In Career Guidance: To Get a New Job Stop Talking, Do Your Homework, and More!, I suggested that interview candidates need to do their homework on the companies they are talking with. This seems like basic information, but many people aren't following it, as shown by a couple of the comments I received. Here's the first:
Great points. I've been interviewing a lot of candidates recently, and I've seen many of those mistakes repeated.
The point about doing research into the potential employer is particularly on point. Many candidates that I talk to these days don't really know what my company does or what our product is. Huh? Wouldn't that be important to you when you're evaluating an opportunity with my company? Especially in high-tech, where I work, that's pretty important. As you said, it's not difficult to do.
I think there's a larger mistake at the root of the lack of research, though: applicants consider themselves passive participants in the interviewing process. Instead, a good applicant understands that they are interviewing the company just as much as the company is interviewing them. To that end, they should do research in advance so that they can get a feel for what the company and its products are about. They should also ask smart questions of their interviewers designed to answer questions like:
- What kind of professional growth is possible here?
- What's the work environment like? Do I fit?
- What's my potential boss like to work for?
- How is the company doing?
I always leave time for the candidate to ask me questions, because this is important. I'm stunned at the number of candidates who simply don't have anything to ask, or who just think up some wimpy motherhood-and-apple-pie question at the spur of the moment. Those candidates who demonstrate interest and some ambition through their research and questions score extra points with me.
These are simply great points. In particular, I totally agree with, "Applicants consider themselves passive participants in the interviewing process."
But they shouldn't. Instead, they need to be proactive and manage the interview process as a significant part of their overall career management plans. Otherwise, their career will just "happen" to them -- something none of us can afford when it involves our largest financial asset.
Now here's one that really blew me away:
I interviewed someone a couple of weeks ago for a position with my firm. When I asked what he knew about our company he said, "Not much really...". He hadn't even bothered to check out our website and this is a six-figure job! Interview over.
Yikes!
If you are interviewing for a job, you have to take the initiative in the process. I'd suggest you check out these posts for some guiding thoughts on this issue as well as some suggestions to help you make the most of your career as a whole:
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