How to Properly Research a Company Before an Interview

After crafting a compelling resume, submitting an application, and waiting for what felt like forever, you received an invitation to interview. Congratulations!

If this is a highly anticipated opportunity, you need to make this interview count. You also need to be confident that this opportunity is right for you. But before you get caught up with nerves and anxiety about your performance, read this article now!

Today we’ll prepare you for your interview. By teaching you how to properly research your prospective company, you can become an expert on your prospective company. We’ll teach you how to use the information you learn here to demonstrate why you’re the perfect candidate for the job. What are you waiting for? Put your best foot forward and let’s do some homework!

Why You Should Research a Company Before Interviewing

Don’t rely on your improv skills to get you through your upcoming interview. Step into your interview with as much preparation as possible. Here are the reasons why you need to dedicate quality time learning about your next prospective employer. 

To understand the job roles and responsibilities. Having a clear understanding of the job description gives you a blueprint on how to navigate through the interview. Let the required skills and ideal qualities sections guide you in planning how to present yourself. In this way, you can demonstrate your the perfect fit for the role with strategic questions and responses. You can even curate a portfolio that is specifically refined for the job in question. 

To understand basic company facts and dynamics. Each company has its own mission, industry niche, and modes of operation. Improve your odds of success during your interview by informing yourself of a company’s target client, services, and management. Understanding these company operations will give you an idea as to how you can demonstrate the value you can add to a company.   

To understand a company culture. Like people, businesses are unique entities. They each have their own brand, culture, and style. By being aware of these company facets, you can showcase your behavioral fit within a company structure. 

Similar to finding a group of friends, you want to find a company where your personality and work ethic will mesh well. You should work at a company where your individuality will be supported and complemented by your future co-workers.  

To understand your values and a company’s values. All businesses seek to solve a problem. The strategies they use to solve these problems are shaped by their goals and motivations. These goals could cater to financial, environmental, political, or social motivations. 

You can enrich your professional success and job satisfaction by having a thorough understanding of your values. You want to be confident in your future with a company—working with an employer that shares the same ethics and aspirations as you will ensure you stay excited, motivated, and challenged.  

Having a thorough understanding of a company makes you stand out among other candidates. It also excites your interviewers to move forward with you. Now that we’ve discussed why you should research a company before interviewing, it's time to show you how to research. 

Explore Their Website

Learn the quick facts about your prospective company by visiting their website. Read their history, mission statement, and product sections to acquaint yourself with a company at a surface level. 

Check out their About Us and Careers pages to learn more about career opportunities, as well as perks and compensations like:

• Stock options

• Flexible work schedules 

• Relocation, meal, and wellbeing stipends

• Workplace amenities like gyms and cafeterias

• College or professional development reimbursement

And if they have a blog, why not read some of their articles? Use what’s written on their website to help you develop a “voice” or “personality” for a company. You can further your familiarity with a company through social media. 

Browse Their Social Media Profiles

Now that you’ve got a “voice” for a company, use social media to get a well-rounded sense of a company’s brand. Here are three simple yet effective strategies for learning a lot about a company in a short amount of time. 

Visit LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a super helpful social media tool for pre-interview research. This platform will give you insights into company operations, leadership culture, professional references, and career opportunities. 

With that being said, navigate to a company’s LinkedIn page and follow them. Create a digital paper trail of interest for a company by reading and genuinely interacting with their posts. If you read a post that ignites curiosity, a sense of belonging, or pride—give it a like, comment, or share. If you recognize colleagues or acquaintances at a company, connect with them. Reach out to these people politely and ask for their thoughts and reviews about a company as a whole. You can even offer to take them out to lunch to pick their brain.

If you want to prepare yourself—view your interviewer’s profiles. You can get an idea of their interests, education, and experience—thereby giving you avenues to build rapport.

Explore Twitter

For an inside look on company leadership and customer services, visit Twitter. Plenty of companies use Twitter as a means of public announcements and direct customer service. Observe how company figures present themselves. And take note of how company representatives interact and respond to customers and mentions. 

Scroll Through Instagram or Facebook

Most companies use Instagram and Facebook for advertising and publicizing the lifestyle side of their brand. These profiles can give you a glimpse into how a company supports employee individuality with a foundational brand.

Read Glassdoor Reviews

Use Glassdoor to get an insider’s account of life at a company with employee ratings on the workplace environment, compensation, perks, and culture. 

In addition to employee reviews, Glassdoor allows you to read reviews from individuals who (successfully or unsuccessfully) interviewed at a company. Reading these commentaries will subside your worry if you feel anxious not knowing what to expect for your interview. Candidates post-interview questions, processes, and observations. Some employees even detail what onboarding and training look like for new hires. 

Catch-Up on Recent News Coverage

Sifting through a company’s latest news coverage will help you conclude a company’s present situation. There are several routes you can take to get up to speed on a company’s current events. Use avenues like Google News, local newsgroups, and internal publications to help you inform yourself of a company’s ongoing progress.  Use these insights to create an educated guess regarding their future status. 

