Taking the time to find out more about the company you applied to can give you the competitive edge needed to stand out from the other candidates. Not sure where to start? Here are a few of our pre-interview research tips.
Pre-Interview Research Tips
Congratulations on landing an interview! The company believes you have what it takes. Now is your chance to seal the deal by showing them what you have to offer. This means that a successful interview will involve a lot of preparation. To help you out, we’ve put together some pre-interview research tips:
- Check the company website
- Get to know key players
- Browse through their LinkedIn
- Recent news about the employer
- Target market
- Skills the company values
- The competition
- Company culture
- Employee reviews
Check the Company Website
The company website is where you’ll find the basics about the company such as the products and services they provide. This will give you a good idea of how the company works and where you’ll fit in. To be extra prepared, take a look at who their partners are too.
Get to Know Key Players
Make sure you know the names of the CEO and important stakeholders in your department. If you know who you’ll be interviewed by, try to do some research on them too. Calling people by their names during your interview will really be impressive.
Browse Through Their LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great place to get to know the brand identity of the company you’ve applied to. Pay special attention to current employees’ profiles so you can have an idea of what your duties will be. If you find that you have any connections with someone who works at the organisation, you might be able to ask them to put in a good word for you.
Recent News About the Employer
You should always bring your A-game to an interview. But this is especially true if your potential employer has been making waves in the media for their achievements. On the other hand, if they are in the news for something bad, you might want to think twice about accepting a job with them.
Target Market
The company’s target market will help you see if they are aligned to your career goals or not. If you are passionate about working with young people, but the company offers services to the elderly, it might not be where you should work permanently.
Skills the Company Values
Checking what the company values is a great way to draw attention to those very same skills on your CV. However, this is also a great way to talk about your weaknesses in an interview. You could maybe acknowledge that you don’t have 100% of the skills you need, but are willing to work on them.
The Competition
A little competition is good because it ensures that a business always delivers quality products and services. You can also impress interviewers by showing that you know a bit about the industry, their competitors and have insight into their successes and flaws.
Company Culture
Remember that an interview is all about seeing whether you are a good fit for the company. So what does their website say about them? If they pride themselves on being fast-paced and treating their employees like family, you need to decide if that environment works for you.
Employee Reviews
Like we’ve said before, the last thing you want is to join a company where the environment is bad or not suited to your needs. So check the employee reviews on websites such as Indeed or Glassdoor. The reviews are divided into different categories (such as salaries or working hours) so you can see which aspects are good or bad.
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