What should you research about a company before a job interview?
Research the company's core products and business model, recent news and strategic developments, the specific team and role you are interviewing for, the company's competitive position, and its stated culture and values. Use this research to personalize your answers, ask intelligent questions, and demonstrate genuine interest rather than generic enthusiasm.
Company research before a job interview is one of the highest-leverage activities in interview preparation, yet most candidates do it superficially. Reading the homepage and knowing the company's name and general industry is a minimum, not a standard. Interviewers can detect the difference between a candidate who spent 30 minutes skimming the website and a candidate who spent two hours building genuine understanding of the company's challenges, products, and direction — and it affects their evaluation significantly.
Why Deep Research Matters
Good company research serves multiple purposes in an interview.
It personalizes your motivation. The difference between "I've heard good things about your company" and "Your decision to build on top of the existing data infrastructure rather than rebuilding from scratch was counterintuitive but I think it was right given your customer base" is the difference between forgettable and memorable.
It generates better questions. The best questions come from genuine curiosity about something specific you learned during your research. Generic questions come from not having done research.
It builds confidence. Walking into an interview knowing the company well reduces uncertainty, which reduces anxiety. You have more mental bandwidth for your actual answers when you are not also trying to figure out what the company does.
It demonstrates professional seriousness. Showing that you invested genuine time in understanding the company signals that this specific opportunity matters to you, which companies value.
"I can tell within two minutes whether a candidate has done real research or just skimmed the website. The research is not just about knowing facts — it is about whether the candidate has genuinely engaged with what we do and has formed opinions about it. That quality of engagement is what I want on the team." — Engineering Manager, B2B software company
The Seven Dimensions of Company Research
1. Business Fundamentals
Understand what the company actually does, who it serves, and how it makes money.
Questions to answer:
- What is the core product or service?
- Who are the primary customers? (Consumer, SMB, enterprise, government?)
- What is the business model? (SaaS subscription, marketplace, advertising, licensing?)
- What is the company's approximate revenue and employee count?
- Is it public, private, or recently funded? At what stage?
Where to find it: Company website (About page, Product pages), Crunchbase (for funding), LinkedIn (for employee count and growth), public filings for public companies.
2. Competitive Landscape
Understand where the company sits relative to its competitors.
Questions to answer:
- Who are the primary competitors?
- What is this company's differentiated value proposition?
- Is the company a market leader, a challenger, or a niche player?
- What do customers choose this company over competitors for?
Where to find it: G2 reviews, Gartner reports (for enterprise), app store reviews (for consumer), industry analyst write-ups, news coverage.
3. Recent News and Strategic Developments
Understanding what has happened at the company in the last six to twelve months tells you what it is navigating right now.
What to look for:
- Product launches or major feature announcements
- Funding rounds, acquisitions, or IPOs
- Executive leadership changes
- Market expansion or contraction
- Layoffs or hiring surges
- Public controversies or regulatory challenges
Where to find it: Google News, TechCrunch, the company's press releases, their blog, LinkedIn company page.
4. The Engineering or Technical Culture (For Technical Roles)
For software engineering and related roles, understanding the technical culture and approach matters.
What to look for:
- Engineering blog posts that reveal architectural decisions
- Conference talks by company engineers (YouTube, conference websites)
- Open source projects the company maintains or contributes to
- Technical stack details (LinkedIn job postings often list this)
- How the company approaches engineering practices (CI/CD, code review, observability)
Where to find it: Company engineering blog, GitHub organization, conference talk archives (QCon, SREcon, Strange Loop).
5. The Specific Team and Role
Research the specific team you are joining, not just the company.
What to look for:
- Who is the hiring manager? What is their background?
- What has the team built recently? (Product announcements, releases)
- What does the team's work focus on within the larger company?
- What technologies does the team specifically use? (Job descriptions are a good signal)
Where to find it: LinkedIn profiles of the hiring manager and team members, job description, company blog posts that mention the team's work.
6. Company Culture and Values
Understand how the company talks about its culture and whether the reality matches the talk.
