JOFDAV

What you should know about the company before you go to the interview

What you should know about the company before you go to the interview?

Preparation, preparation, preparation! This is an absolute must prior to you interviewing for a job. You must prepare. You need to know about the company, you need to know about the person interviewing you, not to mention every detail about the job you are interviewing for. So what exactly do you need to know?
1. You need to know the company’s history. Search it out on Google or Manta.com. Find out all you can. Make sure you know if the company has subsidiaries or is international. Those questions will be asked. Is the company publicly traded or is it solely owned?
2. You need to know who is the leader of the company, the CEO or the owner and a little history about them like where are they from, their education, their school?
3. You need to know the company’s recent financial performance. If they are a publically traded company, their annual report is on their website. If they are a private company, search the website for clues.
4. You need to know what are the company’s core strengths and competencies?
5. You need to know what products and or services the company makes or sells?
6. You need to know what if any products or services the company has in the pipeline.
7. You need to know who are the company’s primary competitors? Knowing this is essential and how the competitors stack up to the company you are interviewing with. Also, never talk badly about a competitor. Just give facts.
8. You need to know the industry trends that are specific to the company including new regulations.
9. You need to know the company’s mission statement.
10. You need to know what are the company’s guiding principles and values?
Please note 2 more things:
1) The above holds true whether your interview is in person or on the phone!
2) There is no such thing as an informal interview. Just because you are meeting over coffee doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared.
Good Luck!

You need to login first to post comments.