Dear Joyce: After surviving the first layoff round and fearing another, I decided to get my résumé out to see what was out there. A 2-year-old start-up made me an offer.

I did my normal research on the company, and it looked good with a promising product. During the interview, a company director and manager repeatedly told me the company had deep pockets and was in great financial shape.

Then the wheels came off. The very day I started my new position, management called a meeting and announced that unless additional funding materialized, the company would go under in two months. It did and most of us were let go -- with no severance package, nothing.

The director and manager now say that upper management, too, led them astray.

I have been out of work for three months now, and the job market is horrible. Going to work for my last employer seems to be the worst mistake I have made in my career. I will go on with my life, but how will I know that I am not being lied to again? -- M.J.

Dear M.J.: Look at the upside. You could have squandered many more months in that fiasco. The sooner you stumble, the more time you have to catch up. I have a hunch that you made only a perfunctory check -- am I right? -- into the company's financial health, and then you heard what you wanted to hear. Don't waste time kicking yourself. We all do things like that.

But now that you're ready to roll up your sleeves and do an all-around better detective job, here goes.

Jack Plunkett Says "The Almanac of American Employers 2002-2003" by www.PlunkettResearch.com is a prime employer directory of the 500 best, largest, most successful companies that are hiring. You can find this respected reference, which includes financials, in libraries and colleges. The publishing firm's CEO, Jack Plunkett, has spent a career pulling together chapter and verse on companies. He cuts to the chase: "To do a job search, there's no sense in trying to become a financial analyst on your own. Short-cut your task by choosing reliable references."

Big Companies Plunkett suggests you check a library copy of the "Bond Guide," published by Standard & Poor's. The monthly booklet rates thousands of corporate bonds, based on a company's ability to pay. If a company's debt is riskier than "investment grade," more investigation is warranted before you chase a job at that company.

Additional current S & P data is found on www.AdvisorInsight.com. Click Market Access Program for free company-provided information.

Study stock analysts' reports. They cover current finances and future prospects of specific companies, as well as the competitive landscape. Go to Multex Investor. A fee, often very affordable, is required for most of the reports, but some are free.

All Companies These include privately owned and medium-sized entities. Plunkett sends you to indexes and archives of major newspapers for related business stories. Some libraries offer an online database called ProQuest, which leads you into online archives of key publications.

For smaller companies, look at American Journalism Review and www.BizJournal.com to spot links to newspapers and business papers across the nation.

Company Web sites may contain the annual report in the investor relations section.

If you're really determined, look at Hoover's, Plunkett advises, and use its links to order a credit report on the employer. The reports cost about $25 to $125 and can help you know if the company is paying its bills on time or has other problems.

More Online Research Quintessential Careers posts "Guide to Researching Companies," which includes fact-finding via human networking.

Wall Street Research Net stuffs itself with data about companies' stock.

www.WetFeet.com offers 1,600 company snapshots, including profitability.

Find a classic tutorial on researching companies at Home.Sprintmail.com.

As you decide how much effort you want to invest in validating financials, remember, as a college professor once said, that nothing worth learning is learned quickly except parachuting.

Send career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007, or e-mail her at jlk@sunfeatures.com. Sorry, the volume of mail makes personal replies impossible.

©2001 Tribune Media Services, Inc.