Look before you leap

Investigate the employer

As well as researching what the work involves, you need to find out as much as you can about an employer. It's quite possible to have a job you completely enjoy spoiled by the atmosphere you have to work in.

• The web makes it easier than ever to find information on companies by searching news archives. This works particularly well for large companies because stories about them appear frequently in the national press and media, all of which have well-maintained archives. Many local papers provide something similar for research into small companies.
  
  
• Listen to what other people say about them. All employers have a reputation. Take note of what that is and compare it to the image they project in their mission statements and annual reports. Although these are usually written in corporate-speak, they may hold clues and give a feel for the ethos of the organisation.
  
  
• Be choosy about who you apply to. No point in wasting energy trying to impress those who are never going to provide the right environment for you.

Investigate during the interview

In the end, there's no better source of information than your own senses. When you go for an interview, use them.

• Look at the people who work there. Do they appear happy or resentful?
  
  
• Listen to what they're talking about. Are they motivated or bored by what they're doing?
  
  
• The hidden areas of a workplace tell you a lot about it, particularly communal areas where people relax together. Are they welcoming and cared for? If they are, it's a good indication of a happy, co-operative staff. If there are no such facilities, it's a telling comment on the way the organisation treats people.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to ask about staff turnover, but don't be put off if it appears high. Companies that have retention problems may by spurred into examining how they can keep staff. Use the interview to find out how much they really value the people who work for them.

Read about women on the job. Get some inside info straight from the filly's mouth

Do some person-to-person job research online