In order to make the best possible impression with your cover letter or during your interview, you should research the company you’re applying to work for.
Why?
- It shows you’re passionate about the job if you’ve done your homework
- The more you know about a company, the more you’ll be able to show them you’d fit in with their values and culture
- You’ll be able to give relevant, specific examples on how you’ll be an effective employee if you know about their clients/industry/products
- It will also help you decide whether you want to work there
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of all that research or just don’t know where to start, here are a few tips on how to focus your research.
Company website
- This is where you can find out how the company want others to see them - the vision of themselves they are presenting to the world
- You can usually find out information such as the company’s mission statement, history, core values and get an insight into the management team and decision-makers.
- You should also be able to quickly find out information on their main products and services, and perhaps their main clients or customer reviews
- The language and rhetoric the company uses can also reveal what it may be like to work for them - use your instinct and read between the lines
Tip: Look at their careers page to get a clear idea of what they’re looking for in an employee.
LinkedIn and Social Media
- Aside from the biography section, if the company is really active on LinkedIn, you’ll be able to gauge all sorts of information from the posts they share.
- You’ll be able to see if you have any connections at the company who can give you a reference
- It’s also a great way to find out a bit more about the person who is interviewing you, or any other key players in the organisation
Tip: remember that people will get a notification if you’ve looked at their LinkedIn profile, so decide if you want them to know this before you click on it.
- Other social media channels like Facebook and Twitter are useful for delving more deeply into the company’s values (look for the themes of the articles they share), recent company news (look out for press releases and events), and what their marketing strategy involves (do they share special offers, for instance)
Glassdoor
Glassdoor is a great site for getting a different perspective of a company. Rather than looking at what a company is publishing about itself, you can see what the employees think. You'll be able to find out salary figures, employee benefits, reviews on what it’s really like to work there and even interview questions that previous candidates have experienced, as well as their experience of the whole interview process (how long was the process, were there phone interviews, were there skills tests, etc).