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Researching Companies/Job Searching in Computer Science

You have an interview or co-op position set up. You want to make a great impression. How do you find out more about that company or that type of business?

Subject Guides: Business

Freer, Jennifer. Where to Find Company Information. Includes resources on "How to find information about..." companies in general, also private and service companies, and divisions, subsidiaries, and products. Also many directories; some of which are listed under 2., below.

REF HD 69.C6C647
Consultants and Consulting Organizations Directory. Annual.

REF HG 4057.A16
Most Recent Year.
Corporate Technology Directory.

REF HC 102.D8
Dun & Bradstreet, Million Dollar Directory. Annual.

REF HC110.H53 H522
High Technology Corporate Affiliations Marketplace Guide. 1993.
Note: also very good source for pharmaceutical companies. Includes fairly detailed description of the business, rankings, and sales figures for recent years.

REF HD2741.I59
International Directory of Corporate Affiliations. Annual. (Especially for determining if a company is a subsidiary of another, and which one).

REFERENCE DESK
Microcosm. Semi-annual. Microfiche directory of Rochester area firms.

Subject Guides Rack
Library guides: Directories for... [various subject areas, including computer science].

See also entries under "Job Searching" in this document.

Internet
ABI Inform. index to article citations from 800+ business journals. Each entry includes ~150 word summary.

CD ROM workstation area
Computer Select. CD ROM database with several sections, notably: articles, in summary or complete text, from ~150 computer publications, and company profiles. Monthly disks cover last 12 months.

Internet
Dow Jones. A source for financial information and the latest news.

CD ROM workstation area
F & S Index. CD ROM index to a set of business publications, including trade newsletters, from the current year. Many of the entries give the full text of the article. Both U.S. and International are available.

Current Magazine area
Annual Reports. Is it a large, "public" company? The library receives annual reports from the Fortune 500 and about 200 other companies. Filed alphabetically in black filecabinets at the end of the Current Magazines section.

EINSTEIN. The library's online catalog. Look up the company name as Subject.

REF HD2721.I62 1988
International Directory of Company Histories, v.1-. Histories of selected companies, arranged by type of business, from Advertising to Waste Services. To see if your company is included, look for its name in the index of the most recent volume.

EINSTEIN. The library's online catalog. Look for the business type (e.g. Insurance) as a Subject. Look for subject divisions or titles that include terms like "Introduction to... Handbook... Manual... "

REF HC 106.6.S74
Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys. Quarterly. In-depth reports on industries from Aerospace to Utilities. For example: Computers and Office Equipment, Telecommunications.

REF HC101.U54
U.S. Industrial Outlook. Annual. Excellent source of information on 300+ U.S. industries; provides current facts and figures, and prospects/projections for the future.

REF HD9696.A3U539 1989
Electronic Market Data Book. Gives a useful overview of the electronics industry. Helps the user to determine stability and growth rates in this industry.

REF QA76.C652 1987
Computers and Computing Information Resources Directory. Directory, description of activities, and other useful information on 6,000 associations, user groups, publications, information centers, etc.

Also try CD ROM products -- some search strategies are suggested on the last page of this document.

REF QA76.25.K73 1989
Krause, David. Get the Best Jobs in DP: The Computer Professional's Technical Interview Guide. Very useful: includes sample questions and what they imply, examples of resumes, examples of proficiency tests, system specific questions, etc.

And see chapter 11 on "Finding a Job" in Lila Stairs'Careers in Computers under 3., below.

JOB SEARCHING

You don't have an interview yet--in fact, you're not sure where or who you want to work for! How can you find possible employers?

REF HF 5381.D86
The Career Guide: Dun's Employment Opportunities Directory. Annual. Disciplines considered, areas being hired, contact name/address for companies across the U.S.

REF HD9696.C63U51497
The Complete Guide to the Massachusetts Software Industry. 1990. Gives "company profile" for 34 firms, directory information for 1204 more, including the firm's hardware/software environment. "Profiles" provide very useful material for an interview.

REF HD9696.C63.U51433 1991
The Computer Industry Directory. 1991.

RESERVE DESK
Datamation [magazine]. The second June issue each year lists "The Datamation 100" - a ranking of the top 100 companies worldwide, and detailed profiles of the top 100 North American companies. Lots of charts, comparisons with past years, etc.

REF HF5382.5.U5 N34 1995
National Job Bank 1995.

REFHF5382.75.U6 J62
Job Bank series. 1995. [16 vols.] Job hunting information for 14 major U.S. cities, 2 states.

REF QA76.25 .C68 1991
Covin's New England Computer Job Guide, c1991. From Sikorsky Aircraft to L.L.Bean, this guide provides excellent information for choosing a company and having a successful interview with them. Includes name and address of contact person.

REF QA76.25.C58 1992
Covin's Washington Area Computer Job Guide, 2nd ed., 1992.

REF. QA76.215.N48 1988
New England Directory for Computer Professionals. A list of computer personnel employers. Entries include address, nature of business (products), number of MIS staff, computing facilities, personnel officer's name, etc.

REF HD9696.C63.U5248 1992
Northwest High Tech 1992: A Guide to North America's Fastest Growing Computer Region.

RESD/TA157.P44
Peterson's Engineering, Science, and Computer Jobs. Annual. Lists employers in the areas mentioned; entries include salary ranges and contact person.

