Pre interview research tips

At Lighthouse Personnel we signify the importance of research before an interview. In this Blog, we put this into practise and support you in how to effectively do your research. The internet makes pre-interview research as easy as a few clicks!

Company website- There is no better place to start than the website. It’s the most accurate information you will find so make sure to read through every page. Invest your time in understanding all the areas of the company, especially the ‘about us page’, where you can appreciate the history of the company and how they work. Think about the products, services, customers and competition, to show you understand the business’s needs. Another useful page is the ‘meet the team page’. Ask yourself if you can see yourself working there. You may even come across the person who will interview you. It would be useful to look out for any keywords/phrases that come up repeatedly such as a slogan, for example, ours is ‘Recruiting for your future success’. If you mention something significant like this, you may stand out from other candidates.

 

LinkedIn- LinkedIn will be your best friend when researching the company! You might come across the team members currently there and potentially the person that will be interviewing you. If you know the interviewer’s name go check their profile, you may have a common link such as going to the same school. In addition to this, interviewer’s will be impressed when they see you engaging with their profile. Remember, at this point don’t ask for a connection before the interview! It’s also another great way to see your mutual connections, especially if you have applied for a job at a big company. You may know someone that already works there and you can reach out to them. Not only can they put in a good word for you but they can also help you learn about the company and give you some interview advice.

If you are researching the company, but have little knowledge on the overall industry make sure to research this too. For example, at a mortgage company, it would be helpful to know information such as current trends in home ownership and the facts and figures. Get to know the company’s competitors, identify what their strong points are. It will impress the interviewer if you have used your initiative to research into this and if you get asked ‘who are our competitors?’ you can give your examples and what you think works best and what doesn’t.

It’s important for you to think about standard interview questions such as ‘tell me about yourself?’ or ‘what transferable skills could you bring to our company?’. If you know the type of questions that might be asked, you can prepare and practice them beforehand. Creating a mock interview situation with a friend or family member is also a good idea.

Look on Glassdoor for insight into employee experience at the company. You may also come across some questions that candidates got commonly asked which will help your preparation. Remember to not stick closely to common answers, this will make the interviewer think outside of the box because it’s easy to see if you haven’t made the answers personable.

All the best for your interview from the team at Lighthouse Personnel Ltd!