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Target List Questions

Remember, your Target Market and Target List is NOT necessarily a list of employers who have current job openings. It’s a list of companies who have people doing the kind of job you are looking for.


Use these high yield questions to examine industries and companies.

Industry & Sector : What information to look for?

Remember : Sector refers to a broad area of economy while industry refers to a grouping of companies. eg. banking industry within the financial sector.

  1. Overall trends in the industry or sector?

  2. Issues, challenges and future direction of this industry.

  3. Industries which are expected to grow in the next few years.

  4. Regional trends in this industry for a particular geography & location.

  5. Key skills needed in this industry.
    • Are your skills being sought after in this sector/industry?

    • What are typical roles (eg. project managers, sales, engineers etc) in this industry? What level of seniority do you fit in?

  6. Is there a trend for outsourcing in this industry?

    For example, call center jobs are being outsourced but field sales jobs in USA are NOT being outsourced.

  7. Demography –

    eg age, ethnicity & sex of workers in this industry ?

  8. Are there organizations of different sizes and scope in this industry? Do these differences translate into more opportunities for you?

    For example, in Texas, we not only have Oil & Gas industry, but we also have other industries which depend on this primary Oil Gas sector. Technology application providers which provide project management and other software for these oil companies, suppliers who supply maintenance parts to the oil industry are all part of the Oil & Gas ecosystem. If you have experience in Oil & Gas you could be a good fit for any of these other dependent industries. Conversely if you have experience with these dependent industries, you could present it as an industry experience of Oil & Gas!

  9. How do you think your experience and knowledge corrrelates with the needs of this industry?

  10. Think of people who may have worked in this industry? Give them a call and ask them these questions!

Which Industry To Target ?

Explore your skills with the Skill Profiler
Discover (in about 5 minutes) which occupations & industries employ your skills. Tip: If you are coming from outside North America, use this website to find north american names for the jobs you do today. Very useful while writing your Professional Objective. Keep in mind the skills listed here for your resume.

Companies : What information to look for?

  1. Size of company.

    Measure size either by number of employees or by the total revenue.

  2. Location ?
    Is thre company located in the place where you want to work?

    Where do you want to work ? Are you ready to drive to work or commute by public transport ?

  3. Is the company healthy & growing? What changes do you see in the future?

    eg. increasing profit, more number of employees, building new or larger offices, increasing stock value, releasing dividends?

  4. What is its revenue model?

    How does the company make most of its profit and revenue? Through services or products? What are its main products and services?

  5. Is the company focused on a particular geography?

  6. What is the company’s target market & customers Example – women, kids, businesses like non-profits or institutions like banks etc?

  7. What are the reasons for its growth?

    eg. Is it acquiring new companies, releasing new products, new services, new contracts, partnerships, deals, new offices, management change – can you identify key strategies planned?

  8. What are the challenges facing this company ( and also this industry as a whole) –
    Can you find out Key Business Requirements today for its CEO, CFO, CTO? Any legal issues, bills or regulations that might impact the company?

  9. Can modern technology & internet help ?

  10. Can you think of suggestions to –
    (1) reduce cost,
    (2) increase profit or
    (3) achieve better efficiencies?

  11. Who are its main competitors (& relative position in the market of your company compared to competitors –
    wrt market share, stock prices, revenue, debt-to-equity ratio, analyst ratings etc) ?

    Could the competitors be your targets?

  12. Are there any serious law suits against this company – patent infringements, non compliance with regulatory laws etc?

  13. What is the general perception about this company in the news, blogs and offline?

  14. Mission Statement & About Us page of the company

  15. How many employees are there in this company with your skills?

    eg. if you are a sales rep, then try to find out how many sales reps the company has. If you are a nurse, then try to find out how many nurses are on the hospital’s payroll.

  16. Is it a good employer?

    What is it like to work there, what do they expect from employees, how do they treat employees, what do they pay for the kind of work you want?

Ask yourself these questions as you read the news:

Which large and small companies in your industry and city have aggressive growth plans, mergers and acquisitions, new partnerships and large deals according to news sources?

What are other positive changes which would require these companies to hire more people?