Many candidates spend numerous hours perfecting their resumes, preparing for case and technical interviews, and crafting their fit story. However, they often forget to research the company itself.
Conducting due diligence on the company you are interviewing for will help you build rapport with the interviewer, learn the firm’s culture and values, and showcase that you did your homework. This will help you answer questions such as “where do you see the company going in the next 5-10 years” or anything related to competitors and trends.
How to research the company
1. Visit the company website
Start by visiting the company website. There, you can review the organization’s mission statement and history, products and services, and management, as well as information about the company culture. The information is usually available in the “About Us” section of the site.
Then click on the “Investor Relations” section. For most large companies, you should be able to access and listen to a publicly available quarterly earnings conference call and read the annual report. These calls and reports cover a range of topics, including new products, company risks, and whether revenues are growing or stable. But if you are short on time, I would just look at the investor presentations or the management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”), which is where the management provides commentary on financial statements, systems and controls, compliance with laws and regulations, and actions it has planned or has taken to address any challenges the company is facing.
If you’re interviewing with a start-up, check out its profile on Crunchbase. Here, you can get caught up on rounds of funding, acquisitions, recent hires, and relevant press coverage. Once you have this information, it’s up to you to draw your own conclusions. While you don’t necessarily want to spout off stock prices or funding history, being able to speak insightfully about where you think the company will go in the future, backed up with facts, is hugely impressive in an interview.
2. Research the competition and the industry
A smart leader knows about their employees, about the state of their business, about how they’re tracking toward their goals, and about exactly how the competition is measuring up. That’s why I suggest educating yourself on what everyone in the space is doing. Come to the interview prepared to ask questions about how the organization is different from the competition. If you notice something particularly appealing about the company compared with the competition, share this. Mention industry best practices to show knowledge of the field and to demonstrate the added value that you bring to the table.
Aside from knowing as much as possible about the place you’re interviewing with, it’s a good idea to be able to talk about the industry as a whole and even more impressive to be able to talk about competitors and how the company fits into the bigger picture. If you’re interviewing for a job in asset management, for instance, it’s helpful to be informed about current acquisition trends as it’s the most saturated and fragmented industry where the current theme is accelerated consolidation. If you are lost as to where to start, research geography, client segments, products, and distribution channels. This will answer where the company operates, who it serves, what it sells, and how it sells.
Look up competitors by going to the LinkedIn company page and scrolling down to the “Other Companies People Viewed” section. There should be a few competitors there. Do the same thing with the competitors you find until you have a pretty good sense of who the big players in the field are.
3. Use LinkedIn
LinkedIn company profiles are a good way to find, at a glance, more information on a company you’re interested in. You’ll be able to see your connections at the company, new hires, promotions, jobs posted, related companies, and company statistics. If you have connections at the company, consider reaching out to them. Not only can they put in a good word for you, but they may also share their perspective on the company and give you tips that will help you ace the interview.
Take a look at your interviewer’s LinkedIn profile to get insight into their job and their background, as well. Look for any common links between you. Do you know the same people? Did you go to the same school? Are you part of the same groups, online or off? Those common links could help you establish rapport during the interview process.
4. Use Glassdoor
Consider looking up the company on Glassdoor. Their “Interview Questions and Reviews” section has a goldmine of information for job seekers.
You can find out what candidates for the positions you are interviewing for were asked and get advice on how tough the interview was. Use reviews to help get a sense of company culture. That said, take them with a grain of salt. Employees are often most likely to leave reviews when they are unhappy. As you read reviews, look for repeated themes. The more mentions a given subject gets (whether it’s praise for flexible hours or frustration with senior management) the more likely it is to be accurate.
Conclusion
After all this research, you’ll probably be wondering, “so, what do I do with all this information?” Remember that your objective is to be convincing when you say, “I want to work at your company.” Back this up by being able to talk about what makes the company unique and express your enthusiasm by showing off your knowledge. Work in examples of what you know in your interview answers and watch your interviewers nod in approval. After all, few things are as effective in an interview as knowing exactly what you’re talking about.
Jason Oh works in the Strategy/M&A – Global Wealth & Asset Management team at Manulife Investment Management. Previously, he was a Strategy Consultant at EY and Novantas with industry focus in the financial services sector where he advised on corporate strategy planning, commercial due diligence, and data analytics.
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