1 | P a g e

USING THE LIBRARY AS A RESOURCE TO FIND

EMPLOYMENT

This guide is for using The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to assist in

finding employment. We will be covering three main topics; resumes and interviews,

researching a company and tapping into the “hidden” job market. The focus will be for a

Software Developer position. Before you can use this guide you will need a library card. Sign up

for one at http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/account/application.aspx

Resumes and Interviews First we need to get to the databases.

2 | P a g e

Next we will select the careers category.

Click on the JobNow database link.

3 | P a g e

You are going to need to login with your library card now and you should see this page.

Another account must be made in order login to this database. All of these are pretty self-

explanatory except for Optimal Resume. Optimal Resume isn’t too optimal on my opinion. The only

reason to use it would be for the simple website it creates of your resume and portfolio. LinkedIn is a

much better option for this, again, in my opinion. Since we are focusing on Software Developer the

entire Career portion of this database can probably be ignored.

4 | P a g e

Researching a Company This is a document that was received from the library during the seminar on how to use the

databases to find employment. I am going to include the whole document and strike through the parts

that have never occurred for me during my experiences interviewing for a Software Developer position.

Company Research

Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

Why do I need to research the company?

Researching your potential employer before the interview is very important. Not only does it help you

determine whether or not you want to work for the company, it also helps you prepare for your

interview, and can give you an advantage over other candidates. You will be able to answer questions

confidently, and formulate intelligent questions to ask at the end of the interview.

What do I need to know about the company?

Size/Location

General history of the company

Products/Services

Target market

Recent News

Key players

Company’s mission/values statements

Company’s competitors

Strengths/Weaknesses

Industry trends

Where can I find this information?

Other people—Ask friends, relatives, job club members, and your LinkedIn connections

Online—“Google” the company name and see if they have a website. Follow the company on

social media networks, and read recent company blogs.

Annual Reports—Many can be found online

Local Newspapers—Great for keeping up with current events involving the company

Better Business Bureau—Look up the company’s name on the Bureau’s website. The Cincinnati

Bureau’s web address is www.bbb.org/cincinnati

Professional Organizations—An employee from the company could be presenting at an

upcoming conference.

5 | P a g e

The Library—The Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County has both print and online

resources that can help you with your research.

Researching a company can help you answer the following types of interview questions.

What do you know about us?

Why do you want to work for us?

Who are our major competitors?

In your opinion, how does this company compare to its major competitors?

Describe current trends in this industry.

What 3 issues do you think are important to this industry?

What is the name of our CEO?

What are our company’s strengths/weaknesses?

Go back to the Research Databases page.

6 | P a g e

In the Business & Finance section you will want to look at two databases; Mergent Online and

Business NewsBank. The Magazine & Newspaper database also has two databases that are relevant;

ProQuest and ProQuest Cincinnati Enquirer.

The “Hidden” Job Market As an entry level Software Developer you are going to find that 99% of jobs you are qualified for

will NOT be advertised. These positions typically go to someone that already works there or knows

someone who works there. Networking, recruiters, and hopefully this next section will be your best bet.

Open the Business and Finance section same as above. This time select the ReferenceUSA

database. We want US Businesses > Advanced Search.

7 | P a g e

There are many different ways to search for companies here. I would definitely check a box

under the Geography heading and start from there. If you want to target companies that offer Software

Development as one of their services we can use the SIC code. Here is the full list of codes

http://siccode.com/en and here is codes with a search of “software”

http://siccode.com/en/siccode/list/directory/search_keyword/software. 7371 or 5961 is good SIC to

search for in the database. To select more than one category simply click on it and it will be added to

your search. The same to remove from search. Here is a sample search

At this point hit the UPDATE COUNT in the upper right hand corner then VIEW RESULTS.

Now here is where problems arise with our searching. How can we find companies that have

Software Developers but do not offer it as part of their business services, say, Great American Insurance

or Western & Southern. If we compare them:

8 | P a g e

Great American

9 | P a g e

Western & Southern

We can see their SIC codes aren’t even close to what we are looking for. The only thing they

have in common for our purpose is having many employees. So I searched for companies with more

than 500 employees.

10 | P a g e

259 companies are found that I’m sure to have at least an IT department. I can now take these company

names over to LinkIn and search by people and look at their job titles to see if anyone has a role in line

with what I am looking for.

If anyone finds an easier solution to the issue of finding companies that have software developers (or

any other career) that are not a part of their core business, let me know. I will update this guide with the

new information. Contact me at thomas9898a@gmail.com.

Good luck with your search!

Tom Arend