If you have a job interview, it is important to stand out from the crowd. You can make a great first impression by showing a detailed knowledge of the company.
You should start with the company’s website. Things like the corporate structure of the company and its business life to date are good starting points. Check out the company press releases to get an idea of any recent changes or big announcements, such as just going public. If you understand before going in how large or small the company is or how fast it is growing or shrinking, you will gain an edge in the salary negotiation.
If you can find out what the business record is at employee satisfaction and benefits you will get a better understanding of how hard the competition will be for the vacancy. However, if you find any negative stories surrounding the company, it might be a sign of a weak legal or financial position. If you are a new employee you are more likely to be let go first if redundancies are made.
get some knowledge on the industry you would be joining. You can use websites like bestjobvacancies.co.uk to find out about specific industries. This way you can speak intelligently about aspects of your field that may benefit their business. Knowing data or technical terms about the industry or company could help you stand out. But make sure you have got all of the facts correct. You don’t want to use out of date statistics.
Finally, know your interviewer. The names of senior people in each department will be a great start. Again, go to the company website and see if there is some biographical information on your interviewer or prospective department head. If you have anything in common like university, you can use this in the interview but don’t make too much of it. If you take on some of this advice, you will stand out in a positive way to the rest of the applicants.