Who needs to research companies?

You do! It can you to uncover job opportunities, supercharge your commercial awareness, boost your interview confidence, and highlight your enthusiasm for an organisation.

But it really goes beyond making sure your application doesn't get binned or improving your interview performance by asking compelling questions.

It is a way for you to get insight into the culture of that company apart from what they display in their shop window to the world AKA their Talent Brand. It can help you work out what you could bring that doesn't already exist there, and confirm if it would be somewhere you would actually enjoy working

Here are 7 key ways you can go about doing your due diligence:

1. Start by researching basic facts about the organisation in their About Us section of their website. What is their back story? What is their mission statement? Who are their customers and their competitors? Look at press releases, have they been recognised by their industry in some way? Are there new initiative they have launched that resonate with you?

2. If they publish annual reports, look these up. What are the celebrating? What is the vision for their company moving forward?

3. Who do they showcase on their employee case studies? Do you feel represented there?

4. Use the GlassDoor platform to get a candid view of what people who work there say about the company leadership and management styles, and work life balance. Any red flags?

5. Look up what is out there online about them. Set up Goggle Alerts for trending news about them and checkout their social media profiles, what are they talking about?

6. LinkedIn- Find their company page, look at current and past employees, what does their career progression look like? What kind of staff turnover is there and what could that tell you? Get a real sense of the kinds of skills and experience that make people succeed and thrive in that company.

7. Reach out for informational interviews for insight about what it's like to work in that organisation and sector.

Suggested Reading

> How to Research a Company for Interview
> Research Employers
> CV Applications and Tests

By Anna Gordon - Certified Business Coaching Psychologist ABP CBCP