I am very new to hacking but I have learned a few small but important steps to begining the never ending road of hacking .

Footprinting-The systematic footprinting of organizations enables attackers to create a complete profile of an organization's security posture.
First you should determine the scope of your activities , corporate or subsidiaries.
It can be a large task to determine all the entities associated with a target organization.
The internet provides a vast pool of resourses you can use to help narrow your scope of activities and can provide info on organizations and thier employees.
first start with the organization's web page if it has one. Many times an organization's web site will provide a rrediculous ammount of info that WILL aid attackers. Some corporations will list thier security configuration options on thier web server.
Other items of intrest are locations , related companies, merger or acquisition news , phone numbers, contact names, e-mail addresses, privacy or security policies indicating the types of security mechanisms in place,links to other related organizations
this is just a small part of my knowledge of hacking I will continue to post info if I have any response
" Control thy passion lest they take vengence on thee"
Epictetus , Greek stoic philosopher