Researching a company (really well!) before an interview
Your knowledge of a company during the interview process can determine your interview success
It is a well known fact that you should be researching a company and doing your homework before you interview with them. I often say that interviewing is less like tests but more like dating where it has to be a right match for both you and the company. And so during the interview company explores your skills and background and you should be exploring company’s background to see if it is indeed the right match! Let’s explore how to do that tangibly.
#1 Look up size of the company #️⃣
Size of the company in terms of employee headcount tells you a lot about the company. This is a good indication of how fast or slow the company moves, culture of the company, your growth prospects, visibility to the leadership, and the stage in which company is operating in. Both small and large companies have their pros and cons depending on where you come from and your expectations.
When I was interviewing this mattered a lot to me as I wanted to be in a company which was large enough to have a structured and process oriented product development approach and small enough to not lose its agility. Ideal company size for me was 500-1000 people. LinkedIn company profile is the easiest and fastest way to figure this out. If you choose to invest in LinkedIn premium, you can also look at employee growth and retention, metrics that are critical to a company’s success.
#2 Read stories of founders and company leaders 📖
Read up on the background of the company founders/leaders and what lead to the founding of their current company. Backgrounds of different founders should complement each other. Founder stories are an indication of their will, motivation, skills and previous experience required to make the company succeed. 90% of startups and early stage companies fail and you do not want to be stuck in that sinking boat. This tip is less applicable if you are targeting well established large scale companies and more applicable if you are going after early/growth stage companies.
Read essays and articles authored by the founders, browse through their LinkedIn and Twitter profiles, read the company’s ‘About’ page, watch their talks, YouTube videos, and online interviews, if available.
#3 Understand the company mission and vision 🔭
See if the company has a well-defined, impactful, and ambitious mission and vision statement. Do people within the company speak the same language? If not, then that’s a 🚩. It is important for you to evaluate if your career growth goals align with the company’s vision or not. You need to resonate with the problem and be genuinely excited about helping the company succeed in its mission.
Read company’s blog and website, founder quotes, LinkedIn company description, and watch company talks and events online. If it too hard to find or understand this information then it is a 🚩.
#4 Align with company values and culture 🍺
This element defines your professional well-being. Based on this information, evaluate if you’ll want to work with the kind of talent that the company attracts and whether you’ll thrive in that culture. Most companies today define their culture and values as it has become one of the top ways to attract talent but you need to see if the company really lives them or not.
Go through the company blog and read articles that talk about company culture. If you do not find content around it, then that’s a 🚩. Randomly pick and go through LinkedIn and Twitter profiles of their employees and look at how they project their company and roles online. Schedule informal chats with people in the company before your interview and ask them what they like and do not like about the company culture.
#5 Explore the product 🖥️
If a company’s product is available openly for a sign up, this is a must-do. Spend at least 30-45 minutes exploring the product. Form an opinion about at least 2 things that you really like about the product and 2 opportunities where the product could possibly be improved. Watch product demoes on YouTube if the product is not open for sign ups publicly.
Depending on the role that you are applying for you can write a short memo, case study, build a website mockup, redesign a feature, revamp a user flow, or do a short customer survey to solve a problem that you identified while exploring a product. Include this work in your application or share this with the interviewer. You’ll quickly stand out from the lot and would have built credibility by showcasing your work. You are creating value for the company even before you are hired and hiring teams love this!
#6 Understand the customer 🧍
Research the company’s customer base and their problems. You’ll have a lot more context about the product and the company. You’ll be empathetic during the entire interview process. You’ll be able to engage in thoughtful conversations and ask meaningful questions about the product and its customers.
Read the customer testimonials, product use-cases to understand the customer persona, company’s twitter handle where they respond to customer questions and feedback, customer case studies on the customer/company blog.
#7 Know the competitors 💼
Competitive research can help you give a sense of company’s strategy and roadmap in the short term. You can then build an expectation on what type of problems that a company might be currently solving and what kind of work that you might be doing. Companies can be trying to differentiate themselves, catch up with a competitor, or doubling down on strategy that is helping them stay ahead. Understanding this difference in the strategy can help you ask meaningful questions and even respond to questions with a research based approach.
Use tools like G2, CB Insights, or Gartner to look up a company’s competitors.
#8 Read up on recent news and events 📰
It is always recommended to be aware of recent news and events from the company or the industry. You’d want to stay away from companies that are constantly under scrutiny. Or if there is news about company’s recent achievements or milestone, you can mention that in your interview and ask further questions. For example, an upcoming company IPO might help you spark some interesting conversations with the team.
You can visit news websites like Hacker News, Crunchbase, TechCrunch to find the latest and the greatest information.
#9 Research your interviewer(s) 🔬
Spend time learning a little more about your interviewer by exploring their background and experience. Identify potential bonding areas for example, same alma mater, similar interests, hobbies, etc. This prior knowledge will help you find a common ground and connect more deeply with the interviewer.
Use interviewer’s Twitter or LinkedIn profile, blogs that they might have published in the past, or any other platforms where they might be active online.
#10 And finally, be aware of company’s financials 💰
Even though this should not be a deal breaker in most cases, it is important to be aware of the financials from a job security point of view. You should be aware of the past, present, and (predicted) future financial health of the company.
You can use Crunchbase where you can get caught up on rounds of funding, acquisitions, recent hires, and relevant press coverage. You can also read quarterly earning reports from public companies for detailed view of financials.
In summary, use the following tools 🔧
LinkedIn - Know the employee head count, company profile, open roles, company culture by employee engagement, learning about the founders, leadership, and interviewer(s).
Twitter - Know the company culture, engage with employees, follow the founders, and understand the customers.
Crunchbase - Know the company financials, mergers and acquisitions, recent hires, and press coverage.
TechCrunch and Hacker News - Know the recent news and events from the company and the industry.
Company Website - Know the company vision and mission, customers, product use-cases.
Company Blog - Know the stories of founders and leaders, company culture and values, and customer stories.
The Product - Know the product offering, its strengths and opportunities. Create value based on your learnings.
YouTube - Watch product demoes, company events, founder/leadership talks and interviews, and 3rd party product reviews.
Quarterly earnings of public companies - Deep dive on the company’s finances and strategy.
G2, CB Insights, or Gartner - Know the company’s competitors.
Bonus 🧁
I have created a company research template on Notion to help you breeze through this entire process.
Inspiration for the week 💪🏼
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Sincerely,
Tanay 👋