That strange feeling of anticipation and fear you get before an interview can be so dreadful, even more so if you haven’t done your homework! The most crucial part of preparing for your interview is doing your research, it allows you to feel better equipped and confident when answering questions. Without a doubt they’re going to ask you: why you want to work there, what you know about them and what you can bring to the company. So get ready to do plenty of reading!
Researching into a company is so much easier with the help of the internet so here are 5 things you must tackle for your interview preparation.
#1 What they do?
It’s pretty obvious however, it is a common mistake. Before applying for a job you should probably find out what the company does and ensure you can speak confidently about them. Find out the history, basic facts and what makes them unique to any competitor out there, this is usually found on the ‘About us’ page of their website so use all your resources wisely. Find out their mission, in other words, the tasks and responsibilities this role undertakes and how they fit in with your career goals. The person interviewing you is likely to be driven and passionate about their role so if you know what you can bring to the company interviewers will definitely be impressed!
#2 The environment and their values
A great way of finding out the culture of a company is by asking someone who works there, but if you feel uncomfortable with this, social media can be extremely helpful. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest to get a good feel of the culture. The company is going to want someone who shares the same values, never underestimate this because values in a working environment are so important. Try looking for information from external sources such as Glassdoor.com, it can be a good platform to use and give you a different insight of the environment.
#3 Their interaction with community through social media
Almost every company out there has a social media presence and it’s a great place to begin your research. Check out their interaction with fans and followers on Twitter, Facebook and any social medium you can find – follow them! They’re all useful tools to find out what kind of news the company wants to communicate to its audience.
#4 Any news and recent events
Knowing what events happened or are going to happen within the company is a must. Google news is an easy way to dig out all the recent press especially if it’s a large corporation. Usually the company website also has a ‘press’ page with all the upcoming events and previous events. The person interviewing you may mention them and being able to engage in the conversation actively will show your genuine interest and will definitely show that you’ve done your research!
#5 And lastly, who is interviewing you?
Start from the top down, find out the name of the CEO and the top managements. If it’s a small company find out the who the manager is. You’ll probably find them on the company website. They may even have a Twitter account so feel free to stalk them to get a feel of who you’ll be working for. If there isn’t enough information on these, LinkedIn is a the best alternative to find out exactly who will be interviewing you.
If you need more interviewing tips, here are some questions you should ask in a job interview, and if it all goes wrong – here are some lessons you can learn from bad job interviews.
Written by Anjana Varsani.
Pingback: 11 Job Interview Do's And Dont's()