50% of your total waking hours during any given working day is spent in the workplace – that’s assuming you work an 8 hour day. Many people work a longer day so up the percentage a little more. Take in a commute and the % of the working day taken up with work related activities increases even more ! You possibly spend more time at work than you do with your partner/ your family.
So, you are asked to attend an interview for a position you have applied for. One of the first questions they ask is : “What do you know about the Company ?” This is a banker question – 99% of the time it will be asked. What the interviewer is really asking is “What do you know about us, considering you expect to work here for more than 50% of your day ?” If your answer is a mumbling, vague, one or two liner taken from the first paragraph of the home page of their website then don’t expect a positive result from the interview. If asked at 2nd interview “Did you find out anything further about the Company since the last interview ? ” and your answer is a weak “No, not really ” then again don’t be hopeful of the outcome. Lack of knowledge about a company is one of the most common reasons we get for a candidate not progressing further in an interview process.
Your knowledge of the company shows your interest and enthusiasm and in a way endorses your interviewers reasons for working there also. To research the company, review their website – what does it say about their culture, their products, services, recent launches, future plans, accreditation’s, recognition/ awards received. Enter some of their products/ services into your search engine and see what comes up. Talk to people who have knowledge of the company, check them out on LinkedIn. If you have a genuine interest in working with a company you will find out what there is to know about them. If you don’t they’ll accept the ‘proposal’ from the candidate who does !