Researching a Company

THINGS TO INVESTIGATE

Researching a company before your interview is very important.  You want to be able to demonstrate that you are motivated enough about the opportunity that you have done some preliminary research.  An interviewer will be impressed if you can talk intelligently about the company and the opportunity before you.  You may also want to do some basic research to find out if this is a company you want to work for.  Here is some of the basic information you may want to find.

BACKGROUND

• Company name, address, phone, and web site address
• Note whether it is a public or private company
• A brief history of the company
• Company statement of purpose or mission statement
• Company leadership: key executives
• Number of employees
• Sales figures or profits for the last 3 years
  
  

PRODUCT INFORMATION

• Products
• Market segments: in which product markets does the company compete?
• List of brands
• Brand promises or advertising line
  
  

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

• Industry profile
• Hot issues or current issues for this industry
• Key competitors
  
  

MISCELLANEOUS

• How has the company appeared in the news recently

THINGS TO INVESTIGATE

Researching a company before your interview is very important.  You want to be able to demonstrate that you are motivated enough about the opportunity that you have done some preliminary research.  An interviewer will be impressed if you can talk intelligently about the company and the opportunity before you.  You may also want to do some basic research to find out if this is a company you want to work for.  Here is a checklist of information to look for if you want to do a very thorough analysis of a company.

BACKGROUND

• Company name, address, phone, and web site address
• Note whether it is a public or private company
• If public, what is the company's ticker symbol?
• A brief history of the company
• Corporate structure: how is the company organized?, e.g. divisions, subsidiaries, etc.
• Company statement of purpose or mission statement
• Company leadership: key executives, heads of divisions, etc.
• Number of employees
• Sales figures or profits for the last 3 years
• Recent mergers or acquisitions
• Divestitures
• Locations of major facilities, divisions, manufacturing plants, etc
  
  

PRODUCT INFORMATION

• Products
• Market segments: in which product markets does the company compete?
• NAICS / SIC codes
• Business mix: percentage of resources devoted to a particular market segment
• New products introduced recently
• Market share for key products
• Distribution of sales: US and globally
• List of brands
• Brand promises or advertising line
  
  

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

• Industry profile
• Hot issues or current issues for this industry
• Key competitors
• SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
• Company viewpoint or Corporate strategy
  
  

MISCELLANEOUS

• How has the company appeared in the news recently
• Awards
• Community involvement or initiatives undertaken with social service agencies
• Trade organizations that the company is affiliated with