Before an individual attends a job interview, career professionals generally recommend that he should gather as much as information possible about the company to which he is going for interview.
This will be helpful for him not only to answer interview questions, but he can also get clarifications for his doubts, if any about the company. Gathering some details about the company will also be helpful for him to find whether the culture of the company can fit him.
Internet the great tool:
As compared to what it was some years ago, nowadays, it has become easier for the job seekers to
collect more information about the company. This is possible because of the great tool called the internet.
So, now you have this tool and you will get a doubt as to how to research about the company not only from this tool, but also from other sources. Here are some tips that will help you in this regard:
Visit the website of the company:
You can just visit the website of the company and can review the mission statement, history, products and services, management and it is also better to gather details about the culture of the organization.
You can generally find these details from the ‘about us’ page.
Use Linkedin:
Nowadays, most of the companies maintain a Linkedin profile. The profile page in Linkedin will also provide you information about the organization.
When you visit this page, you can see your connections at the company, related organizations, statistics, jobs posted, promotions and new hires. If possible, you can have a look at your interviewers’ profile, so that you can get an insight into their job and their background.
Competitor website:
You can also visit the competitor website to gather information about the recent changes in the field in which the organization operates. This can help when you cannot find the website of the organization.
Use social media:
In addition to Linkedin, you can look for the website of the company in other social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook and can like or follow the organization to get updates.
This will help you get better information that would otherwise not easy to find.
Tap your connections:
If your friend or neighbor works in the organization, you can collect details from them about the organization.
If you have recently graduated from the college, you can ask the career guidance cell in your college to collect details about the alumni working for the organization and can get in touch with alumni to get his/her assistance.
Get in touch with the HR Department:
You can also get in touch with the HR department of the company and can request them to send you the prospectus. You can find better details from the prospectus as against the website of the organization.
Trade magazine:
The organization might have posted their profile in trade or business magazines like the Forbes or a trade-specific periodical magazine. Also, these days, most of these periodicals maintain an online catalogue of their past issues.
Now, you know the different ways in which you can gather information about the organization for which you are planning to attend an interview.
Now, comes the question what to do with the gathered information during the job interview. Let us find the answer here:
With a wide range of information available at your disposal about the company, it is better to read over the details collected from your research, until you are confident that you have a complete understanding about the mission statement of the company, their marketing goals and the profile they look for from a perfect employee.
Generally, interviewers will be interested in knowing your understanding about the company and they may ask you the following things:
- What do you know about your prospective employer?
- Do you have any questions about the company?
In most of the cases, your knowledge about the company is tested just to understand how you can relate yourself to the organization and its culture. So, after gathering details about the organization, relate yourself and be ready to show that you are the right person to the company and can show your best towards the development of the organization in achievement of its goals.
So, congratulations on getting job interview call letter and your preparation time starts now with the help of the tips given above. Be informed about your prospective employer and reap the benefits thereof.
