Before applying for a job and attending a job interview, ensure you have a good understanding of the business. You may be asked a direct question about the company and bringing specific information into your answers could impress the panel.
- What do they do? What services do they sell? What products do they sell/manufacture?
- Who are their customers? What market, audience are they trying to sell to?
- What is the company ethos?
- Where are their offices? (local, national, international?)
- How many people do they employ?
- Who are their main competitors? Where do they stand in the market?
- What is their Unique Selling Point (USP)?
- What are their particular strengths? Have they won any prestigious awards?
- What difficulties have impacted the business?
- What difficulties might impact it in the future?
- What were their annual profits/losses last year?
- What kind of company culture do they have?
- Are there any recent stories about them in the media?
- What do you know about this industry as a whole?
Before your interview try looking at:
- The company website
- Annual report
- LinkedIn page
- Journals or relevant magazines about the industry
- Newspapers
Our library stocks: Financial Times, The Economist, Global Finance, Nursing Times, Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, Conde Nast Traveller.
It is worth having an opinion on the business, the product or service:
- How would you develop their business or an area of their business?
- What do you like about the products they sell?
- How would you revive falling sales of a certain product/service?