Do Your Research: Aligning Yourself Correctly for Job Interviews

Guest post by Louise – Doing some in-depth research of a company at which you are applying for a position will do a lot more than prove to them that you are eager to work for them. A good understanding of an organisations cultures and values will enable you to pitch your application and demonstrate how well aligned your own beliefs are with their; helping you to prove to them that you are the perfect match.

Stories of personal data and information online and on social networking sites are commonly featured in the media with a usual theme of how it can be damaging for existing employees when their employers find out what they are really like. I used the same techniques to land my first job on a lucrative graduate scheme after graduating from University, by ensuring I knew what the bank valued in an employee I managed to match these values to things that I had experienced in my life. By doing so it enabled me to go into the interview with a good understanding of what they were looking for in my answers.

In this article I will explain how you can use the information available online to your benefit.

Researching the company

An obvious starting point that everyone uses as a bare minimum when doing their research is the job description. This information in this document can be used to your advantage, yes it will tell you about the role you are going to be applying for and you should have a full understanding of this, more importantly however it will also give you an opportunity to present to the employer how your existing experience and knowledge will help you to excel in the role. Developing a story of career progression including what you have done so far and what you want to achieve in this new role to help you progress will give your application strength.

While job descriptions can be a useful tool for aligning your existing skills with a job specification, be aware that they can sometimes be a little bare. When this is the case don’t be scared to ask for more information from the recruitment consultant or the company’s human resources department.

Use the company’s website to find out about past success and history. Most large organisations will have a PR section that contains all their releases to the media, these messages usually convey their desired corporate values and goals as well as missions and the vision for the company moving forwards. Digesting this information will help you to confidently answer the inevitable questions such as “Why do you want to work with us?” and “Tell us to know about us?”.

Social Networks

Social networks are ideal for building relationships with other professionals and for sharing information and knowledge. LinkedIn is a particularly useful platform for looking into hiring patterns and statistics which is particularly useful for developing a story around desired career progression. By using primary and shared connections you can get an insider’s view on working for any particular company or organisation including company growth as well as job postings and key skills required for employment.

Social review sites like What Are They Really Like and Glassdoor provide employee reviews on working environments along with insights on salary information and other information such as working culture and conditions.

Industry Associates

There is a vast amount of information online about every single business sector as a whole. Reports, analysis and blogs that discuss the main players in the industry are useful for facilitating thoughtful questions that you can ask the employer and show an understanding and knowledge of the sector.

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