Research Checklist Prior To Interview

To stand out in an interview, it is important to research a company’s core business, mission, culture, and recent developments. Here are the top items to look into:

1. What they do: Understand their primary products, services, and target customers. Be able to explain it simply.

2. Unique Selling Proposition (USP): What makes them better than competitors? Is it price, quality, or innovation?.

3. Industry Positioning: Who are their top competitors? Know the major players in the space.

4. Mission & Vision: Read their "About Us" page to understand why they exist and where they are going.

5. Values Alignment: Identify if their values (e.g., sustainability, innovation, community service) align with your own.

6. Culture & Environment: Research on Glassdoor, social media (LinkedIn, Instagram), and employee reviews to see if it is a "hard work/play hard" environment, a startup, or more corporate.

7. Press Releases: Look for recent mergers, acquisitions, product launches, or expansion plans.

8. Financial Health: For public companies, review their recent quarterly earnings reports (10-K) or news regarding their profitability. For startups, look up their funding history on Crunchbase.

9. Leadership Team: Know who the CEO, founder, or key executives are. Look for their recent interviews or articles.

10. The Interviewer: Research the people interviewing you on LinkedIn. Look for shared connections, previous companies, or common interests to build rapport.

11. The Hiring Manager: Try to understand the background of the person who will be your direct supervisor to anticipate their management style.

12. Key Skills: Analyze the job description again to identify what skills the company values most for this specific role.