Researching Employers

If you want to find a career with a positive social impact, it is important to do some research about the particular companies you are applying to. The following links will help you find out how ethical a particular company is.

• Business in the Community - a membership organisation that mobilises business for good. Assess its members, and gives company of the year awards. May have some information on the organisation to which you are applying.
• The Corporate Responsibilty (CORE) Coalition - a group of NGOs and other organisations which seek to change UK company law, in order to increase the benefits of business on society and decrease it's negative impacts. Their website contains many reports on corporate responsibility, some of which might be relevant.
• Corporate Watch - UK-based no-profit campaigning organisation, providing information about the actions of major corporations. “Our website, provides detailed profiles of some of the world's largest corporations and overviews of each major industry sector”
• Ethical Consumer - Website and bi-monthly magazine with a "corporate critic" database that enables subscribers to check firms' ethical and environmental performance.
• Ethical Corporation - an online magazine which encourages debate about responsible business. Searching their archive may provide information about specific corporations. Their 'services directory' provides a listing of corporations which consider themselves to be ethical.
  
• FTSE4Good Index Series - “designed to measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards, and to facilitate investment in those companies.”
• GuideStar UK - claims to have comprehensive information about every charity
• Investigating an employer - information on how to do it, from the Graduation Pledge website
• Illinois Inst of Tech. - has links to codes of ethics of professional societies, corporations, government, and academic institutions (mainly US, but worth checking especially for international organisations)
  
• Net Impact Company Rankings 2008 – a comparison of over 250 major companies in terms of achievements in corporate social and environmental responsibility.