START WITH THE COMPANY’S WEB SITE
In the age of the Internet, there is absolutely no excuse for you not to
have excellent information about a company. All public companies and
most private companies have Web sites. The Web sites are free and available
24 hours a day. You can access the Web sites from any computer
connected to the Internet. If you don’t have a computer, go to the library
or an Internet café. Log onto the company’s Web site. It has all the information
you could want to frame thoughtful and impressive questions.
“If a candidate can’t spend 15 minutes on my company’s Web site,” Conlin
notes, “it immediately tells me that they are, at best, not serious and,
at worst, just plain lazy.”
A company’s Web site also gives you good clues about whether the
organization is growing or struggling.
The Web site addresses of most companies are obvious. At the place
in the browser where it says “address,” just type in “www” (for World
Wide Web), the name of the company, and the extension “.com.” Most
Web addresses are obvious.
For example,
Cisco Systems is www.cisco.com.
General Motors is www.gm.com.
General Electric is www.ge.com.
Another way to find a Web site is to use a search engine. I prefer
Google, although there are dozens of general and specialized search engines
that will do the job. Simply type in www.google.com and the lean
page of the Google Web site will appear. In the blank box, type in the
name of the company you want to research and click on “I’m feeling
lucky.” Google will almost always take you straight to the Web site you
want. It’s unlikely that Google will fail you, but if it does, click “Back”
and then click on the “Search Google” button. Now you will get a list
of possible destinations. The company you want to research will usually
be near the top of the list. Click on that item and you will go straight
to the Web site you want.
And if a company does not have a Web site, that tells you that the
company prefers to be invisible. Why would you want to work for an
invisible company? If you still want to be interviewed, a question like
this probably needs to be at the top of your list:
In my research on the company, I tried to find a Web site. I did not see
any reference to a Web site on the company materials, nor could I find
one using any of the search engines I tried. Is this intentional, and what
is the logic behind not having exposure on the Web?
Every company’s Web site is different, but they are all organized in standard
ways. The first thing is to look for a tab or button that says “About.”
Most companies put basic background information about themselves
in this area. Another area to look for is the “pressroom” or “newsroom.”
Many companies collect news releases and articles about themselves
under this designation.
Some corporate Web sites are pretty complicated affairs, with literally
tens of thousands of places to hide information. So if you are lost,
most Web sites have a feature called “Site Map.” This feature gives Web
site visitors a high-level look at where information may be found on the
site. It’s like the store directory you find in a shopping mall. Finally,
most Web sites have a search function. Click on the search function and
type in a term such as “about” or “news releases” and let the search engine
take you where you need to go.
For public companies, the annual report is almost always available at
the Web site. This document is an invaluable source of information about
the company and its challenges. Pay careful attention to the letter from the
management. In that letter, the organization’s CEO lays out the company’s
accomplishments and challenges. It will give you important clues for
questions you can ask. In some cases, there is a Q&A format, so many of
the questions you might want to ask in your interview are already there.
“The best questions to ask interviewers are those that demonstrate a
knowledge of the company and its market,” says Incentive Systems’
Bob Conlin. “I’m always impressed by good questions about specific
competitors, where the market is going in terms of trends, and how the
company is adapting to those trends.”
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