploring include:
- TARGETjobs.co.uk Employer Insights - a collection of company-specific, in-depth, independent reports, each providing details about what employers' jobs are like, company culture, core competences, selection procedures, and current news.
- Inside Buzz - browse thousands of quotes from actual employees working in accounting, banking, consulting and law. An inside look at companies, interviews, salaries and more.
- Inside Careers - graduate jobs and internships, and information about a wide range of professions.
- Further charity and company information resources are available, such as Intute, the free online service providing access to quality-checked web resources for education and research.
- What will they ask? - job interview questions, interview tips and job searching advice; whatwilltheyask.co.uk web site was established in 2005 by a group of economics graduates from the University of Bristol.
- Glassdoor.com gives you an inside look at company salaries, reviews and interview questions for more than 100,000 companies.
- WikiJob - candidate focused graduate recruitment website designed to help students and graduates find out what careers, employers and interviews are really like.
- The Student Room - jobs and careers resources.
- theJobCrowd - anonymous job reviews written by employees.
Don't forget social media:
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. Many companies have a formal/professional presence within LinkedIn and many employees have a personal profile too. You can view the University of Bristol LinkedIn company page and Bristol students and graduates can join the University of Bristol Alumni LinkedIn Group to connect with other Bristol graduates [more than 12,000 members as of Feburary 2013].
You can use the Member tab and the Advanced Search option to search for members using keywords and refine your search by company name and location amongst other filters.
Please note: the Campaigns and Alumni Relations office are keen to have students in their LinkedIn group. However, they do encourage you to use it wisely. This includes building up a suitable profile and giving thought to the messages you post within the group. They advise that rather than asking "please give me a job / internship" you will have more success with a message along the lines of: "I'm looking for advice about a career in marketing and am keen to make connections in London, any thoughts welcomed!".
Further advice about building your profile, networking and researching employers via social media can be found by reading the Careers Service pages on social networking, coming along to Careers Service events on this topic and talking to staff in the Careers Service. See also our guide on How to... make the most of social media (PDF, 226 KB).
See also YouTube - the video sharing site. Many companies have produced professional video content specifically for YouTube. One company example includes PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) whose YouTube presence has included a video about group exercises during assessment days.
Other information resources
- Bristol Business Guide from Bristol City Council.
- Business Information in Bristol Central Library on College Green.
- Working in the South West - Graduate Labour Market Information.
General employment issues
- Equal opportunities resources - information targeted at specific groups such as mature students, minority ethnic students and disability issues.