The Dry Run.

How to research a company before an interview, and what to ask

Spend an hour in this order: the job posting, the company's own site, its SEC filings if it is public, recent news, and the people you will meet. Then turn what you found into three to five questions for each interviewer. Career centers at MIT, Florida, Pittsburgh and Penn State recommend the same sources and the same number of questions. capd.mit.edu career.ufl.edu cdn.careercentral.pitt.edu careerconnections.smeal.psu.edu

By The Dry Run editors. Updated . First published .

What should you know about a company before the interview?

Four things: what the company sells, who buys it, what changed this year, and why your role exists. The one-hour pass below gets you there. The 10-minute split per step is our suggestion; the sources are the ones MIT, Florida and Pittsburgh's career offices name.

The posting (10 minutes)

MIT's career office starts here. Use the posting and the company site to list the skills and tasks the employer wants, then write the behavioral questions those skills invite. Map each one to a story on your resume. capd.mit.edu Our STAR method guide covers the stories.

The company's own words (15 minutes)

Read the about page, product pages, leadership messages and the newsroom. Florida's career center suggests reading for mission, products and culture, without taking the polished image at face value. career.ufl.edu Note the products closest to your role and the words the company uses for its customers.

Filings, if it is public (15 minutes)

Search the company on the SEC's EDGAR system and open the latest 10-K. sec.gov Read the business overview and the risk factors. A company writes both under legal obligation, so they say plainly what it does and what could go wrong. Check the filings list for recent 8-Ks, which flag events such as leadership changes. sec.gov

Recent news and the market (10 minutes)

Look for funding, launches, layoffs and leadership changes from the last six months, and name two competitors. Florida's career center also suggests industry trends and CEO interviews. career.ufl.edu

The people (10 minutes)

Look up your interviewers on LinkedIn: their team, how long they have been there, what they worked on. Pittsburgh's worksheet asks you to know key executives and who is hiring for the role. cdn.careercentral.pitt.edu Talking to a current employee or alum helps too, as long as you do not ask about confidential matters. career.ufl.edu

The one-page brief

Fill this in before you log off

  1. What they sell, in one sentence a customer would say.
  2. Who buys it, and who else they could buy from.
  3. One thing that changed in the last six months.
  4. Why this role exists now, as best you can tell.
  5. Two questions this research raised. Ask them.

Why do the questions you ask matter?

Most interviewers close by asking whether you have questions; Google's guide for intern candidates says so outright. services.google.com Penn State's career office warns that having none can read as uninterested or unprepared. careerconnections.smeal.psu.edu Harvard's career center frames it the other way: your questions are how you decide whether you want the job. careerservices.fas.harvard.edu

What questions should you ask the interviewer?

Pick them by who is across the table. The best ask what success looks like in the role, what is hard about it, and what happens next. These twelve draw on guidance from Penn State, Case Western and Harvard. careerconnections.smeal.psu.edu case.edu careerservices.fas.harvard.edu

For the recruiter

  1. What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear back?
  2. How many rounds are left, and what does each one cover?
  3. What made the last person in this role successful here?

For the hiring manager

  1. What does success look like in this role at 30, 60 and 90 days?
  2. What is the hardest part of this job that the posting does not mention?
  3. How does this role support the team's goals for the next year?
  4. What would you want the person in this role to take off your plate first?
  5. Is there a skill we have not talked about that you were hoping to see?

Question 8 comes from Case Western's suggestion to ask which skills they want that you have not covered. case.edu

For a future teammate

  1. What does a normal week look like for you?
  2. Which teams do you work with most, and how does that go?
  3. What do you enjoy most about working here?
  4. What would you want to know if you were in my seat?
Ask questions that help you make an informed decision.Paraphrased from Harvard's Mignone Center for Career Success

What questions should you not ask in an interview?

Make one question your own

5 minutes, the night before

  1. Take one line from your one-page brief.
  2. Turn it into a question about the role: "I saw you launched X. How does this team work with it?"
  3. Ask it second, after the hiring manager's success question.

Questions

Where do I find a public company's annual report?
Search the company on the SEC's EDGAR filing search and open its latest 10-K. EDGAR also lists recent filings such as 8-Ks.
How much company research is enough before an interview?
Enough to explain what the company sells, who buys it, what changed recently, and why the role exists. An hour covers that for most interviews.
How many questions should I ask at the end of an interview?
Three to five. Penn State's career office suggests three to five, and Case Western suggests three or four. Prepare more than you need, because some get answered during the interview.
Is it bad to have no questions for the interviewer?
It can read as uninterested or unprepared, per Penn State's career office. Have at least two ready for each interviewer.

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