OK, you’ve identified the specific career niche you want to work in. You’ve reviewed you network member database to stratified it into emotional support members, resourceand technical support members, and potential referral sources. Your next challenge is to identify and research corporations and nonprofit organizations that potentially best fit your career description and skill sets.
Please note, this acivity is separate from looking to see if the target organization has current job openings. You want to penetrate the hidden job market where openings are not posted. Whenever you go after a posted position, you are competing against literally hundreds of other candidates. If you find a likely fit that way, by all means apply. Just don’t bet the farm that your resume will find its way to the decision-maker with the power to hire you.
What I’m talking about here is researching companies regardless of whether they have openings posted. You are trying to find out whether the company will be a good fit for you. Your research must be wide ranging, thorough and include a variety of sources: public libraries (making friends with the resource librarians), online databases, chambers of commerce, job seeker support groups, recruiters, and, The Pittsburgh Business Times. This publication publishes its famous Book of Lists, a veritable gold mine of information for job seekers as well as business executives and managers.
Your search for employment will ultimately be only as good as the quality of your research. Don’t neglect it!