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Company and Salary Research

Company Research

Use these resources to help you decide if you want to work for a company, identify what to highlight on your application, and prepare for interviews. Consider whether the company culture is a good fit, if the company is growing or downsizing, and the company's future plans.

Once you're on the job, these resources can help you stay on top of what your company is doing. You can use that knowledge to talk to your supervisor about new opportunities, transfer to another department, or hone your skills in a growing area.

Library Databases*

Business Source Premier
Use the “Select a Field” dropdown menu to select “CO Company Entity.” Search for the name of your company. Limit using options on the left (company profile/SWOT analysis, country-United States, trade publications, date, etc.).
LexisNexis Academic
Use the “Get Company Info” on the bottom right and search for your company. Current news, recent cases, and company hierarchy particularly of interest.
Mergent Intellect
Search for your company and select it from the drop-down list. Includes news, tweets, job openings, company rankings and related industry reports.
S&P Capital IQ NetAdvantage
Search for you company. From the company profile page, on the left, look at key developments (new products, downsizing, lawsuits, acquisitions, etc.), long business description (if available), and S&P Equity Research-PDF (for public companies).

*Even after you graduate, you can access similar resources with your public library card

Library Ebooks

International Directory of Company Histories
Company histories provide an overview of company strategies, successes, and failures over time, providing context for their current situation.
Market Share Reporter
Click on "View It - view full text." Select "Include both current and backfile directories" and "Keyword." Search by company or keyword to see projected industry growth or top companies within an industry.

Other Online Resources

Company Website
Search for the company name and corporate or investor relations. Look at “about us,” careers or employment, investor relations (annual report). Consider core values, policies, training programs, what is emphasized (do they talk about diversity, going green, ethical suppliers?) versus what’s not, etc.

Social Media
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) shows what your potential employer is posting and what others are posting about your potential employer. What do their posts show about what they value?

Glassdoor.com
Search for your company and find out what others have to say about it.

Salary Research

Use these resources to help you identify salary ranges for careers and negotiate your salary.

Government Resources

Occupational Outlook Handbook
Provides median pay for various occupations. Use the "State & Area Data" tab to find average wages by state, and scroll down to find wages by area. Hover over an area to see mean and percentile breakdowns of wages for an occupation.
North Dakota Workforce Intelligence Network
Find entry level, average, and experienced wages for occupations in North Dakota. From the options on the left under "Data Trends," select "Employment and Wage Data" - "Occupation Data" - "Occupational Employment and Wages (OES)." Under the search options, from "Occupations (click to change): Multiple Occupations," click on "Multiple Occupations." Search for an occupation.

Other Resources

Job Postings

Some job postings list a starting salary or salary range for an open position.

Professional Organizations

These generally include a job board and may provide a salary survey under a publications or careers section.

Last updated: 2/12/2018