REF HD6983.I57
Cost of Living Index. Quarterly. Useful information on housing, food, and other essentials to consider in choosing a place to live.

REF HT123 .C385 1991
Facts About the Cities, 1992. About 1 page of information per city; listing of basic information: cost of living, median monthly rent, crime, transportation services, etc. Cities of the United States (next to it on the shelf) provides a more descriptive, prose approach, with photographs.

REF HF5382.75.U6 J59 1991
The Job Hunter's Guide to 100 Great American Cities : A National Employment Directory, 1991. A very useful quick reference for major employers, names of local newspapers (to look for job ads), and useful addresses: Chamber of Commerce, Library, Women's Center, Veteran's Administration, etc.

REF HN60.M36 1992
The Livable Cities Almanac. 1992. Not quite like the rating guides, this devotes several chapters to what makes for a healthy building/home/ environment, then rates the cities. Very concerned with current issues: toxic waste, air quality, etc.

Quick REF HN60.S28
Places Rated Almanac. Comparisons of costs of living, jobs, crime, weather, etc. for 333 "metro areas" in the U.S.

REF HA214 .T46 1990
The Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities, 1990. Within topics - such as climate, economics, health care, diversions - discusses and provides lists of cities. Overall 'Report Cards' for the cities appear at the end.

REF HF5382.5.U5 C2557
Career Choices for the 90's for Students of Computer Science. 1990. Describes the nature and working conditions in various fields, along with lists of major employers, job outlook, salary information, and interviews with people in the field. Concise and basic.

REF HF5439.C67 E68 1990
Careers in Computer Sales, 1990. Introduces the field of computer sales, discussing how to get into such a career and what it is like.

REF QA 76.25.S67 1996
Careers in Computers. Clear and concise information on options within the computing field, including job description, promotion path, job outlook, salary. Useful chapter on "Finding a Job;" and tables of salaries by industry and by location.

REF T385.C571 1991
Computer Graphics Career Handbook. A special issue of the ACM SIGGRAPH journal Computer Graphics, this book provides the percentage of various skills needed in 7 computer graphics specialties, profiles of many people in the profession, schools offering graphics programs, profiles of companies hiring graphics professionals (with contact names) and more.

REF HD9696.A1C65 1994/95
Computer Industry Almanac. An incredible wealth of information about the computing field--rankings, lists, "most," top," leading," people, international scene, forecasts, news, salaries, etc.

REF T385.M377 1990
Exploring Careers in Computer Graphics. Provides charts of projected growth in various aspect of graphics, salary information, and the scripts from interviews with professionals in the field. Includes a list of trade journals to check for job ads. Interesting and unusual.

REF HD9696.C62 P68 1991
Getting Computer Jobs Abroad. Beware - the title is misleading. This book doesn't really tell you how to get a job in another country; it is a handbook of practical advice about daily life once you've gotten your job abroad.

REF HD9696.C63 G724 1989
How to Get Jobs in Microcomputing. Written and published in Britain, most of this information is equally applicable to the U.S. Be careful of the "keeping up to date" section - some of the publications and resources are British-only.

REF HF5382.75.U6 J627 1994
Job Seeker's Guide to Private and Public Companies: vol. 3: The Northeast. Quick and basic information on companies in this geographic region; includes name of "Human Resources Contact."

REF QA76.25.R48 1992
The No-Nonsense Guide to Computing Careers. Published by the ACM, this unusually- formatted book discusses how to organize your job search, describes various fields of computing and work environments, etc. Full of tips and "advice-bytes."

QA76.25 .K525 1991
Opportunities in Computer Science Careers,c1991. Some parts may seem too basic, but skip to the chapters on opportunities in various areas, "5 Career Profiles," education needed, and "Finding Your First Job"- they are practical and useful.

REF QA76.25 .R84 1989
The Programmer's Survival Guide: Career Strategies for Computer Professionals, c1989. Not just about getting a job, but how to embark on a good career. Excellent, down to earth guide.

HF5382.75.U6 W44 1989
Work in the New Economy: Careers and Job Seeking into the 21st Century. A more discursive book, and not CS specific, but chapter 4- "How people actually find jobs" and chapters 6-9, are recommended reading for anyone.

SEARCH STRATEGIES

Computer Select in Articles section, try Word searches. If it's a big company, try searches such as:

[company name] and trends
[company name] future
[company name] strategic planning
[company name] product development
[company name] product design
[company name] new products
[company name] jobs or employment
[company name] [your place in it: software/databases/workstations...]

If it's a smaller or less-well-known company, try just searching on:

[company name] e.g.: surfside software
Or, find out about the industry in general:

[industry name] and (jobs or employment)

[industry name] and employment outlook

[industry name] and [any of the terms suggested above]

In Company Profiles section, Field search by State & Product Category to find appropriate

companies in a preferred geographic area.

ABI Inform
To retrieve articles specifically about your company, search:

C (Exact Name of Company) e.g. Digital Equipment

You can make the results more precise by using the limit function,

L, and then choosing S (Words in the Subject) or W (Words in the

Abstract or Summary.) For example,

C Digital Equipment, then L trends or,

C Digital Equipment, then L future

Page maintained by: Roman Koshykar