Module 5: Employer Research

Introduction: When employers invite you in for an interview, they expect you to know something about the company in advance. There are many ways to get information about employers, including friends, the library, newspapers, your career center and the web. The following exercises will help you develop skills for conducting employer research on the web.

Objectives:

• Explore a web site which lists company's by name.
• Acquire resources to find company of your choice.

Activities: Go to: http://www.careerbuilder.com/

• Click the Employers button.
• Click the "J" in the alphabetical order list.
• Scroll down to the JC Penny button. Click that button.
• JC Penny's home page has a variety of buttons listed on the bottom of their page.
• Click on Career Opportunities. You will find several job types listed in blue. List 4 job types available at JC Penney.
  _____________________________________________________________
  _____________________________________________________________
  _____________________________________________________________
  _____________________________________________________________
• Go back to the JC Penny home page by either using the back button or by clicking on "Return to A World of Opportunity".
  • What does JC Penny encourage as minimum qualifications for these positions?
    _____________________________________________________________
  • Which two jobs are the exception?
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
• Click on "Welcome to Our World"
  • What are two subsidiaries of JC Penney?
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
  • JC Penney is one of the largest retailers in our country. How much money do they make each year?
    _____________________________________________________________
• Click in the "The Penny Idea"
  • Write two statements from the Penny Idea.
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
• Click on the back button. What page are you now?
  _____________________________________________________________
• Click on the back button again. You should be at the "World Opportunity" home page
• Click on "Where are We Located"
  • Where is the JC Penney home office located?
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
  • Is there a district office in Minnesota - if so where?
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
  • Click on the back button once.
  • Click on the store locator. Find the nearest store(s) to you by entering your zip code.
  1. What is (are) the store address(es)?
  _____________________________________________________________
  _____________________________________________________________
  _____________________________________________________________
  _____________________________________________________________
• Click back button 4 times.
• Employees who work for JC Penney are referred to as Associates. Click on "Associate Benefits"
  1. How much vacation do employees earn?
  _____________________________________________________________

  2. Do employees receive health benefits?
  _____________________________________________________________

JC Penny Overview
Now that we've looked at the various positions within JC Penny, let's look at the broad store overview.

• Click on JC Penney home page at the bottom of the screen. Click on "What's in Store".
  1. How many departments did you find?
  _____________________________________________________________
• Click on the back button once.
• Click on "Cybershopping and Services"
  1. How many services are provided by JC Penney?
  _____________________________________________________________

  2. What is Eckerd Health Services?
  _____________________________________________________________

  3. Who can purchase insurance from the JC Penney Insurance Group?
  _____________________________________________________________

  4. Where would you find company information on the JC Penney home page?

  ____ About JC Penney
  ____ Green ribbon on left of screen
  ____ Points of Interest

Now return to the Career Mosaic homepage: http://www.careerbuilder.com/

• Choose an employer you'd like to learn more about.
  _____________________________________________________________
  1. Name that employer
  _____________________________________________________________

  2. What do you already know about this employer?
  _____________________________________________________________
  _____________________________________________________________
  _____________________________________________________________

  • How do you know this information? Ex: Who told you?
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________

Before reading about your chosen occupation, read the following questions. Think about these as you read about your occupation. Choose four of these questions to answer below.

Employer Research Questions

• What is a general description, background, and short history of the company/organization/industry?
• What products/services are provided?
• How many people are employed? Where are they employed?
• What were the annual sales last fiscal year?
• Where is the company/organization headquarters?
• Are there branch offices? If so, where?
• What are the categories/job titles of positions of the people employed?
• What are the current job opportunities in this company/organization? The projected future employment opportunities?
• What skills are needed to work in this company/organization?
• What are the mission, values, and vision of the company/organization? How do they compare to others in the industry?
• What are the cultural characteristics of this company/industry?
• How does this company/organization compare to others in the industry? How do they compete?
• What are the trends and development that influence this company/organization?
• What are the global implications for this industry or company/organization?
• What are the problems facing this company/organization?
• How do the pay scale and benefits compare to other companies/organization in the same industry?
• What kind of training is provided to employees?
• How could I fit into this company/organization/industry?

What did you discover? List four things.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________________
d_______________________________________________________________