A current awareness resource for students & faculty members in Business & Economics

Beyond the classroom: resources to support your career planning & job searching

Published April 14, 2025 by Mark Bodnar

Most of my posts revolve around what happens while you are here at SFU: resources and search strategies to support your research, instruction, and coursework. Of course, your life is about so much more than just assignments, and your need for information does not disappear as you walk out of the classroom! Many of the resources and skills I promote here in the BUEC Buzz are also valuable outside of the university.

Consider, for example, the information you need to plan and carry out an effective job search:

Data on trends in a given career: salary ranges, hiring trends, skills & credentials needed;
Information on target organizations: legal/labour issues, strategy shifts, key personnel;
Background on industries: technological change, financial concerns, recruitment & retention initiatives; and
Practical advice on applications, interviews, and networking.

Such questions come up often enough, that I even created a guide listing many of my favourite, go-to sources for news, company information, career overviews, and more: Job Searching Resources

I won't recreate the entire guide here, but I do want to surface a few highlights to give you a sense of what's available:

First Research industry profiles from our Mergent Intellect database: 650+ regularly updated reports offering industry-specific notes on current challenges, trends, and opportunities as well as a list of the worries ("Executive Insights") likely to currently be on the mind of each member of the C-suite — CFO, COO, CIO, etc.— in each industry.

IBISWorld industry profiles on 2500+ industries, each of which outlines the competitive forces and trends in the external environment that affect the health of an industry...and that are on the minds of the people who will be hiring you!