Around 90% of the people who apply for jobs in my company haven’t even had a look at the company website. The first thing you should do before you interview- before you even apply is to have a look at the website. Find out the following:-
1) What does the company do?
2) What are the values of the people in the company?
3) Where will the company be in 5 years?
While you do your research, figure out how you fit in with the three factors above.
1) Demonstrate your passion in what the company does – e.g. if you want to work in BMW demonstrating your love for driving/cars would help.
2) Show how your values are similar to the company values. Come up with one or two examples that substantiate this.
3) How will you help the company achieve its five year plan? What role do you see yourself taking in that company in 5 years?
Also try to speak to people who used to or still work at that company to get a better picture of what the company really values. In many cases the official values may not match what is really valued on the ground.
2 Responses to “Job Interviewing – Company research”
Enjoy reading your blog.Btw, this is first time I visit to your blog
I’ve spoken to a number of people who work in recruiting, and apparently this problem has gotten much worse. People are panicking because of the economy and rising unemployment, and are therefore just “spraying and praying,” meaning sending generic resumes and cover letters out every which way.
Counterintuitively, during a recession, I believe it actually pays off to apply to a smaller number of jobs. Why? Because then you can immerse yourself deeper in specific preparation. Networking is key, as is the ability to demonstrate that you are ALREADY handling the kinds of situations you’d face on the job.
In other words, interviewers are looking less for potential and more for existing skills. Forget about having a month or two of on-the-job training. Interviews are getting to be more and more like auditions. If you can’t already sing, forget about landing a role involving singing. If you haven’t already memorized at least some of the lines to a movie, forget about getting the part.