This is a series about doing a successful blue collar job search. I’m writing it for a friend who’s busy in a temporary job and is looking for something bigger.
Today it’s all about “target companies.” I love the idea of target companies, and think it is one of THE MOST critical things to tackle in your job search. Why? For a few reasons:
- You can narrow/focus your job search on identified target companies,
- You will learn about other companies you never would have heard of as you do your job search. These other companies (which might become target companies) might be vendors, customers or competitors of your original target companies.
- When people ask you how your job search is going you can reply with something like “it’s going well – I’m trying to find contacts at x, y, or z companies – do you know anyone who works there?”
The easiest place for me to start looking for target companies was on Indeed. I like Indeed because it pulls jobs from various job boards… as I typed in a few job titles, based on what my buddy told me, I identified the following companies that could be target companies:
- Mountain America – has a bunch of credit unions locally and a corporate office close to us
- Salt Lake Community College – with a bunch of campus buildings close to us
- IHC – regional hospital chain with a bunch of hospitals around here
- Larry Miller company – has a bunch of properties all over the Salt Lake valley
- … and 11 more – all of these companies were found from a few searches on Indeed.
This is BRAINSTORMING mode… we’re not declaring that we would LOVE to work at any of these companies, but they are all possibilities. As you list target companies you should be able to think of new ones… for example, if you don’t bank at Mountain America then go to YOUR OWN credit union – they probably have a lot of branch buildings also, right?
This Is A Principle-based Blue Collar Job Search
As you start to look at these target companies you can try and figure out how any jobs with these might match your list from yesterday (what do you want in a job). For example, a company with one huge building means no driving around all day… and a company with lots of small branch buildings means lots of driving around… also larger companies might have better benefits and training programs, and more sophisticated management/systems, whereas smaller companies might allow you more freedom in your job.
LIST OUT TARGET COMPANIES, brainstorm, don’t leave anything off. You can order them by how interesting any of them are to you, but even listing the companies you don’t want to work at is valuable.
Here’s a plug for JibberJobber – as you develop your list of target companies make sure you put them into JibberJobber. You’ll want to log various things about each company, from contact info (address, phone, etc.) to any notes or info you find about a company.
Try the job search here… type in a few company names you are interested in listing as target companies:
The JibberJobber Blue Collar Job Search Series:
- Blue Collar Job Search – How To Find A Blue Collar Job (5/17/10)
- Blue Collar Job Search – What Do You Want in a Job (5/18/10)
- Blue Collar Job Search – Identify Target Companies (5/19/10)
- Blue Collar Job Search – What Job Titles Do You Want? (5/20/10)
- Shame (5/24/10)
- Blue Collar Job Search: Your Elevator Pitch (5/27/10)
- Blue Collar Job Search – Personal Values Propositions (5/28/10)
- Blue Collar Job Search – Job Seeker Newsletter (6/3/10)
It is just plain smart to have a FOCUS with some target companies AND target industries in mind as you network online and offline. This can help to “prime the pump” in starting a conversation and getting relevant leads. While you are researching a particular company, why not also look for the name of the hiring manager of the department you are targeting or a Director/VP of that function? Then you can use your network to find possible connections to that person. And, of course, add them to your JibberJobber employer database.