Tools to Forge Your Next Opportunity

Career Research

Research what a role pays, where your industry is headed, and which companies belong on your target list, using resources that are free and mostly government-run.

176 listingsLinks checked Oct 2026How listings are chosen

The best job searches start with aim. Before the applications go out, it is worth knowing what your target role pays, where its industry is headed, and which companies you actually want, the 50 to 100 names I talk about in the Job Seeker Playbook. The resources below cover that research without asking for your money or your email. Start broad with the occupation and industry tools, then use the directories to put real company names on your list.

Company signals and target lists

For building the target list and checking the health of what is on it: who is funded, who is hiring, who is shrinking, and what the public filings actually say.

Employers by industry

Directories that list the employers in one field, which is exactly what you want when building a target list inside your industry. A membership or supplier directory is a list of companies that hire people like you, even when nobody calls it a job site.

Industry research

Whether an industry is growing or shrinking should shape where you aim. Both of these are free Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Your professional association is the other industry research tool, and most publish data the government does not.

Occupations, pay, and outlook

What a role pays, what it involves, and where it is headed. The first two come from the Department of Labor, which collects this data directly from employers. If your company gave you an internal title that nobody outside would recognize, search these by what you actually do, and the real-world titles come to you.

State company directories

State wages and job outlook

Not sure which to use? The Job Seeker Playbook walks through the search in order.