The phase before the interview is the most crucial phase to et prepared. If you wish to nail the interview, you need a top notch preparation strategy, may it be analyzing the mock interviews or preparing for technical questions. Many candidates forget the most important part while preparing this strategy i.e. researching about the company. Some even do this but it is not enough and up to the mark.
Being able to answer all the questions related to the company highlights your preparedness, presence of mind and helps you stand out from the crowd.
Why is it Important to Research Before Interview?
1. Makes you more confident
Having enough knowledge about the company makes you confident enough to enter the interview with perfect body language. Your confidence is something that helps you to have a smooth interaction with the interviewer.
2. Prevents you from getting blindsided
Many times the interviewer asks questions related to current affairs of their companies. This is where your research helps you to be assertive.
3. Shows your sincerity
Your sincerity is something a recruiter is looking for in an interview. Showcasing your preparedness for the interview helps you highlight your dedication and devotion towards the job and even company. This also highlights values like fidelity towards the company.
11 Thing to Research Before the Interview
1. Company objectives
Company objectives are something that makes the company make its mark in the industry. Search about company’s mission, values, work culture so that you can tailor your answers according to their needs and value mindset. Also search about their contribution in any environmental cause or other social change cause that makes it different from others.
2. Company’s product and services
Knowing about the company’s products and services is the most important thing. Most of the questions in the interview will be based on their products or services. For example if the company is an IT consultancy firm then you get a chance to be prepared for technical questions related to coding and programming.
3. Some important customers of company
Knowing the important customers of the company and praising their customer services by giving examples of customer satisfaction testimonies is a good strategy to win their hearts. This will also give you an idea of extent of exposure you will get when you get this job. This also helps you to know the company’s demographics and focus points.
4. Company history
Knowing about the interview helps you stand out from the crowd and impress the interviewer. It will help you to answer the questions like ‘Why this company?’ You will also get the idea if there are cases which highlight that company doesn’t care about their employees in history. In such a case you will be prepared to make a choice.
5. Company’s needs
Knowing the company’s needs helps you answer more efficiently in an interview. To know their needs, analyse the advertisement and promotional campaigns that they did for this interview or position. If they want someone who can work according to strict deadlines then you need to showcase your organizational and time management skills.
6. Company’s heads
Researching about the company’s heads like CEO, COO, President helps you understand what the company values and respects. You can use platforms like linkedin, facebook to know more about these company heads and their personality. You can also network with other employees using these platforms.
7. Interviewer’s information
Search about your interviewer’s both professional and personal background. However, avoid using any unnecessary reference to their personal life while answering their questions. These background checks are to know their pain points. It will also give you references to talk about and praise their professional achievements. Knowing the interviewer’s field of experience helps you to focus on particular area of about which the interviewer can question a lot.
8. Socio-political news related to company(if any)
There are many big companies that have their impact on political and social scenarios of a country. Knowing about their contribution in these fields will helps you to answer the questions about company’s uniqueness.
9. Testimonies of ex and current employees of the company
Employee testimonies are the best way to judge the work environment and culture of the company. It also gives you an idea about the management of the company. You can use platforms like linkedin, facebook or Instagram to get connected with the current employees or ex employees of the company. The websites like glassdoor or indeed can also provide you with company reviews and employee testimonies.
10. Current projects of company
A multinational company have many projects under their hand and the first question that they face after hiring you is about which project they should assign you. Having information about some of their prominent projects and using that information as references helps the interviewer to find a project that is best fit for you according to your interests.
11. Company’s competitor
Knowing the company’s competitor will help you to put yourself as a solution to their problem. Mention your qualities that will help the company to lead the industry. Don’t sound too conceited while mentioning your qualities. You can also research about their company to point out their mistakes and to justify your choice of company.
Conclusion
Researching about the company and other factors to get prepared is something that justifies ‘interview starts before you walk in through the door.’ Your research should show your passion towards the company and the job. Analyze the mock interviews on you tube and practice the answers to the question while looking at the mirror. This will help you to maintain a good body posture during the interview. Look for interview simulators to practice.
Be confident and have a smile on your face throughout the interview. Your optimism and positive vibes are something that a company appreciates.
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
All the team management, content creation, and monetization tasks are handled by me. Together with the team at PrepMyCareer, the aim is to provide useful and engaging content to our readers.