A couple of newsletters ago, I went through the interview template approach I use for preparing for interviews and the first area was company research. As promised, we’re going to do a deep dive into how you successfully do company research.

First things first, it’s key to understand that you can’t do the same generic research that all other candidates will do. You need to do in-depth, tailored company research which sets you apart from your peers by showing a level of understanding of the company, its culture, trajectory and future.

Employers want to know why you want to work here - excellent company research will help you do so.

So to do this, there are a few key areas of company research to do which we will go through with you.

1. Corporate Strategy - All companies will have a strategy which they are working towards and understanding what their strategy is and how it excites you or how you can add to it is a really valuable way to display your motivations for wanting to work at a company.

The best way to find a company’s strategy is to go through their annual report where there is usually a page or section dedicated to it. You can also research CEO speeches or events where they would have most likely brought up the company’s long-term vision and strategy.

The key here is to understand what is their 3-5 year plan. You should also try and find out what capabilities or products are they focusing on e.g. Investing in AI capabilities. Also, look at if they're aiming to enter into any new exciting markets and overall how they are progressing against their strategy.

2. Financial Performance - This area can be the real gem that helps you stand out compared to your peers. The key things you need to find out are 1) What is the main trend in their performance? - is their revenue and profit trending up or is it quite erratic? 2) How is their performance compared to the market? - are they outperforming their peers or roughly in line? 3) Which areas of the company are driving growth? - is it a certain product or a certain geography that has driven growth?

3. Size of company - Boutique or Multinational? If it’s a boutique then there are a few things to talk about. Firstly, boutique companies will provide you with much more responsibility earlier on and thus more opportunities to challenge yourself and develop at a quicker rate. Boutiques also provide you with greater access to senior individuals who you can learn from and soak in decades of wisdom and expertise. Lastly, a boutique company will provide you with more opportunities to add impact and value to the firm’s trajectory.

4. M&A activity - This is an area many of your competitors won’t look at. The key here is to see the reasoning behind why they have bought companies. Are they buying it to build new capabilities or enter into a new market? The M&A activity will usually align with their corporate strategy so it’s something you can do together.

If you do all these 4 things, you’ll have a bank of information that is detailed and unique which will stand you out in comparison to your peers.

The next area of interview prep we’ll look at it is competency questions so make sure you subscribe and stay tuned!