Company Research

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It is important to do some investigative work before going to an interview with an employer. Research can be the key to having a good interview and impressing an employer. Your standard interview preparation process should always include acquiring solid knowledge about the employer, field, market, competitors, and clients. This kind of research helps you gain knowledge about the company and determine what information to seek during the interview.

Research Tips

Most companies have websites that include background on the business and/or a staff directory and any positive media coverage the company has received. In addition to reviewing the company site, you should also search the web to find news or articles about the business. This information can provide a glimpse into the company’s current issues, past successes, and role in the community and industry. Remember: Whenever you are using the Internet for research, determine if the information you found is reliable and credible. Sites consisting mainly of user-generated or single-author content, such as Wikipedia or blogs, are often unreliable sources of information. A large part of the process of doing proper Internet research is knowing the sources and their reliability.

Preliminary Questions

How many employees does the company have?
Can you tell if employees stay a long time with the company? Often you can find this information if the company publishes employee biographies on its site.
Does the company have more than one location?
Where is your position of interest located?
What is the basic purpose of the business?
What services does the business provide or what does it sell?
Is the business for-profit or non-profit?
How long has the business been in existence?
Have the same people owned it the whole time, or have there been shifts in ownership?
What is the basic history of the company?
Who are the people who currently run the company?
Who runs the division you want to work in?
Who works in the division you want to work in?
Where does your position fit into the company’s structure?
What do the published employee biographies sound like? What sorts of backgrounds do the employees have?

Market Research

Can you find published annual reports for the company? What do they tell you about the company’s health and history?
Where and how does the company make its money?
Who buys what the company sells? Other businesses? Consumers?
How does the company sell its products or services?
Has the company been selling the same thing for a long time or has it changed and adjusted to trends, advances, and demand?
How much of a market share does the company have? Are they the major player for their products or services in your city? Your state? The country? Worldwide?
How much has the company grown in the past year? Five years?
Is the market expanding? Staying the same? Shrinking?

Competition

Who else is selling or doing the same thing?
Who are the major competitors for the company?
How do the competitors compare in terms of size, revenue, products/services offered, market share, history?
Is the main competition a new start-up or a long-established company?
Is there any difference between your target company and their competitors regarding consumers?
Can you find published annual reports for the competition? What do they tell you about the competition’s health and history?

Workforce, Work Structure, and Schedule

Does the business have different shifts?
Does the business allow flex-time to meet transportation or family needs?
How long is a typical shift?
Do the employees’ shifts switch or rotate?
Does the employer operate on a set schedule?
Are there clues in the published material about what kind of worker does well at the company?
From what you’ve found, do you sense that workers at the company are happy and satisfied?

The Job Seeker’s Toolkit

This article is based on the APH Job Seeker’s Toolkit, a free, self-paced, comprehensive, and accessible guide to the employment process.