In this article I am going to answer a question i.e “What are some things you should know about a company before going for a job interview?” When you go for an interview, you don’t go there unprepared, you prepare yourself with all the questions that could be asked in an interview. But have you ever thought that your preparation might not be enough? Along with questions for the interview you should also be fully aware of the company you’re going to.
What are the important things you should know about a company before going for a job interview ?
So here are some things you should know about the company before an interview to make your preparation better.
1. What products or services they sell?
Before you go for an interview in a company you should be aware of certain things that might make you more appropriate for the job and one of them is you should be aware of the products or services they sell. When you know what the company sells about its products and services you will be able to figure out the specialty of the company the idea behind it and the work that needs to be done.
When you are aware of these things can you talk about them in your interview you show that you are genuinely interested in the job as you researched everything you could that will also show them how hardworking you are and make them believe that you can be a good fit for them?
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2. Company’s Mission
You should always be aware of a company’s mission for which you are going to interview for. They might not ask you about the company’s mission in the interview but when this is that you know about the company already they will know that you are serious about the potential job and are willing to work for it.
A company’s mission answers to us as to why are they doing what they are doing. It tells us about the agenda the company works for.
When you know you can explain them or make them understand how you can be of a great used to them then you might not lose his mind and focus so if you do something that makes it worth for the interviewer to remember you it might be easier for you to get selected among all the other candidates.
3. Competitors
One should always know about the competitors of the company one is going for an interview. One should always be sure about who are the people or products they are competing against. Also, one should be aware about the competitors of the company as it is a very common question that is asked during the interview and one of the most tricky and difficult question as well which cannot be answered unless you’ve done a proper research about the company and are not completely interested. If you answer this question properly it also leaves a brilliant impact on the interviewer and also tells him that you have done your job right and have studied about the company well before coming for the interview.
It would also be beneficial if you get employed in that company as you’ll already know about the competitors in the market, the market situation and your position in the market which could help you take the required measures to achieve the desired position. You’ll always know about what steps you need to take to improve your company as compared to that of the competitors.
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4. The company’s culture
When you go to a new place it takes time for you to adapt to those surroundings. You need to know about the companies culture in advance so that once you go there you know you were right about whatever you knew. You cannot know about the culture of a place you have never been to by just reading about a company on Wikipedia. To know a culture of a place you have to be there or you should be in contact with people who already work there but this might not be possible for you to know someone or the other at different companies so you can get to know about their culture through their social media.
When you are aware of the company’s culture you can already adapt to it even before the interview and when you go for the interview you behave as if you’ve been a part of that company for or a long time now. Such behaviour impresses the interview as they will think that you are a good fit for the company along with all the qualifications.
5. Company’s unique selling proposition
You should be aware of the product or service being generated by the company you are appearing for an interview with. Knowing about this much isn’t always enough to get the job you wish for. You must also be aware of how is this product or service generated is different and unique from others producing the same service in the market and why the customer should prefer the product produced by your company over any of your competitor’s products and what would make him do so.
Each company selling a similar product to that of what others are selling in the market has a unique quality about that product that makes it similar to other products but not the same. You should always be prepared about answering the question about the USP of their company not being a general question but yet can be asked and you should be fully prepared to answer it. Also it would leave an image that you researched about the company’s products and also how they are better from the rest of the competitors.
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6. History
Before going for the interview you should know about the history of the company. The history would include everything from its basic working to its market value. You should be aware of everything about the company and the company’s history is a major part of it. The interviewer might ask the interviewee about the company’s image in the past. It is also important to know the history to know how far the company has developed from where it started and one must know this before even applying for the interview in that company.
7. Who is interviewing you?
When you go for a job interview you are serious about at any company you should be aware of your interviewer beforehand so that you could prepare for your interview knowing about the likes and dislikes of the interviewer. For knowing about your interviewer you can either send an email to the company asking about the interviewer or else you yourself can figure it out. When you know who your interviewer is you can prepare for your interview keeping certain things in mind. The things that you have to keep in mind can vary from person to person as you have to keep in mind about some personal liking and disliking of the interviewer so that you can get attached to him on a personal level.
After you come to know who your interviewer is you should find about his hobbies likings disliking activities he does and about his lifestyle so that you can relate to him on anything that might help you to create a bond at a personal level. Whatever you do to create a bond should never seem fake It should always be natural and genuine because when you are fake you would have to carry it along for a long time if you get the job and sometimes maybe the interview could figure it out that you are being desperate and so you are lying and when you are natural and genuine they come to know that. So being aware of your interviewer is one of an important thing to know about the company before your interview.
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8. Target audience
Knowing about the target audience of the company may not be an issue of concern for the interview or the interviewer but would give you more knowledge about the company. It might not be asked during the interview about the customers or the target audience but still is a crucial part to be known by you before the interview as it could make your answers filled with more knowledge which would also be more convincing and presentable to the interviewer. Not everything you prepare is in order to answer the direct questions but you should have enough knowledge to make your answers more convincing to give an image of interest before the interviewer. They are always hidden or indirect questions in an interview which the interviewer does not talk about directly but notices your knowledge about them and this could be one of those questions.
You should know about the target audience in order to know for majorly whom you are generating or manufacturing the product or services. A lot of decisions depend upon who your target audience is and you should know about it so that you can answer some of the questions and make other answers more convention to the interviewer. It also plays an important role after being employed in the company as you should know about the target audience for taking measures for improving the sales of the commodity. Target audience are the people company directly targets as their customers or a majority of their customers. These are the people you are basically reducing the commodity for and other ones in the company’s minds before producing the commodity.
9. Who is leading the company?
Before appearing for the interview in a specific company you should always make sure that you know who is the head the owner of the company you should know for whom you be working. One of the most common questions asked during an interview is about the leading personalities of the companies for which you will be working. In order to get employed you should me to answer this question well this question cannot be answered without an interview you do not answer or create confusion with the names as it could cost you the job. Even though being one of the most common questions asked during an interview experiments one of the most important questions to answer by the interviewee. Not being able to answer this question would present you as one of the not so interested candidates in front of the interviewer.
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10. Awareness of management
Being aware of the management or the staff members gives you certain knowledge about the company that other candidates might not be aware of which also gives you an Upper Hand in front of the interviewer.
When you know about the members of the staff or about the members of the company and you can mention it in your interview, not in an of showing off but using it somewhere value giving an example or setting a statement. You can use your research for knowing about people from the company who have done some great work in the past such as volunteering in some projects or giving some advice that suits your conversation or they have written a blog or anything that brings up their name which makes your impression in the eyes of the interviewer.
