Most companies have Web sites. That is the first place you should look for information about your prospective employer. You will usually find a wealth of information there. It is almost like walking into the company's offices and saying “Tell me about yourself.” A corporate Web site is also the “face of the company” — it conveys its personality, or at least the personality it wants to share with the public.

Use a search engine, such as Google or Ask.com, to find a company's Web site. Type the company's full name (with quotation marks around it) into the search box. Use lowercase letters. For example, search for “xyz group incorporated.” If you can't find it under its full name, try searching for a name by which the company is commonly known. The company's name will usually appear in the URL (Uniform Resource Locator), which you may know as the Web address. If the company is a subsidiary of a larger company and you can't find its Web site, try searching for the parent company's site.

Once you are on the company's Web site, begin clicking around. You will usually find a link that directs you to information about the company. Hint: Look for links that say “About XYZ Company” or “About Us.” Try to find a link to company news (these links may be called “News”, “Press Releases”, “Media Relations” or “Press Room”). You will even find a link to jobs or careers. This can be very helpful if you need a detailed job description. Larger companies may have links to their subsidiaries on their Web sites. You can often find a company's annual report on its Web site

If you had no luck hunting down a company's Web site, there are still other resources to try. Let's move on to the next one — company directories.