1. Research the company:
· Google the company – review the website. Familiarize yourself with their products & services, company timeline, news updates, charity work, mission, etc.
· Check out their Social Media – this will help you get an idea of company culture and connect you with updates & relevant media.
· Employee Reviews – see what other current or previous employees have to say about what it’s like working there.
PRO TIP: You don’t need to memorize financials or entire product lines. But, it is important to be able to speak intelligently about them and the company mission.
2. Research Your Interviewers:
· Linkedin is a great resource for this – Check out their backgrounds so you know who you are talking to. They may even mention or make note of current or past projects they’ve been working on.
· Facebook & Twitter – You never know what you may find here. Hobbies, interests, church they attend, concerts or sports they may be involved in.
PRO TIP: The key is to understand who you are talking to and how you can relate your professional and personal experiences to this job. You may have noticed one recently took a trip to Thailand to scuba dive and you also dive. Try to weave your love of scuba or travel into the conversation at some point if relevant without divulging that you stalked their social profiles. Or, perhaps you graduated from the same college or high school…finding common ground is a good step in the right direction.
DON’T – Tell them you stayed up all night stalking their professional & social media networking profiles. This is a covert operation for you & you only. Use it to your advantage where you see fit.
3. Research Their Interview Process:
· Google search the interview process at the company you are interviewing at. They may even have tips of their own published on the website or social media pages.
· Glassdoor – You can find everything from questions they ask, to the time it took to get through the process and it comes from people like you have who have already interviewed there.
· Indeed – Very similar to Glassdoor. It allows candidates and potential candidate to provide Q&A about the process, questions asked, how to answer, etc.
PRO TIP: Take note of any patterns you may see with questions asked and/or how to answer them and prepare & rehearse your answers to questions you anticipate they will ask.