What to look for:
- Stated values and whether employees validate them (Glassdoor, Blind, LinkedIn reviews)
- How the company communicates internally and externally (blog tone, social media)
- How the company treats employees during difficult periods
- Diversity and inclusion commitments and track record
Where to find it: Glassdoor, LinkedIn company reviews, Blind (for tech companies), the company's careers page.
7. Financial Health and Stability
Especially for private companies, understanding financial health is an important evaluation criterion.
What to look for:
- Last funding round and how long ago it was
- Company headcount trend (growing, stable, or declining)
- Any signs of financial distress (large layoffs, pivots, press coverage)
- For public companies: recent earnings trends and guidance
Where to find it: Crunchbase, LinkedIn headcount history, news coverage, SEC filings for public companies.
Building Your Research Into Usable Assets
Raw research facts are useful only if you can use them. As you research, build three usable assets.
Asset 1: A Cheat Sheet
A one-page document summarizing:
- Business fundamentals (five to seven key facts)
- Recent news highlights (two to three items)
- Technical approach or stack
- Key names (hiring manager, CEO, recent product)
Review this the morning of the interview.
Asset 2: Specific Talking Points
Identify three to five specific, non-obvious things you learned during research that you can reference naturally. Not "you're a SaaS company" — that is too basic. Something like "I noticed your engineering blog described moving away from a single Postgres cluster to a sharded approach last year — that is a transition I have been thinking about in my current role."
Asset 3: Research-Based Questions
Write five to seven questions based directly on your research. These are more compelling than generic questions and demonstrate the depth of your preparation.
Research-based question examples:
- "I read your recent post about the database migration project. How did the team manage the data validation during the cutover?"
- "Your recent blog mentioned expanding into the European market. How does that expansion affect the engineering team's priorities?"
- "I noticed your open source library for [X] hasn't had a major release in six months — is that an area the team is still investing in?"
Research Calibration: How Deep Is Deep Enough?
| Preparation Level | Time Invested | Signals |
|---|---|---|
| Minimal | 30 min | Knows company name, industry, and general product |
| Baseline | 1-2 hours | Understands business model, recent news, role requirements |
| Strong | 3-4 hours | Knows competitive landscape, technical approach, team context |
| Exceptional | 5+ hours | Has formed opinions about the company's decisions and direction |
The "exceptional" level does not require more information — it requires more thinking about the information you have gathered. Forming genuine opinions about whether the company's strategy makes sense, what challenges you would expect them to face, and where the product could go is what distinguishes exceptional research from information accumulation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of my research should I reference during the interview? Reference it naturally, not exhaustively. Three to four specific references throughout the interview creates the impression of genuine preparation. Citing every fact from your research creates the impression of a prepared briefing, which is less natural. The goal is for research to inform your answers and questions, not to perform the research itself.
What if the company has limited public information? For small private companies, information may be limited to their website, LinkedIn, and possibly a few news mentions. In that case, focus your research on understanding the industry they operate in, their apparent customers, and the job description in depth. You can also gather information during the interview itself — asking early questions like "can you tell me more about how the product works?" is appropriate if public information is scarce.
Is it appropriate to mention that I read their engineering blog? Yes. References to specific technical content from company blogs, conference talks, or open source projects are well-received by technical interviewers. It signals genuine intellectual interest and the kind of curiosity they value in technical hires.
References
- Breaugh, J. A., & Starke, M. (2000). Research on employee recruitment: So many studies, so many remaining questions. Journal of Management, 26(3), 405-434.
- Turban, D. B., & Cable, D. M. (2003). Firm reputation and applicant pool characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(6), 733-751.
- Cable, D. M., & Turban, D. B. (2001). Establishing the dimensions, sources and value of job seekers' employer knowledge during recruitment. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 20, 115-163.
- Kristof-Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals' fit at work. Personnel Psychology, 58(2), 281-342.
- Barber, A. E. (1998). Recruiting Employees: Individual and Organizational Perspectives. Sage Publications.