[Closed] Researching a company before job interview

I usually start with Wikipedia and drill down from there.

read all the 'about us' stuff on there website.

download their latest annual report from companies house/one of the other co's that offer that sort of info.

look at any recent news that might relate to them and your role "I can see you're going to be X, that's an area I understand" etc.

It's a lot easier to get info now than it was 20 years ago - I used to end up visiting libraries to try and find stuff 🙂

Get the accounts for £1 from Companies House:
https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company

Luckily for me the company I last had an interview for (and start working for a week monday!) is bloomin' massive and has recently undergone big changes so there was a lot in the news. I could take two or three points that were related to areas that actually interested me (regardless of relevance to the job) and it turned into a normal conversation for 20 odd minutes over these points because I wasn't trying to force anything.

Google first, then you may need to look at industry news, what department is the vacancy in?

Get the accounts for £1 from Companies House:

Meh, if you don't know what your doing, reading stat accounts themselves probably won't be very helpful.

the annual report as a whole can help contextualise the accounts.

Many companies will publish an annual report on their website (for shareholders and potential shareholders), which is handy.

The accounts themselves will be a waste of time unless you're applying for a corporate accountancy role.

What you need to know is the general view of the finances and what strategic problems and plans they have. You'll usually find that in the FT or other similar publications/websites (of which there are loads) though obviously that depends on the size of the company.

Make sure you put it in context by doing similar research on their competitors/other companies in field as well. Doesn't need to be in as much detail but helps to know where they are positioned within their field and is usually quite impressive to a recruiting manager, I've found.

Google...

look on their about us page and get a list of their executive staff.

then search the internet looking for compromising photographs of them.

if you find any that should be good enough to ensure you get a job offer...

Look them up in the industry newsletters if you don't read them anyway, in my last interview I looked the company up in trade journals (I was moving industries) and was able to find quite a lot of info that was slightly speculative but gave stuff to talk about - it also helps to give you an idea of where they stand in relation to their competitors too.

as much as research is good so are questions. Ask them about their business and get them to talk about it honestly and not just what the brochures say.

Some handy interview tips here: http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2015/02/03/20-essential-job-interview-tips/

I went for an interview at a company a couple of years ago and I hadn't spotted that they'd lost a massive amount of customers because of a major gap in their service offering, which they had subsequently fixed.

Not knowing that meant that I gave all the wrong answers to the seemingly strange questions they were asking me.

If I'd have known the background I'd have got the job. I didn't and I didn't.

Watch and learn from the pro's

Bit sweary...

wukfit - Member
I have a job interview next Tuesday with a company I've wanted to work for for years........ but know very little about the company themselves

I hope you're going in with your eyes wide open, as that makes it sound like you're just blinded by shiny products!

It's often worth looking up potential new companies on:

www.glassdoor.co.uk/

Just bear in mind that quite often employees/ex-employees use it to criticise their company.

I'd say it depends on the position, really.

If you're going for a seat on the board I'd expect you to know quite a lot about the company's financial position. If you're going for a job as a cleaner, not so much.

For a regular pay-grade job I'd expect that someone going for a job at a widget-makers would know that the they made widgets, beyond that I'd expect them to know only what's really relevant to the role.

Companies (and those interviewing for them) like to be bigged up though, so if they're the world leader in widgetry then tell them.

If I lost an interview because I didn't know a company's turnover or net profit, it's probably for the best as I doubt I'd have enjoyed working for a company that far up its own arse anyway.

Find out from their website names of senior people, especially in the area you're interviewing for and then google those people and see if there's anything they've said in the press about their role and objectives
look at their linked in accounts - look at their experience and look at how they describe their roles.
Find out if you know someone who works there already -maybe through an existing contact, and see if they're happy to have an off the record chat.
Find out the name(s) of your interviewer(s) and look them up on linked in - find out what you have in common in your careers so you know where you can find common ground...

was criticised at my last for not researching the company's finances

Guess that depends on the job. I don't do any jobs that would require me to know about their finances and nor would I be expected to, though myself I would at least want to see if they can afford to pay me 😀