Now that I know what I want to be when I grow up: how do I find out what companies are out there?

(A short tutorial on searching for company information)

Tools Needed

• Internet connection• Current library card (pay off those fines!, borrow your brothers’ or even apply for your own….)

• Well functioning noodle (often enhanced by a lack of distractions)

• Paper and pencil for taking notes• Free storage space (Disk drive/jump drive/etc to save your results)

• Printer (if you want a hard copy of your search results)

Go to www.finditva.com you should get the screen below:

This is the number below the barcode on your library card

Select your library from the

drop down menu

For the minimum frustration follow this tip

Choose this option

It will open a new window

For this example we will search by industry

Unless you have a specific code in mind choose the browse option – for this example the NAICS codes option has been selected

Note: If the SIC Code circle is green and you choose the Browse NAICS Codes option or vice versa a computer

razzberry awaits you!

These are the top level codes, you can get more specific by drilling down through the categories simply by selecting

one of the categories and clicking on it.

You can also take do a broader search by using wildcards. For example: you could search all

manufacturing by using 3* instead of one of the 31, 32 or 33 subgroups

You can also search by Company name

Company name search results

Information Jackpot!

News/Magazines tab results

These are citations – if you want to read the actual article you will need to look it up separately.

This means there is a readable article attached.

Don’t overlook the company websiteSearch Linkedin

Ask your network for contacts

Finally – don’t forget to savor the journey. What you are doing now will be the fuel for many a story told around the proverbial water cooler. Be sure to find some laughs along the way!