How to Find Information About Employers

A job seeker needs to research employers to determine what jobs are worth pursuing and to prepare for employment interviews.

This guide is a selected list of Library and web resources that will help you locate information about U.S. companies, international companies, Rochester area and New York State businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and research employment trends and salaries.

If you need help locating any of the Library materials or websites listed in this guide ask a Librarian at the Information Desk for assistance.

General Business Directories

Directories are listings of companies that generally give only brief information such as: address, telephone, and limited financial statistics.

Books listed below that have "Ref" in front of their call number are located in the Reference section on the Main level of the LeRoy V. Good Library (Brighton Campus). Books that have "City Ref" in front of their call number are located at the Damon City Campus Library.

• Advertising Red Books - Provides a comprehensive overview of advertising agencies in the U.S. and Canada, lists their clients, or advertisers and their products. (Ref HF5805 .S785)

• Directory of Corporate Affiliations - Covers approximately 175,000 U.S. & International parent private and public companies affiliates, subsidiaries and divisions (Ref HG4057.A217; and City Ref HG4057.A217)

• D&B Million Dollar Directory - Covers 160,000 companies that have more than $9 million in sales volume. More than 136,000 of these listings are privately owned businesses. (Ref HC102 .D8)

• Europages: The European Business Directory - A multilingual directory site of 700,000 companies in 35 European countries searchable by product, company name or business sector. Includes some company catalogs. http://www.europages.com/

• Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors & Executives -
  Vol.1 profiles over 75,000 U.S. & international corporations, and functions of ~380,000 officers, directors and other principles.
  Vol. 2 contains ~70,000 biographical sketches of top-level managers.
  (Ref HG405 .A4)

Back to Top

Company Profiles

Many public companies post annual reports, histories, news stories about their products, and press releases on their own websites. When researching small local companies, keep in mind that many are privately owned, and unlike public companies, they are not legally required to make information about their operations available to the general public. However, you should still check the web, since many small firms do have websites which provide some information about their company for marketing and other purposes.

In addition to articles in magazines, journals and newspapers, full-text library databases such as the Business & Company Resource Center contain company profiles, product and brand information, industry rankings and statistics, investment reports, company histories, and chronologies. The Business Source Premier database covers all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, accounting, finance and economics, and provides access to market research reports, industry reports, country reports, and company profiles.

Other sources of company profiles include:

• Hoover's Handbook of American Business - Profiles of 750 major U.S. privately & publicly held companies. (Ref HG4057 .A28617 Vols. 1&2)

• Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies - Profiles of major U.S. private companies (Ref HF5035 .H668)

• Hoover's Handbook of World Business - Profiles of major global companies. (Ref HG 4009 .H66)

• Hoover's Online - Hoover's provides company and industry information for U.S. and international public and private companies. Entries include: brief company descriptions, basic financial information, key executives, top competitors, news and press releases. Certain sections of this site require a subscription in order to access more detailed content. http://www.hoovers.com/free/

• Standard & Poor's 500 Guide - This source profiles all 500 companies listed in the S&P 500 Index and includes summaries of each company's business activity, sales history, and earnings and dividends data.
  (Ref HG4057 .A4758)

• Thomas Register of American Manufacturer's (ThomasNet®) - This free online resource provides information on over 173,000 U.S. and Canadian manufacturers and 152,000 brand names. Entries include a basic company profile, links to company websites, product catalogs and CAD drawings if available. http://www.thomasnet.com/index.html

Back to Top

Locate Financial Data

• Value Line Investment Survey - The Ratings & Reports section contains one-page reports on approximately 1,700 company stocks and more than 90 industries. Located at the Brighton and Damon City Campus Checkout/Reserve Desk.

• SEC Filings & Forms EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval) This site from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) provides access to 10-K (Annual Reports), proxy statements, and other financial statement SEC filings of public companies. http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

• Big Charts - Provides access to interactive charts, quotes, reports and indicators on over 50,000 stocks, mutual funds, market indexes, & historical quotes back to 1985. http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com

• Yahoo! Finance - This site provides access to descriptive and financial data on companies such as stock price quotes and charts, company and industry profiles, analysis, financial statements, corporate ownership information, financial news, and market summaries. http://finance.yahoo.com/

Back to Top

Other Sources for Locating Information on Rochester & NYS Businesses

Full-text news articles from 1999 until present are available from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle library database.

• Rochester Business Journal - A leading source of business news and information for the Rochester region. Check the MCC Library Catalog for holdings at the Brighton and Damon City Campus Library. Visit the website to read today's top stories http://www.rbj.net/

• Rochester Business Journal Archive - The archive contains articles from the "Daily Edition on the Internet" and the newspaper's hard-copy publications. All "Daily Edition on the Internet" articles from 1995 to present can be accessed free of charge once you create an account. To get started go to http://www.rbj.net.

• The Lists - This special issue of the Rochester Business Journal is published yearly and contains facts and figures on more than 50 different business categories in the region. (Ref HF 3163 .R7 B66; and City Ref HF 3163 .R7 B66)

• Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE) - A regional economic development organization which provides information about the local economy and businesses. http://www.rochesterbiz.com/Business/Information/Lists.aspx

• New York State Business Directory - The Business Directory can help you find the name, address, and contact information for businesses most likely to employ people in your occupation in New York State. To access the Directory go to: http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workforceindustrydata/bdirector.shtm

Back to Top

Researching Not-for-Profit Organizations

Points to consider when researching nonprofits include: the organization's size, location, mission statement, and type of service. Locate articles in local or national newspapers, magazines, and trade journals using the library databases, and remember to visit the organization's website.

