Researching A Prospective Employer
Interviews are normally tough and stressful
Not only do you have to answer a range of difficult and unknown questions, but you need to relay your answers in a completely smooth and concise manner, you need to do so without pause or interruption, and you need to sound completely self-assured while doing it. On top of this, regardless of the person you’re speaking with, the ownness is on you to build a good rapport with your interviewer over the course of the interview
It’s been proven that thorough preparation prior to an interview greatly increases your chances of success over other candidates. While a main aspect of that preparation involves researching the employer you’re interviewing with, most people don’t always recognise the benefits that such research can bring. One of the questions people most anticipate during an interview is the ‘what can you tell me about this company?’ question. While it’s true that the interviewer expects you to be interested in and to know about the company, and therefore a question like this is one you would expect to encounter, there are many other beneficial aspects to researching a company besides this. Not only does a bit of research on the company help you get a much better feel for your prospective employer, but doing so can also give you great information that can be really helpful in your conversations when it comes to rapport building with your interviewer. Having the insight that research provides can also be really helpful when it comes to answering other types of difficult questions over the course of your interview, as well as providing you with useful insights when it comes to composing your own questions for the end of the interview. Even a small amount of research puts you on a much better footing going into your next interview, and will leave you feeling more knowledgeable and confident when you first meet your interviewer
EFFECTIVE RESEARCH REVOLVES AROUND 4 MAIN AREAS
• Looking in the right places to find information
• Asking the right questions – this involves you determining the type of information you are looking for
• Discerning what information is relevant from what is not
• Spending an appropriate amount of time researching a prospective employer– this involves you prioritizing how much time you spend on researching a company over other aspects of your interview preparation
LOOKING IN THE RIGHT PLACES TO FIND YOUR INFORMATION
One of the most important aspects when conducting research of any kind is to ensure you are looking in the right places to source your information. Outlined below are some of the most effective areas you can go to source useful information on a prospective employer
The Job Profile
You should always refer to the profile on the job advert whenever looking for insights into the company. Some job profiles will be helpful, others not so…
The Company Website
This is the next place you should go when conducting research on a prospective employer. Look for tabs on the website such as ‘About Us’, ‘Our Mission’, or ‘Company Culture’, as they will usually tell you all you need to know regarding the company culture, its values, and its overall objectives
Friends and Family
If you have friends or family who work for the company they should be the first people you talk to as you’re sure to gain some great insights.
(Make sure you mention that know someone who works for the company if this is the case, because it’s something your interviewer will definitely pick up on)
Social Media
Social media formats such as YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter can be a great way to get additional information on things like the company culture, current news, upcoming announcements, and more…
Other Sites
We can give you insights regarding the working environment of companies, salary ranges, and potential interviewer questions. The best way to use this information is not to pay attention to specific reviews in particular, but rather to use any reviews provide to identify trends and patterns
Research the Competition
Another potentially great source of information. If you’re willing to spend a bit of extra time researching that companies competitors you’ll sometimes come across interesting facts you’ll be able to use to great effect to impress your interviewer
Check the Web
Searches on the World Wide Web for news and announcements about your prospective employer will usually turn up valuable bits of information that you can use in the interview.
You can also do a broader search for information regarding the industry in general, or the job in particular, if you want to spend a bit more time getting a better feel for the line of work. Doing so can be a really useful way to find additional bits of information you may not have otherwise come across, and this can be great for bringing up facts the interviewer might not have ever heard about before
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
Asking the right questions is something that should always be at the forefront of our minds whenever conducting any type of research. As it pertains to researching a company, we need to be anticipating the types of areas we will be questioned on, as well as the sort of information that might be useful for us to incorporate into our conversation with the interviewer. From there we can target the areas most relevant for us to gather information on.
When we consider how interviews are conducted, this could be things like:
The Interviewer
If you’ve been given the name of your interviewer and you’re feeling bold, attempt to impress by doing an online search through social media for things like professional accomplishments, distinguished career roles, or personally related interests you might share with them. Then when you first meet your interviewer and start talking with them, bring up the fact you’ve done some research on them and try to build some rapport from there
Company Employees
Who is the ideal employee for this company? What do they value most in their employees? Focusing your attention on what the company wants and needs most from the people they hire is a great strategy when searching for information on them
Company Benefits
Looking into what sort of benefits the company offers, holidays, pensions, etc, can be very useful when deciding if the role and company are right for you.
