{"id":2394,"date":"2022-03-08T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T08:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/?p=2394"},"modified":"2024-07-22T11:02:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T10:02:59","slug":"5-ways-to-research-an-employer-before-your-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/5-ways-to-research-an-employer-before-your-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"5 ways to research an employer before your interview"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-lg-9 my-auto\">\nOne key step to a successful interview is researching the employer before you face them. Beyond building your confidence, arming yourself with a familiarity of the company can also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>portray you as an enthusiastic and pro-active candidate<\/li>\n<li>fill you in on the company\u2019s culture and how you might fit in<\/li>\n<li>help you to think up relevant questions to ask during the interview<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If all of the above sounds perfect, here are five ways you can research an employer before you interview with them.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-3 text-center my-auto\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/explore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/photo_2022-03-07_18-25-41.jpg\" alt=\"5 ways to research an employer before your interview\" class=\"img-fluid img-thumbnail\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3 font-weight-bold\">Job application materials<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<p>These could include the job advert, job description, or the online application pages you filled out. The employer may have supplied an information sheet on the company too.<br \/>\nDelve into job application materials \u2013 whether physical or online \u2013 to see if they offer any information on the employer.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, what type of language do they use? Is it formal, casual, or technical? How do they talk about the company itself? Do they approach the workforce as a community or team?<\/p>\n<p>The information may not be obvious, but the clues are there if you look.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3 font-weight-bold\">Company website<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<p>This may be the obvious source of information on an employer but don\u2019t just look at the \u2018about\u2019 page. Make sure you visit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>blog, news, and media\/press pages for up-to-date information on company developments and the type of message the employer wants to convey to its audience<\/li>\n<li>meet the team pages for information on the company\u2019s workforce and to discover if you\u2019re a typical employee<\/li>\n<li>mission, values, and initiatives pages to find out if your own values and opinions are a match<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Take note of any recurring themes or ideas that occur on multiple pages. What overall impression does the website provide of the employer? What does this say about the company culture?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3 font-weight-bold\">Social media<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<p>Nowadays, most businesses have a social media presence. Depending on the employer, their industry, and the audience they want to reach, they may be active on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or any of a multitude of social media channels. <\/p>\n<p>LinkedIn is the obvious choice when researching employers. Companies use LinkedIn to reach both jobseekers and customers; it can also provide an arena for employee interaction, both with each other and to promote their employer. Beyond visiting a company\u2019s official business page, it can be helpful to search for its employees on LinkedIn. What jobs do they do? Are they happy to share news about their employer? Have they progressed through increasingly senior positions with that company?<\/p>\n<p>Whichever social media channels the employer promotes itself on, look out for the tone of voice used \u2013 formal, friendly, inclusive, for example \u2013 and the topics that are discussed regularly. An employer\u2019s social media presence should reinforce the message and brand that is promoted on their website.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3 font-weight-bold\">Professional organisation websites<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<p>A professional organisation is populated by and for the benefit of people engaged in a specific profession, for instance:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)<\/li>\n<li>Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)<\/li>\n<li>Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)<\/li>\n<li>Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)<\/li>\n<li>Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Visit the employer\u2019s website to find out what professional organisations they belong to. Go to the relevant professional organisation\u2019s website to search for the employer or Google \u201cname of the professional organisation\u201d and \u201cname of the employer\u201d in one search. You may find news about the employer or the related industry on the professional organisation\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>If it is your role, for example, accountant or HR manager, that is linked to a professional organisation, it still may be helpful to find out whether the employer has any connection.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" can find an up-to-date list of UK professional organisations on the gov.uk rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3 font-weight-bold\">News and reviews<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<h3 class=\"h4\">News<\/h3>\n<p>You may be lucky enough to notice an article in the current news &#8211; whether on TV, in print, or online \u2013 about the employer who has invited you for interview. Alternatively, carry out a Google search using the employer\u2019s name and click on the \u2018News\u2019 tab just under the search field at the top. This will point you to news stories about the company that have appeared across a wide range of news outlets.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"h4\">Reviews<\/h3>\n<p>When you think of the term \u2018review\u2019, you\u2019ll probably imagine customer feedback on websites such as Trustpilot or Which. Increasingly, however, you can find candidate and employee reviews on UK companies.<\/p>\n<p>Type the name of the company and \u201creview\u201d into Google and you\u2019ll be pointed to a range of reviews left by employees current and past about their employers. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3 font-weight-bold\">Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<p>The key to success at interview is preparation. Researching the employer is just one element of that. The familiarity it offers, however, can improve both your confidence and the impression you make at interview.<\/p>\n<p>For more helpful tips, read our guide on <a href=\"\/explore\/how-to-prepare-for-an-interview\/\">How to prepare for an interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One key step to a successful interview is researching the employer before you face them. Beyond building your confidence, arming yourself with a familiarity of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jobseekers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2394"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2396,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394\/revisions\/2396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}