Are you trying to learn more about potential companies or industries you want to work for? Are you preparing for an interview or job application?
We will start by exploring company research, so you can learn all about companies you are interested in or applying to. You'll likely want to find company profiles to get a good overview, learn about their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in SWOT reports, be up-to-date on company news, learn about their competitors and how they do in the rankings. And if you're interested in local companies, you'll want to check out some local or regional resources.
Note: Keep in mind that it is much more difficult to find information on private companies. Learn more about private company research via the library's Business Research FAQs.
There are many places you can find information about a company and its history. Try the following approaches:
- Company's website
- Websites often include an "about us" section that sometimes detail their history. Remember, the company will explain its history the way it wants to be seen.
- Annual report
- Public companies are required to file an annual report to the U.S. government, known as a 10-K. These reports will often include a section on the company's history. Again, remember this is a self-reported history. You can almost always find these on a company's website - check the "About Us" or "Investor Relations" area of their website.
- Find books/ebooks that contain corporate histories
- Books about a company often include historical background.
- Do a keyword search in in the library catalog to find books (both print and e-books) about your company.
- Search for articles
- Newspaper, trade/magazine, and scholarly articles that mention or are about specific companies might provide some historical information.
