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Thursday 8 November 2012

10 things to find out before an interview

Based on a recent interview, here are the ten things you’ll need to have researched beforehand:

Yes, you’ve looked at their website; picked up their phone number, captured their full postal address and printed a map / driving directions however; do you know when was the company formed and who are the key members of the management or leadership team?

Even if the website isn’t clear what they do, have it clear in your mind what you ‘think’ they do. Worse case, you’re wrong and are corrected by the interviewers. Best case, it shows you’ve looked into it, maybe highlighting a short fall of their website.

Note down any quoted figure from their website, write them down; customer numbers, sales growth, percentage saved on your energy bills, how many website visitors they got last month / last year,  how much revenue / profit they made last year, how much their products cost (retail and / or wholesale)

If they are selling a solution / product / package / service, note down any constituent parts or components so you can demonstrate what customers get for their money.

If reviewed by say the WHICH guides, what do they say? Good, bad or indifferent; pros & cons.

When were the most recent news / press releases / press mentions (often listed on the website)? If they have been updated for a while, exercise caution before you jump on the backs of the marketing team as that may be the responsibility of one of your interviewers.

In advance, register for their newsletter or even, show interest in their offerings by leaving your details on their website. See how long they take to contact you and in what form, the contact takes place. Was the email in plain text with little or no sales messaging? Was it HTML based and overly elaborate? If called by one of the sales reps, were they polite?

Do they have any partners? Once again, make a note of who they are and what – in terms of relationship with your potential employer – value they add.

Do they take a leading role in any government backed schemes or do they have any major / interesting accreditations? Once again, note them down.

If they have an iphone app and / or mobile website, give them a go. Once again, write a few words about them; your experiences maybe of interest to your interview panel.

Good Luck.
More on Preparing for an Interview

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