Doing Your Research

I’m excited to share that the rest of July’s blog posts will be written by Chaloner’s VP, Kassie Wilner. Kassie has been a recruiter with Chaloner for the past 10 years. She has led numerous searches for external and internal communications professionals. Prior to working with us, she was a communications consultant to public agencies in California.

One of the most important parts of job interview preparation is learning about the company, however many candidates aren’t familiar with all the tools available to do so. This week I’m going to detail three simple and effective ways to dive deep and get a well-rounded view of a company.

SET UP A GOOGLE ALERT

Google Alerts are one of the simplest yet most valuable tools online, essentially functioning as an eagle-eyed aggregator of everything published about a specific subject. At Chaloner, we like to use this to see when a client is in the news. For a candidate, a Google Alert not only gives you the most up-to-date news, but also can help fill in the blanks that a company website may not provide, such as a PR agency’s specific project or a company’s financial news or the launch of a new drug. This will save you a lot of open-ended research and it will be delivered right to your inbox.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Another easy way to learn about a company’s goings-on is checking out their various social media platforms to see what they are sharing. Many companies will not only share company news, but will also share relevant information or articles elsewhere on the web. Reading these can help you glean certain company philosophies and can provide insight into what current conversations are happening there. Between Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, you can piece together a lot about the makeup of the company.

WEBSITE NEWSROOM

During your exploration of the company’s website, make sure you don’t overlook their newsroom. Originally meant to be a resource for journalists, many newsrooms are now designed to give everyone, from bloggers to investors, some of the most informative content on the website. The newsroom is an excellent place to find clearly organized video content, news coverage, fact sheets, management bios, upcoming events, investor information, and digital media kits—a great way for you to not only educate yourself about the company, but also to get a better idea about what it would be like to work there.

These are tried and true research approaches we use at Chaloner that will serve candidates just as well. Between Google Alerts, social media pages, and a company’s website newsroom, you’re guaranteed to go into an interview informed.

Chaloner

Chaloner, founded in 1979 as Chaloner Associates, is a national executive search firm that focuses on recruiting mid- to senior-level communications, public relations, marketing and investor relations professionals.