Page 69 - John Kador - 201 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview-McGraw-Hill (2002)

THE RULES OF THE GAME

Most companies put basic background information about themselves
in this area. Another area to look for is the “pressroom” or “newsroom.”
Many companies collect news releases and articles about themselves
under this designation.
Some corporate Web sites are pretty complicated affairs, with liter-
ally tens of thousands of places to hide information. So if you are lost,
most Web sites have a feature called “Site Map.” This feature gives Web
site visitors a high-level look at where information may be found on the
site. It’s like the store directory you find in a shopping mall. Finally,
most Web sites have a search function. Click on the search function and
type in a term such as “about” or “news releases” and let the search en-
gine take you where you need to go.
For public companies, the annual report is almost always available at
the Web site. This document is an invaluable source of information about
the company and its challenges. Pay careful attention to the letter from the
management. In that letter, the organization’s CEO lays out the company’s
accomplishments and challenges. It will give you important clues for
questions you can ask. In some cases, there is a Q&A format, so many of
the questions you might want to ask in your interview are already there.
“The best questions to ask interviewers are those that demonstrate a
knowledge of the company and its market,” says Incentive Systems’
Bob Conlin. “I’m always impressed by good questions about specific
competitors, where the market is going in terms of trends, and how the
company is adapting to those trends.”

OTHER WEB RESOURCES

While a company’s Web site is chock-full of information, it is not com-
prehensive. Few company Web sites include information that is truly crit-
ical of the company. For more objective information about the company,
there are hundreds of free resources you can consult. It is beyond the
scope of this book to discuss online corporate research strategies, but the
following resources are what I use when I want to research a company:

CEO EXPRESS
www.ceoexpress.com
A great portal site to start your search, with links to dozens of publications

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