Here’s How to Research a Company in 3 Simple Steps

Recruiters and other career advice-givers will often tell you to do your research on a company before you interview with them. And usually, candidates will smile and nod, but occasionally, one will get the nerve up to say:

“Sam, what exactly do I look for?”

So let’s get specific. Here’s what you should look for when you research a potential employer:

1. Check out their website, obviously, but don’t just skim — read everything: the About Us page, the Team Bios, the Mission Statement.

2. Google the company to get any outside perspective you can find. What do other publications, employee review sites, Glassdoor, etc. have to offer?

3. Your own network. Scan your contacts on LinkedIn, in particular, to see if you know anyone who might have insight, either because they work at the company now, have worked there in the past, or work with the company as an outside vendor or freelancer.

Invest some time in the research. And show up for your interview with all the information you need to sound smart and make balanced decisions.

How do you research a potential employer and what do you look for?

COVID-19 Is Changing the Way We Communicate.

It turns out, we’re all pretty terrible at reading each other’s mood if we can’t see faces.

Specifically, it’s harder to recognize a pleased look when it’s coming from the mouth. Anger and frustration, on the other hand, tend to show up more obviously in the eyes and brows.

Which makes masks a bit of a predicament. But here we are. Ever since medical experts began recommending that we wear them to prevent the spread of COVID-19, masks have become not just common but ubiquitous, and even fashionable.

This probably won’t change soon. And truthfully, in some Asian countries, wearing masks in public has been normal for years. So we might as well get used to it.

In the business world, specifically, it will be interesting to see how we all learn to read each other from the nose up. Will we get more expressive with our eyebrows? Will we become wilder gesticulators? Will there be more miscommunication? Or will we learn to be more articulate in general?

As a Recruiter, I have long relied on smiling as a way to put people at ease. I accept the challenge to find another way.

Want to Cultivate an Optimistic Workplace? Start with the Small Things

“Stay positive!” might seem like a trite thing to say these days. But it’s more important than ever in the business world.

If you’re leading a team, it’s your job to lead with optimism. Even if your company has endured layoffs, sick employees, and an uncertain financial future, there’s a way to stay positive.

This might mean making gestures at first. For instance, one struggling hospital, whose story I read in Harvard Business Review, bought a Monarch caterpillar for every department. When the butterflies hatched, they released them all together to symbolize positive change.

Gestures like this might seem trivial, but they stand out in employees’ minds. When your team is struggling, they look to you for reassurance. It’s your job to provide that optimism.

While 2020 has been a hard year for a lot of companies, the leaders I work with are still fully invested in supporting their teams. And that’s reassuring.

Employees Are Returning to the Office. Here’s What They’ll Want to Know.

We’re starting to see an end in sight (knock on wood).

Employers are slowly bringing their people back to the office. While the shift differs from state to state, industry to industry, company to company, and role to role, one thing is happening across the board: employees have a lot of questions.

Do I have to come in?

Do I have to wear a mask? Does everyone else?

How will you protect me?

What are my personal rights when it comes to things like having my temperature taken by my employer?

HR organizations are under pressure to have the answers to all of these kind of questions at the ready. Before people can return to work, they have to have everything figured out. And it’s a lot of pressure, coupled with the fact that no one has done this before. For those looking for answers, SHRM is, as always, a fantastic resource.

I work with a lot of companies at Newcastle Associates starting to navigate this situation, and one thing I know for sure: we’ll all figure out best practices together, and hopefully emerge from this pandemic more prepared and wiser than ever before.

What’s Recruitment Technology Going to Be Like in a Post COVID-19 World?

What will recruiting look like in a post-pandemic world?

A lot of it will continue to be virtual, for one thing. Not just recruiting, but networking, career fairs, and professional events are all going remote.

Luckily, the tools for these kinds of interactions existed long before the #pandemic took over our lives. In addition to Zoom, recruiters like myself and the others here at Newcastle Associates are typically quite familiar with HR-specific technology tools such as applicant-tracking systems and algorithms that help screen resumes.

But new tools are emerging, too. Artificial intelligence (AI) in particular will be increasingly helpful in matching up candidates to companies in the future.

And as the HR world gets better and better at orchestrating virtual events, expect far less physical palm-pressing in your professional future.

The article from Forbes has some suggestions. What does remote recruiting look like for you?