Researching Companies Prior to Interview
You are expected to fully research every company prior to every interview. It sounds basic but unbelievably around one in four sales applicants in our experience do not undertake any research prior to an interview and hope to be able to ‘wing it’.
Planning & Researching a Potential Employer
Minimum Preparation
It is essential that you do some research on the business, industry and market before every interview. It is essential for two reasons a) to demonstrate your interest in the business and b) more importantly, to ensure that the business is right for you!
This exercise will ensure that you do the following minimum preparation, and not doing so is totally unacceptable. As a minimum, you will need to know 5 facts on the following:
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The Company - 5 solid facts - structure, history, turnover, amount of employees, directors, etc
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The Role - 5 solid facts - patch, core responsibilities, key requirements, etc
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The Products/Services - 5 solid facts - application, purpose, etc
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The Marketplace - 5 solid facts - clients, competitors, how competitive, etc
You will be asked questions such as 'So, what do you know about us?' and 'nothing'/'just what the recruitment consultant told me' will not endear you!
Pre-Planning - Minimum Preparation
To go beyond minimum expectations, you could research the following:
Look at the job specification and tailor your CV to the requirements of the job - or do a 'thematic appendix' to your CV that details the job requirements, matching examples that you have of that experience/skill.
This will help you enormously in a competency-based interview - i.e. questions that are 'give me an example of when you have……..' rather than 'what would you do if………'
- Go onto the company's house website (https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company), for free, you can download the company financial report, including data on the company directors, other directorships held, previous directorships, etc.
- Download the latest company accounts. Larger companies, or scale-ups looking for Investment, typically have a Strategic Report and a Director's Report. These usually contain some very 'meaty' information on the company's current circumstances.
- Google search what the company do - who are their competitors - what are their USP's, who are the key personnel in the competitors, what is their market share, and what do people say about them.
- Type ' are sh*t>' or ' are cr*p>' into Google - what are people saying about them on social networking/consumer sites, and how are they handling it - NB, this really works and forms a great chunk for discussion at interview! Look also on Glassdoor - what are their employers and employees saying about them?
- See if there are any reports/white papers that the company has been involved in. Search for the company in Google News to see latest press releases and updates.
- Google the name of the interviewer and the company name - you'll be amazed how much information you can glean on them - what PR initiatives they have been involved with, recent wins, product launches, etc.
- Search LinkedIn or other networking sites for the name of your interviewer - these often detail their career history, education, professional memberships/affiliations and even interests (allowing you to have a picture in your mind's eye of the interviewer before you meet them) NB Words of WARNING - I once had a candidate who came across as a stalker for the amount of information (including their home address and kid's names) that they were able to glean - don't come across as too intense!
- Look for the company's products - USP's, what they feel like, get a feel for them. If it is a product you can buy or find in wholesalers then get hold of the product, feel it in the shop, demo it for yourself!
- Type into the Google bar 'Links:www ', i.e. ‘Links:www.aaronwallis.co.uk’ this will show you who is linking to their website - could be clients, distributors, or suppliers that are worth investigating.
Five additional things to research if the role is not confidential:
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Call the company for company literature/promotional literature. Explain that you are attending an interview (it will get back to the interviewer)
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Call customer services/ the sales office to ask questions to obtain information on market trends, competition, etc. (it will get back to the interviewer!!)
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Contact someone already in the post. What is x like to work for? Any hints and tips? What would you research if you were going for an interview? What should I know about the business? Why do you remain with the business? (it will get back to the interviewer!!!)
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Contact the equivalent person in your role with a competitor - what does the company do well/not so well? Would you consider working for company x? If not, why not? (understand the weaknesses of the business and potential pitfalls to probe at the interview)
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Contact clients/distributors to obtain a full-rounded opinion of the company prior to the interview.
Date published: 3rd March 2024
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by Simon Bonner
Associate Director
About the author
Simon Bonner
With over 25 years in B2B sales and recruitment, Simon is an English Graduate from UEA and specialises in recruiting commercial and FMCG sales positions. Simon joined the sales recruitment industry in 1998 before progressing into field sales and returning to recruitment in 2015. As an Associate Director, Simon is well placed to understand the needs of clients and candidates' needs, having spent ten years selling electronic security and managing National Accounts within OEM manufacturers and distribution channels. An avid Luton Town football fan, Simon dotes on his two daughters and enjoys keeping fit, socialising, food and wine.
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