Company Research
Once you've built your target list of companies, the next step is to dig deeper.
Solid research helps you tailor your applications, craft better outreach messages, and perhaps most importantly prepare for interviews.
It also gives you insight into each company’s values, strategy, and current challenges so you can position yourself as a solution.
AI can a great tool here but in many cases going directly to the sources listed will be easier and more accurate.
Start with the Basics
Company Website
This is your baseline, but go much deeper than other applicants. Review their About page, mission statement, leadership bios, press releases, and blog.
Note recent initiatives, language used to describe the company culture, and key messaging themes.
Company Careers Page
Review all the information provided. Bigger companies will often have detailed information about career paths and how to apply. When possible join their Talent Pool to get notified of new jobs dropping.
Wikipedia
An underutilized source that can be more useful than a company's own website. Be sure to review any links at the bottom for additional sources.
Do a LinkedIn Deep Dive
Review ALL the sections on their Company page. Follow the company and key employees. Read recent posts.
LinkedIn company pages show updates, job postings, employee count, and growth trends. They also give you visibility into employee distribution by function and location. Use this to spot teams you may want to join or reach out to.
Search for current and former employees, reviewing their profiles to identify available roles, the language they use to describe their work, and their tenure at the company. Look for patterns in backgrounds, career paths, and endorsements. This can reveal hidden job titles or departments not listed on the site.
Talk to Your Network
Nothing beats a human for inside intel. Reach out to networking contacts, alumni, or mutual connections who can provide unfiltered insights into the company culture, management, and internal dynamics. Ask informed questions that show you’ve done your research.
Research Industry and Company News
Use AI to generate a summary of news about overall trends in the industry over the past two years. Then follow up with a query about news related to the company over the past six months. and how it's doing vs. the industry. Ask for news related to new products or services, funding rounds, executive changes, mergers, layoffs, expansions, strategic initiatives, and any other areas that might be relevant.
Go Deeper
Explore Products/Services
Try shopping for their products in stores or online as a prospective buyer. How do they position themselves vs. the competition? Where are they distributed? What is their branding like?
Go to product review sites including Google reviews, Trustpilot (ecommerce and SaaS), G2 (software and B2B services), Capterra (business software comparisons), TrustRadius (enterprise software), Product Hunt (new tech products and startups), or GetApp (small business SaaS tools).
Sign up for free trials when possible.
Review SEC Filings and 990s
For publicly traded companies, visit the SEC’s EDGAR database. Focus on 10-K and 10-Q filings for financial data, strategic risks, and executive commentary.
For nonprofits, Google “[organization name] AND 990".
Check Review Sites and Forums
Check Glassdoor (now part of Indeed) and Comparably for employee reviews, salary data, and interview feedback. Note that interview information is no longer available via Glassdoor.
Google "[company name] Reddit" for unfiltered reviews from the Reddit community. Use Blind for unfiltered, sometimes blunt, commentary on tech companies.
Balance this input with other sources—these platforms can reveal cultural dynamics or red flags that don’t show up elsewhere.
Review Their Social Media
Follow them, and check the company's social media channels, including YouTube where you may find speeches by company execs or posts by employees about a day in the life (Google "day in the life" [company]".
Other Areas to Explore
Competitive Landscape: Use AI to identify top 3-5 competitors. Search [company] vs [competitor] and ask AI to compare strengths and weaknesses side by side.
Investor Relations: Review their investor deck and funding announcements on Crunchbase if relevant.
Employee Insights: Message current employees on LinkedIn for informational interviews. Search “day in the life [company name]” to find videos on YouTube.
Innovation Pipeline: Follow their product roadmap and recent feature announcements. What does future innovation look like?
Future Vision: Find CEO interviews and use AI to distill the top 3 themes about company direction.
What Are You Trying to Learn?
Are they growing, stable, or declining? Knowing their momentum lets you tailor your interview answers to their current needs and business stage.
What is their financial health? No matter what stage, their finances could be stable or at risk. This applies to nonprofits too.
What are the major goals for the coming year? This allows you to explain how your skills will help them hit those specific goals.
What are the most important projects, campaigns, or products? You can immediately link your value and experience to active projects.
What are the problems that keep them up at night? This lets you position yourself as the solution to a known, high-priority problem.
What is the future vision? Show that you buy into their direction and are inspired by their overall purpose.
What is the company culture? Look beyond buzzwords to understand the day-to-day behaviors and environment so that you can both evaluate your fit and tailor your communication style.
What are the stated mission and values, and do they adhere to them? This allows you to show alignment that goes beyond the role's responsibilities.
What are the backgrounds of the hiring manager and others on the team? Sometimes, team culture is more important than company culture.
Who are their external partners? These relationships are key to an organization's success, so if you have relevant knowledge or connections, that's valuable.
Who are their competitors? Assessing the competitive landscape is key.
Tools and Resources to Help You
AI Prompts
AI Prompts for Company and Industry Research: Use these prompts to help speed your efforts.
Databases
Library Databases: A library card unlocks a range of online directories you can search to research companies on your target list. Anyone can get a Multnomah County library card. Once you have a MCL account, use this link to start your research. Other counties have similar offerings.
Other Sources
Org Charts and Related Companies: The Org is the world’s largest directory of org charts; also suggests related companies.
Nonprofits: Check out Nonprofit Explorer
Company Culture and Salaries: Glassdoor | Comparably | Indeed | LinkedIn Company Pages (on a company page, click Life)
Publicly-traded companies: See detailed information in company SEC filings