(It’s good interviewing etiquette not to ask questions about things like benefits or salary during your interview. While there’s no set rule that says these types of questions aren’t allowed, the interview is looking for you to be interested in the job itself, so it may affect the interviewer’s evaluation of you if you’re questions aren’t centered around the role or the company in question. Nevertheless, such information is still very useful to know, and you might also come across additionally related information that you can incorporate into your conversation with the interviewer along the way)
Career Progression
How does the company reward loyalty and hard work? This is always a good thing to know when deciding if you want to commit yourself to the role. It can also help you compile your own questions at the end of your interview
Company Culture
Try and find out about that companies working environment. Look for information on employee-based schemes and incentives. Does the company participate in any philanthropic initiatives? This can make for excellent positive talking points during your interview and can be great for answering questions about the company as well
Company Values
What does that company value most? What does it look for in its employees, in itself as an organisation, and in the products or services it offers? Such information can make for excellent talking points either in general conversation, when answering the interviewer’s questions, or when composing your own questions for the end of the interview
Company News and Events
Has the company been in the headlines recently for anything good? Has it made any major announcements over the last couple of years? Information like this can be really great for making yourself stand out from the crowd by impressing the interviewer with something about the company they might not even have been aware of
The CEO
Who is the CEO? This is a simple but important piece of information that people sometimes overlook
Business Operations
Where is the company headquartered? Does it have any plans to, or has it recently expanded into any new areas? Knowing information like this can be great for starting conversations, telling the interviewer what you know about the company, or for composing your own questions at the end of the interview
Founding
When was the company founded? How long has it been in business? Again, knowing information like this is great for showing off what you know about the company, making conversation with the interviewer, or for composing your own questions at the end of the interview
Achievements
A perfect subject to touch on during an interview. Has the company had any notable successes or received any awards or accolades in recent years? The great thing about bringing up a companies achievements is that it’s a positive subject that can lead into other fruitful areas of conversation with your interviewer
Customer Base
Who or what customer base does the company target? Is there anything that stands out about the companies customer base? Are there any specific reasons why their customers choose them? Knowing the answers to these questions can give you some excellent talking points during an interview, and can also serve as a great starting point when composing your own questions for the interviewer
Products and Services
What are the main products or services this company offers? What stands out about the products or services it offers? Have they recently, or are they planning in the near future, to change or diversify what they offer? Knowing information like this can be great for impressing the interviewer, especially when making conversation or composing your questions for the end of the interview
Competitors
Who are this companies nearest competitors? Have they had any successes over their competition in recent years? What differentiates them from their nearest rivals? Taking a bit of extra time to learn this information can give you some really insightful facts that you can use to impress your interviewer with
DISCERNING WHAT INFORMATION IS RELEVANT FROM WHAT IS NOT
Considering what information is relevant to include in your interview preparation is a largely subjective consideration. When it comes to researching the company, there are no set rules on how to do this, other than relying on your own good judgment and intellect. With this being said though, there are certainly some guidelines you can follow that will help. To begin with, start by referring to the sections set out on this page to assist you. Also, remember that referencing the job description for information on the company in the first instance will help as well.
When conducting research into the company, as an unwritten rule, if you come across information but you’re unsure whether or not it might be useful, it’s better to include it rather than not to, that’s because you can always edit down any unneeded information later. Remember that when researching a company, the main objective is to gather enough information so that when asked by the interviewer you have something impressive to say. Do this by first gathering any information and facts you feel might be useful. From there, edit the information you’ve gathered down to 1 or 2 well written paragraphs. Rewrite these paragraphs in the form of bullet points and rehearse them until you can recall these facts with ease.
Remember that researching the company has other benefits as well. To begin with, not only does doing research give you a much better feel for the company and the industry itself. But you can also use the interesting facts and information you’ve learned to make conversation and build rapport during the interview…
SPENDING AN APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF TIME RESEARCHING A PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYER
It’s vital when preparing for an interview that you prioritize your time appropriately
While time prioritization is more of a subjective element as concerns researching a prospective employer – mainly because the amount of time you spend researching an employer is partly based on how much you want the job, as well as on how much effort you’re prepared to put into getting it – even with this being said, when we consider an effective strategy for our interview preparation, researching the company should only take up a small percentage of our preparation time overall.
You would normally expect this to equate into around an hour or so spent researching the company first by collating any information you feel may be relevant for your interview, and then around the same amount of time again sorting through and filtering this down to a manageable amount to study before the interview
What you’re trying to do with the information you collect is assimilate and rehearse it so you can recall it flawlessly. That way on the day you can show the interviewer just how knowledgeable and interested you are about the company. Something you must consider is that during an interview, the conversation around what you know about the company will probably only last a few minutes at most. That’s why, while researching the company is important, it should only take up a relatively short amount of your preparation time overall. Use what you’ve found to condense the information into 1 or 2 well written paragraphs, and then rewrite and rehearse these in the form of bullet points (so it sounds less scripted when you recite this information to your interviewer). The information you include here can cover a broad range of topics and should be based upon whatever facts you feel will impress the interviewer most – so it’s really up to you what you put into them.
(See the suggestions listed under ‘asking the right questions’.)
You may also feel it’s worthwhile to rehearse other bits of information you’ve come across that you’ve not been able to fit into these paragraphs. Preparing for an interview will normally leave you with a lot to revise for, so it’s highly recommended you keep any extra bits of miscellaneous information to a minimum. Remember there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to work any of these extra facts into the conversation with your interviewer anyway. If you can’t fit them into the initial 1 or 2 paragraphs you’ve compiled, list them on another sheet but use no more than half a page of A4 paper to do so. Then once you’ve written this information out into bullet points and rehearsed it until you’ve got it memorised, you’ll be one step closer to being ready to take on your next interview…