Very often, a job seeker pays attention to an interesting job title and description, even though the company’s name or logo hardly tells him anything. After all, there are quite a few companies that have such a strong reputation and employer brand that they would be recognized immediately.

 

If you find an interesting position, what should you do as a job seeker before getting yourself to the first job interview?

If I saw an interesting job/task, I would first go to the company’s web page to learn more about them. I would like to know what they do; whether they sell products or services; who are their customers; are they a local, national, or international company; how big or small are they; what kind of ownership structure do they have; and so on. Recently founded, innovative, and fast-growing start-ups can be different in many ways from an older and smaller family-run company.

If I was still interested, I would do some Google searches and try to find out a bit more about their financials, revenues, profits, and other numbers. If it’s a start-up, this would be even more important because lots of them are growing thanks to venture capitalists’ money and taking huge losses when trying to reach a certain position in the market. Do they have enough money, and do I believe in their business and business plan? Can it be profitable, and when?

If, after checking the financials, everything still looks good, I would visit their social media channels. Social media has a huge importance for me because it’s the best way to get close and see what your customers are really thinking about you as a company. If I saw a company that was just promoting its products and not trying to listen or have a conversation with its followers (i.e. customers), it would be a big no for me. On LinkedIn, I always check to see what kind of people are working in the company. Who knows, maybe you’ll find someone you know who has worked, or is even still working, there. That’s the best way to get some first-hand information about the company culture, atmosphere, leadership, current situation, etc.

Also, Google becomes handy when trying to find some recent news about the company. Reading some news is always a great way to show your interest in a job interview, especially when asking questions that relate back to that news.

All this would take one or two hours, and I can promise that you’ll thank yourself later. This research helps a lot when preparing yourself for a job interview, and also gives you an advantage because there are always a lot of people that just show up to the interview without knowing anything about the company.

 

Written,

 

Teemu Ruuska

Director

InHunt World

www.linkedin.com/in/teemuruuska

 

 

Teemu is a Director of InHunt World and has been working in the recruitment and headhunting industry since 2009. Teemu is from Finland and came to Spain in 2014 to set up and open new headhunting offices in Madrid, and later in Barcelona. Since 2016, Teemu has been focusing on designing, creating, and running the new InHunt World International Headhunting Network, which already covers over 30 countries.

 

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