You need to know specific information about the particular company and its place in the entire industry. The trends, the economy, legislation, new developments, and technology all affect the entire industry You want to appear knowledgeable and up-to-date about the latest trends and how they might affect the particular company.
Learning about an entire industry involves reading economic publications and could also include getting information off the Internet.
Printed industry sources
Business newspapers, national magazines and professional journals, and the entire news media offer many articles and data about every industry in this country and beyond. The volume of information can be overwhelming. Just stay focused and limit the amount of time and research you do.
For a basic overview of the major industries in the United States, consult the U.S. Industrial Outlook. This reference is published by the U.S. Department of Commerce and provides descriptions of 350 industries. You can learn about the major trends affecting each industry and the impact of foreign competition.
In addition, try consulting the Career Guide to Americas Top Industries, published by the U. S. Department of Labor. This reference includes an overview of 40 major industries and identifies the types of jobs each offers, salary expectations, training required, advancement opportunities, and industry trends.
Every industry also has professional journals that publish articles about the latest developments and trends affecting it.
They also include profiles of some of the leaders in the indus-try. This information is especially helpful in your interview process.
National magazines and newspapers also provide useful information about a variety of industries.
Internet sources
The Internet contains more information than any individual can possibly assimilate. For example, if you want to get cur-rent information about the pharmaceutical industry from the Internet, simply connect to your server, type "pharmaceutical industry" (including the quotes), select your search engine, and ask it to identify the possible sources. This particular search yielded over 2.2 million Web sites connected to this topic. Many of the search engines rate the sources they identify and give the top-rated sites priority ranking.
After you find Web sites that offer you the most relevant information, you may want to bookmark these addresses and add them to your list of favorites for easy access. Most pharmaceutical industries also advertise in popular magazines or news publications. These advertisements usually contain the company's Web site address. You can connect to these Web sites for additional useful information.
Learn to limit your time on the Internet; you cannot possibly check out everything you find. Save the more useful addresses in your favorites list to make future searches easier.
You need to learn a lot before you set out on your interview. Make use of your local library, the Internet, and above all, your personal contacts to impress your interviewers with your knowledge of the company and the industry.