How do you choose the right employer?

Frankly speaking, in all my working life I have never made a decision to choose the company that I would like to work for, perhaps I should have and I probably would not have changed jobs so many times.  So the question arises, as a fresh graduate, is it advisable to make a list of good companies that we would like to work for and focus all our energy on getting into that company? How do we select the criteria in which we can rank the companies to then draw up a short list?

Difficult isn't it? Most of us rely on recruitment agencies to find the right role and the right employer, we have absolutely no idea who we want to work for except that we need a job and we have to pay our bills. However, you have made a decision to become an accountant, you chose your college and the exams you wanted to study, you have studied hard and passed all your exams, so why not go the extra mile and choose your employer too?

In my experience, your career will have more meaning if you actively take control of it and not let other people decide for you. The research you do in the early stages of your career will help you define your career path. So how do you go about doing this?

My suggestion would be to first decide which industry is best suited to your personality, you can take some personality tests on the internet and see where you fit in.

Next is to decide on the location you would like to work in, closest to home etc.

Make a list of companies in your selected industry and then research them on the internet. You will need to look at the following:

• Viability - Are they having problems, is it profitable, is it growing?
• Culture - Look at the "Our People" page on their website, see what they say about their company
• Leadership - Who are the bosses and what are they like, once again have a look at the "Our People's" page and read up on managers and directors if names are provided, Google them if possible, see their back grounds etc.
• Work life balance - Are they committed to their employees, see benefits packages.
• Will you be proud to work for this organisation? - Your first instinct will tell it all, listen to it.

Now not all companies will have this information readily available, you can approach recruitment agencies and see if they know about the companies and if they are actively recruiting; if they are, send in your CV; if they are not, send in your CV. You never know. If this is your dream job never give up. You can still find other work to boost your CV whilst you are still pursuing working for your ideal employer. If you have done your research and this is the one, persistence will work in your favour so don't give up.

Jane Sandhurst