Zooming In: How to Research a Company for a Job Interview

Do you have a job interview coming up? Are you wanting to learn as much about the company prior to the formal interview process? It’s critical to research a company and become as much of an expert on it as possible when you may be quizzed about all aspects of it. Plus, the concept of interviewing an employer to make sure it would be a good fit for you is also imperative. Consider the following tips on how to research a company for a job interview.

Take a good look at the company’s website.

An official website is a good starting point when you need to research a company. Some organizations have extremely detailed websites with a wealth of information about the company’s history, mission and values, staff directory, photos, locations, and so much more. You can also get a good sense of the company’s priorities by looking at how it presents itself through a website.

Get social and scour the company’s social network accounts.

If a company has a presence on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, or the like, pay those pages a virtual visit as well. Many companies will link to content on their websites, but they might also post links to other articles, as well as photos, infographics, relevant inspirational quotes, testimonials, videos, and other content. Glancing over this info can help you understand the types of messages the organization is disseminating and its primary areas of focus.

Of course, with social media, you can also look at comments, reviews, and other interactions that customers or followers of the company have posted. This info can give you a unique perspective.

Look up news stories about the company.

An effective way to research a company and find out recent happenings with it is to use Google News or another news search site. Did it recently merge with another? Is there something negative that has happened to it recently, such as closing down locations or laying off staff? Reading the reporting of news sources can offer up some insight into the current or most recent state of affairs within an organization.

Use LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a fantastic resource for many reasons. Not only can you use it as a professional networking tool and resource to search for jobs, but you can also find out a lot about companies and their employees.

If you have a job interview coming up with a particular individual or a panel of several, look them all up on LinkedIn. Check out their job titles, duties, how long they’ve worked for the company, and their previous experience and education. This is a simple yet insightful way to research a company.

Check out Glassdoor.

Glassdoor is a company review website for current and former employees, along with those who are job candidates who interviewed but may not have been hired. It might be worth looking on Glassdoor to see if your prospective employer is listed.

While some of the information on this site is fairly accurate, it certainly could contain some contributions that are questionable. A big reason for this is that most of the reviews are contributed anonymously. At the very least, you can get a glimpse into a variety of perspectives from those who have either worked for or interviewed with a particular organization.

Research the company’s products, services, and industry.

It's critical to know what industry you are getting into if it’s a new field for you. Or, if you’re staying in a particular field, update yourself on where things stand with it. Look at trends and other data you can find about how the industry has changed and projections for the future.

In addition, examine the specific products and/or services of the company you are exploring. Try to track down pricing, customer reviews, and anything else that can give you some insight into these offerings. Having all of this knowledge in your mind – or as notes written down – can be a big help when it’s time for the job interview.