This is a guest post by my great friend, internet marketing expert and entrepreneur extraordinaire Laura Waage.
“Tell me how much you know about what I do.”
This was the first statement made to each of the interviewees applying for an assistant position I had posted.
I had sorted through dozens of resumes, identifying the top five candidates based on their skill set and qualifications. Next I ranked those five according to who I felt would best suit the role and then began interviewing them in order of preference.
Ironically, I fired my top pick before I hired her. Why?
When I asked her to tell me how much she knew about what I do, she responded with “Not much. I’m looking forward to learning.”
She was polite and upbeat in demeanor, and truly felt like it was a good response. However, in my mind those words had just sealed her fate, eliminating her from the candidate pool.
In today’s digital world, obtaining information about a person, brand or company is so incredibly easy to do. Because of this, failing to research has become one of the biggest mistakes a job candidate can make.
If you demonstrate to your potential employer that you have the drive, desire and resourcefulness required to be a great asset to their company, then they will view you as one. If you don’t, they won’t.
So what does it take to be prepared?
Follow these 8 tips to RESEARCH your way into your next job interview:
Read – everything you can about the company, business or brand
Explore – their social media profiles including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube
Study – company facts and important milestones
Examine – obstacles or problems that the company faces to understand how your role can be part of the solution
Apply – the information and knowledge you uncover to determine how you can be an asset in the proposed role
Recap – the information right before your interview; put together a fact sheet to reference last minute
Communicate – with your interviewer both before and after the interview; call to confirm date/time in advance and send a hand-written thank you note in follow up
High Five – yourself for a job well done; applying this level of diligence will ensure you’re seen as a serious candidate for any role
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