A Google News search allows you to discover trending topics related to a company. Your Google News search will return a long array of research, business, and opinion articles. 

For a local news search, you can use a search engine, a local news archive, or Twitter. To help find relevant articles quickly, use keywords like a company’s title, motto, and any associated hashtags in your search queries. 

As far as internal publications go, most established companies have news, media, and blog sections on their websites. 

Don’t rely on industry gossip or opinion pieces to sway your understanding of a company’s health and growth. While you’re reading through these articles, look for factual indicators of promise or warning. Reports about C-suite resignations, layoffs, mergers, or lawsuits could signal red flags for a company’s stability. Reports about acquisitions secured funding, or improved employee benefits are positive signs for the future. 

If you are curious about reading opinionated pieces, head to forum-friendly sites to see what people are saying about a company you’re interviewing with. 

Perform a Forum Search

This research step is an extension of exploring a company’s news, social media, and Glassdoor reviews. Head to community forum sites like Reddit and Twitter to read interactive discussions about your company. This step is especially helpful if a company you’re researching is small or a start-up. 

Forum sites are an easy way to interact with a wide variety of people—from industry experts to consumers to bystanders. Like Glassdoor, you can get an inside scoop from anonymous commenters about life at a company, competitor perspectives, and more. You can also ask and read questions regarding almost anything about a company.

Research a company Stock

It is worthwhile to research a company’s stock history if they are a publicly-traded enterprise. Reviewing a company’s stock history will give you an idea of a company’s stability. Depending on your temperament and career goals, a company with a historically erratic trajectory may or may not be right for you. We suggest researching the changing value of a company’s stock so you can create an educated guess of their future performance. 

There are some caveats when it comes to researching a company’s stock. The market is volatile, and a company’s stock is not an end-all-be-all indicator of how a company will perform in the long run.  A company with a steadily declining stock value may not or may not have a promising future. And the same goes for a company with a steadily rising stock value. 

You can pair your news report findings with stock trends to analyze what factors seem to drive a company’s change in value. 

Identify and Research Competitors 

After completing the above research, take time to review your prospective company’s competitors. Take note of the differences in products, customer services, business model, leadership, etc. You may also be curious to read employee reviews about work experience, compensation, and more. 

Conducting a comparison between your prospective company and their competitor helps you in two ways:

1. You better understand the niche your prospective company is trying to situate itself in. 

2. You either solidify your desire to work with your prospective company or decide you would rather work for their competitor. In this case, you might decide not to proceed with your interview. 

If you do decide to continue with your interview, you’ll have equipped yourself with some very useful interview conversations. 

How to Share Your Research During the Interview

You may be bursting with excitement to tell your interviewer all about the research you conducted for your interview. Your hiring manager will love your enthusiasm, but don’t give in to this urge! You will have the opportunity to share everything you learned throughout the interview. When the opportunity arises, be strategic and follow these guidelines:

Listen actively and answer thoughtfully. During your interview, focus on responding to the questions your interviewer asks. Show what you know about a company by weaving knowledge from your research with your answer. 

Ask compelling questions. You should demonstrate your thorough research of a company with your actions during the interview. Don’t waste your opportunity to ask questions by giving a report about a company. Instead, show what you learned by asking deep questions. Create talking points to address common interview questions.

Ask questions that show you’ve researched a company deeply. Avoid using phrases like:

•  “I noticed,” 

• “I read,” or 

• “I saw.” 

These phrases can be treacherous in an interview because they allow your hiring manager to inquire about your sources for information (which may or may not work to your advantage). 

Instead, ask questions using phrases like:

• “What can I expect when,”

• “What do you think about,” and

•  “Can you tell me about/explain?”

These phrases allow for open-ended discussion that can confirm or disprove your research. While you're interviewing, do keep the following two points in mind:

Show off a tailored portfolio. Create a portfolio that addresses the needs and requirements for the role you’re applying to. The work in your portfolio should address issues you discovered during your research. If your interview does not appear to be going in your favor, you can reference and show off your exemplary work to improve the atmosphere. 

Don’t mention sensitive news. It’s never a good idea to bring up the bad press, lawsuits, and the like in an interview. You may have good intentions in wanting to pitch ideas that will solve the problem, but the risk outweighs the benefit in this situation. You may be seen as nosey rather than helpful or concerned, especially if the bad news is outdated or falsely represented. Even if the hiring manager does bring up bad news (they likely will not), simply acknowledge it and move on with the interview. 

Ready, Research, Interview!

When it comes to interviewing, the key to success is proper planning. Learning about a company is like learning about the obstacles in a race. If you’re aware of the obstacles, you can strategize the best way to overcome and win. Navigate through your interview with these straightforward steps to secure your spot with your future company.