• The Foundation Directory - "Published by the nonprofit Foundation Center, the Foundation Directory is a leading source of information on U.S. grantmakers and their grantmaking activities. It provides descriptions of more than 88,000 independent, operating, company-sponsored, and community foundations as well as corporate giving programs and grantmaking public charities."
  (Ref AS911 .A2 F65; and City Ref AS911 .A2 F65)

• Gale's Guide to Non-Profits - Contact information for associations, libraries, publishers, research centers, directories, newsletters.
  (Ref HD2769.2 U55 G35 2000)

•  GuideStar.org - The leader in providing comprehensive data (mission, programs, and finances) on more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations. View 'Form 990' the document that non-profits file with the IRS that detail their officers and directors and revenue and expenditures. Access to GuideStar Basic is free once you create an account online at
  http://www.guidestar.org/index.jsp

• The New Nonprofit Almanac & Desk Reference - "Provides essential facts and figures for managers, researchers, and volunteers and insightful trend analysis about the overall nonprofit sector."
  (Ref HD2769.2 .U6 N47 2002)

Back to Top

Newswire Services

Many news stories never make it into print, not even in local or specialized publications. Try searching the electronic newswire services listed below to locate news stories and press releases. The Regional Business News full-text library database also covers 75 business journals, newspapers and newswires from all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States.

Back to Top

How to Find Books

To locate books available in MCC Libraries collection search the MCC Library Catalog by keyword, subject, author, or title. For example, in the "Basic Keyword Search" box type the name of a company (Toyota) or personal name (Gates, Bill) and select "Subject" from the "Fields to Search" drop-down menu.

Books held in the circulating collection at the Leroy V. Good Library (Brighton campus) that have call numbers beginning with letters A - P are located on the 3rd Floor, while books that have call numbers beginning with letters Q - Z are located on the 4th Floor. Books held in the circulating collection at the Damon City Campus Library have "City" in front of their call number.

To Access the MCC Library Catalog

Back to Top

How to Find Articles

MCC Libraries subscribe to a number of electronic article databases which you can use to search for articles about local and national companies, not-for-profit organizations, and research employment trends by occupation and employer.

Some of these databases are full-text, and therefore have entire articles from certain magazines, journals, and newspapers available to you to print directly from the computer.

The following databases are useful for researching business related topics:

Database help guides are available on the MCC Libraries website in the Searching Article Databases section of the Publications, Research Guides, & Tutorials web page.

To Access MCC Libraries Article Databases

To log-in to EZproxy, students must use the same username and password combination required to access their MCC Student E-mail Account. MCC
students can learn more about their college e-mail account by visiting the
"MCC Students" web page at http://www.monroecc.edu/Students/ and clicking on the "Lookup My Account" and "Common Questions" links in the "E-mail Help & Setup" drop down menu on the right side of the page.

Article Search Tips

• Select a recommended database from the list above.

• Use subject terms and keywords appropriate to your topic.

• Search more than one database to locate articles, since there is variation in the subject terms used by each database, and also differences in the type and number of journals, magazines, and newspapers covered.

• If the full-text article is not available directly from the database make sure you write down or print off the citation for the article. You will need the citation information (title of the publication, author, title of article, volume, date, issue, and page numbers) to check if the article is available from the Libraries' print periodicals collection, or if you want to submit a request for Interlibrary Loan.

• If the article or book you need is not available at MCC Libraries, you can try submitting a request through our Interlibrary Loan service. Interlibrary Loan is a network of local, state or national associated libraries that share resources (primarily books and photocopies) by lending and borrowing with each other. Visit the MCC Libraries Interlibrary Loan web page to learn more about this service.

• Ask a Librarian if you need help using any of the Library's resources.

Back to Top

MCC's Career Centers

The Career Center's at the Brighton Campus (Bldg. 3, Rm. 108) and Damon City Campus (Floor 5) maintain a collection of files contain information on local employers and some national companies.

Back to Top

Research Employment Trends and Salaries

• New York State Workforce & Industry Data - This site from the New York State Department of Labor provides access to both average and prevailing wage information statewide by occupation and industry.

• Occupational Outlook Handbook - Produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Handbook provides profiles on numerous occupations including information on training and education needed, earnings, expected job prospects, what workers do on the job, and working conditions. Also available in print Ref Career HB 2595 .U5 and City Ref Career HB 2595 .U5

• Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program - "Employment and wage estimates for over 700 occupations. These are estimates of the number of people employed in certain occupations, and estimates of the wages paid to them. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual States, and for metropolitan areas; national occupational estimates for specific industries are also available. Self-employed persons are not included in the estimates."

• The Riley Guide - "A directory of employment and career information sources and services on the Internet." Features of this site include links to researching employers and occupations; career/occupational information guides; and salary guides.

P. Czaja, 7/2008, http://www.monroecc.edu/go/library

Back to Top