Job Search Research on Target Companies: Prepare for Your Interview Success

You’ve done a lot of work preparing and searching for a job and now it is time to research the company prior to the interview. Researching a company is critical to having a successful encounter with the hiring agent. You want to be able to walk into the interview with confidence.

Research the Company Broadly

• Check the website-you can discover a tremendous about of useful information about a company’s financial health, recent news and community involvement.
• Check with your network-see what your partners know about the company-both pros and cons.
• If possible talk to current and past employees-check out the work environment.
• Learn who the competitors are and what impact they have on the company.
• Research local business journals, national news, databases, and more. Learn whether the company is growing or contracting, if it has recently launched new products, or if it has received an influx of investment money—this can tell you a great deal about the company’s current trajectory.
• Research the company’s top employees on LinkedIn.

As you prepare for the interview, keep in mind that you are not just learning about the company and its culture, you are learning about the type of people that they hire. Through this type of research you are developing your own presentation plan on how to handle the interview itself.

Narrow Your Research to Prepare for Your Interview

• Review your information and target key areas that you may want to discuss during the interview.
• Determine how your strengths can help the company move forward and achieve its goals.
• Create talking points that you will be able to use to discuss the company’s unique values.
• Be prepared to explain how hiring you will benefit the company.
• Develop questions to ask during the interview. Show your interest in the company. Don’t be afraid to ask about future goals of the company.
• Use LinkedIn and Google to look up the name of the interviewer. Learning names and titles can help you feel more comfortable during the interview. Check to see if you have any common interests.

The more that you learn about a company prior to an interview, the more confident you will be going into the interview itself. You will have an idea ahead of time if you are a good fit for the company culture.