I tell job seekers in all my workshops that research is key to their job search. I’m being redundant, but it’s true and worth repeating. Whether you’re writing a résumé or cover letter or preparing for an interview or a networking event, the time you put into research is a tremendous return on investment. This time well spent precedes submitting your résumé and being interviewed for positions advertised or not.

Let’s look at the five steps you must take before you earn a seat at mid-court, the interview.

Step One

Candace Barr of Strategic Executive Connections writes that discovering which companies are growing the fastest is the start of the job search. “The very first step in your career transition or executive job search should be researched. So many people skip over this step quickly and do not take the time to really dig deep, consider their skill set as well as economic conditions when choosing target companies.”

An excellent source of the Fastest Growing Companies is the Inc 5000 list. Here you can find a list of 5,000 companies that showed the fastest growth rate in 2010. This would be a great place to start your research, as Candace Barr suggests.

Step Two

Once you’ve located the companies you’d like to research and decided which companies are the ones for which you would like to work, you should dedicate a great deal of your computer time to visiting their websites.

Study what’s happening at your chosen companies. Read pages on their products or services, their press releases (if it’s a public company), biographies of the companies’ principals, and any other information that will increase your knowledge of said companies. Your goal is to eventually make contact and meet with people at your target companies, so it makes sense to know about the companies before you engage in conversation. This research will also help when composing your résumé and cover letter and, of course, it will come into play at the interview.

Step Three

If you don’t have familiar contacts at your favorite companies, you’ll have to identify new potential contacts. You might be successful in ferreting them out by calling reception, but chances are you’ll have more success by utilizing LinkedIn’s Companies feature. This feature of LinkedIn is something my job seekers have used to successfully make contact with people at their desired companies. Again, research is key in identifying the proper people with whom to speak.

Most likely you’ll have first-degree contacts that know the people you’d like to contact—contacts who could send an introduction to someone in the company. These contacts could include hiring managers, Human Resources, and directors of departments. If, on the other hand, you have a first-degree contact at a company, she could initiate personal correspondence with the appropriate persons.

Step Four

Begin initial contact with those who you’ve identified as viable contacts. Your job is to become known to your desired companies. Will you be as well known as internal candidates? Probably not, but you’ll be better known than the schmucks who apply cold for the advertised positions—the 20% of the jobs that thousands of other people are applying for. Let’s face it; going through the process of applying for jobs on the major job boards is like being one of many casting your fishing line into a pool where one job exists. Instead, spend your time researching the companies so you’ll have illuminating questions to ask.

So, how do you draw the attention of potential employers?

• Send your résumé directly to someone you’ve contacted at the company and ask that it be considered or passed on to other companies. The risk in doing this is to be considered presumptuous. As well, your résumé will most likely be generic and unable to address the employer’s immediate needs.

• Contact someone via the phone and ask for an informational meeting. This is more acceptable than sending your résumé, for the reason mentioned above, but takes a great deal of courage. People these days are often busy and, despite wanting to speak with you, don’t have a great deal of time to sit with you and provide you with the information you seek. So don’t be disappointed if you don’t get an enthusiastic reply.

• Send a trusted and one-of-the-best-kept-secrets approach letter. The approach letter is similar to making a cold call to someone at a company, but it is in writing and, therefore, less bold. Employers are more likely to read an approach letter than return your call. Unfortunately, it’s a slower process and doesn’t yield immediate results.

• A meeting with the hiring manager or even someone who does what you do to continue your research efforts. You will ask illuminating questions that provoke informative conversation and ideally leads to meetings with other people in the company. At this point you’re not asking for a job, you’re asking for advice and information.

Step Five

Sealing the deal. Follow up with everyone you contact at your selected companies. Send a brief e-mail or hard copy letter asking if they received your résumé or initial introductory letter. If you’ve met with them, thank them for their time and the valuable information they’ve imparted. Send your inquiry no later than a week after the first contact. For encouragement, I suggest you read Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. It’s probably the most recommended book in history and for good reason. Ferrazzi goes into great detail about his methods of building relationships through networking while emphasizing the importance of constantly following up with valued contacts.

People in the career development industry never said finding a rewarding job is easy. In fact, the harder you work and the more proactive you are, the greater the rewards will be. Your job is to secure an interview leading to the final prize, a job offer. But your research skills are essential to finding the companies for which you’d like to work, identifying contacts within those companies, and getting yourself well-known by important decision-makers.