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A Competitive Advantage: How to Research a Company

A Competitive Advantage: How to Research a Company. Why is Research so Important? . Shows recruiter(s) you invested time & effort; displays interest Intelligent conversation about company Helps to build confidence going into interview; feel prepared

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A Competitive Advantage: How to Research a Company

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  1. A Competitive Advantage: • How to Research a Company

  2. Why is Research so Important? • Shows recruiter(s) you invested time & effort; displays interest • Intelligent conversation about company • Helps to build confidence going into interview; feel prepared • To see if the company is a good fit for you

  3. Research Resources Primary Resources: MarketLine Advantage Company’s Website (Values & Mission Statement) • Additional Resources: (listed in appendix) • Mergent Online • Mergent Horizon • Factiva

  4. How to Access MarketLine Advantage Step 1: Go to the MSU Homepage, www.msu.edu Step 2: In search box, located in the top right-hand portion of the homepage search “swot” Step 3: Click on the first link that appears titled: “SWOT Analysis - Company Research - Guides at Michigan State ...” Step 4: Once again, select the first link that appears titled: “MarketLine Advantage (Formerly known as Datamonitor 360)” Step 5: Select “Connect to MarketLineAdvantage” (located on bottom of page) & enter your MSU credentials (same credentials as you would use to access your MSU email)

  5. Navigating MarketLine Advantage Website Step 1: On MarketLine Advantage homepage enter company name into search box & select “Companies” from dropdown box Step 2: Hit search icon Step 3: Select company you are inquiring about in the search results Step 4: Lastly, select “download full report” tab to download a PDF version of the company report

  6. Dissecting MarketLine Advantage Report • Company reports are of great length • Don’t need to read full report • Primarily focus on the following report sections: • Company overview • Business description • History • Major products and services • SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis • Top competitors • Company view

  7. Incorporating Research into the Interview Effectively • Ask questions that show you have done research • Ex.) From an HR perspective what initiatives is Zooland Corp. pushing to help immerse the newly acquired ABC Corp. into the main culture? • Ex.) With such a limited pool of engineers in the U.S. what is Bee Construction Corp. doing to attract this scare group of talent? • You do NOT want to stump a recruiter • Ex.) In the 3rd quarter of last year Zooland Corp. reported a 3% increase in revenue and a 12% increase in EBIT. What are you doing to instill confidence in shareholders?

  8. Concluding Points • Lack of preparation shows – research is *ESSENTIAL* • MarketLine Advantage & Company’s website are great resources! • Ask good questions – don’t stump recruiters! • Do not regurgitate statistics • Memory cues in padfolio if need be • Additional resources listed in Appendix

  9. Appendix Links to the additional research resources are listed below: Mergent Online: (only 2 users at a time allowed) http://www.mergentonline.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/basicsearch.php Mergent Horizon: http://www.mergenthorizon.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/rp/xa/ Factiva: (only 6 users at a time allowed) http://global.factiva.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/ha/default.aspx *Note that these additional resources can be helpful, but are much less user friendly than MarketLineAdvantage*

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