A Job Interview is what every job seeker looks for. It’s the opportunity to show your potential employer what you’re able to do and your knowledge, letting the employer know who you are and how you can help the company. It’s your chance to sell yourself to the employer.
That’s why you need to be prepared to not miss the opportunity of performing well in the job interview; it’s an important milestone in your life, don’t forget the tough competition for jobs in our days. An inevitable step in your preparation is to do some research about the company before the job interview.
Preparing for a job interview
Before we give you some advice on how to perform a company research, we want to give you a check list with some steps that could help you on your preparation:
- Your first step must be getting some knowledge about the business you are interviewing with.
- Prepare yourself for the big day; you must plan your day, even the routes you’re going to take to get to the place of the interview so you can arrive on time, in case of any unexpected situation it could help having the number and contact information of the interviewer.
- Prepare intelligent questions and answers for the job interview questions; you can practice it with a friend.
- Get solid references, it might be information that the employer will ask for after the interview; but it could help you if you arrive with the information as you arrive to he interview, these references could include former supervisors, colleagues, or instructors.
- Find the right clothing for the interview, it should be pressed and professional looking; it’s not only the clothing, but also your aspect, with manicured nails, clean image.
- Being humble is great, but for an interview you need to sell yourself so it’s not the time to be like that; you can create a short speech that could include your experience, strengths and other information that could distinguish you from other applicants.
Tips for a company research
Don’t present yourself in a job interview with no knowledge about the business you are applying, doing some company research is a key for the success in an interview. In this section we give you some tips for doing the company research efficiently:
- Start your research with the job description, the employer will expect that you really know the job specifications before you apply; you must know what the recruiters are looking for in the new employee.
- Visit the company website. Internet is the most powerful tool you have when doing this research, in the website you can get easily the mission, history, statement, products and services that the company offers. Some websites include deeper information on the company culture.
- Social Media can give you more information, networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter might help. LinkedIn shows information more professional and interesting for you such as hires, promotions, new jobs, and company statistics.
- Watch the news, read publications, newsletters and look for industry associations and deeper information on the health of the sector; having this knowledge will help you to show your interest in the industry.
- Remember that you only have one chance to impress the interviewers, some additional ways to research information for the interview could include: speak with a current or former staff member, talk with someone that uses their products or services and see if there are blogs or social media websites that have additional information.