Every company operates within an industry or industries. For example, Kroger is part of the grocery store industry. If you had a job interview with Kroger, you would want to prepare by reviewing information on both the company and the overall industry.
Use the resources linked below to help you learn about U.S. industries related to your internships and professional career.
Take note of a company's family tree. Is it a division of another company? A branch location? Public or private?
For company research, start with the AtoZ Databases to find company overviews and to select criteria to create customized company lists. Other company research databases linked below include Hoovers, Mergent Intellect, PrivCo, and GuideStar.
After you create a list of companies, select those that interest you and review company websites for job openings. You can also search for those companies on Indeed.com and LinkedIn for leads on job opportunities.
Remember: Companies may have job openings that are not posted; you may be able to identify those jobs by directly reaching out to the company. One way to find potential contacts is to review employee profiles on a company's LinkedIn site.
One of the most important ways to learn about companies and industries that may be of interest to you is to follow local business news.
See below to go to local publications for Indiana business news. Additional information is posted to direct you to local business news in cities across the U.S.
TIP: Most of the sites linked below have a Search Box, which you can use to search for articles on companies or local business news.
Use the resources linked below to identify major industries by location (regional, state, local). Companies that operate within these industries will be major employers in those locations. For example, Indiana is a major distribution hub, and some of the major employers in the state are companies affiliated with the logistics/transportation industry (ex: FedEx and Amazon). Additional tips: See the state profiles under the North America-Regional Info tab in the First Research database. Also, some industry profiles at the state level are available in the IBISWorld database.
TIPS: Remember you can also find contacts through business news sources, such as the "Bigwigs & New Gigs" column on the Inside Indiana Business website. And Google is another source for finding members of trade associations. Enter a keyword that describes an industry, followed by the word "association." Example: pharmaceutical association
Tip: to set up news feeds, look for this icon:
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