Getting hired at a startup series: Do so much company research that you know the company better than some existing employees (2 of 5)
Tip #2: Research the startup you are interviewing at DAYS IN ADVANCE. Sleep and dream on your notes. Know so much about the company that they know they’d be making a mistake in not hiring you. And teach THEM something in the interview. Study up!
Remember in college or high school when your professor handed back that graded test of yours and it said "98%” and you felt proud? Even C students get 98% in classes they care about and study for. And it’s a good feeling when you put in the work.
Remember when you were running track in high school and ran a PR, knowing you had put in the work prior leading to that breakout time?
Remember that?!?! Yep. Same goes for interviews.
If you have an interview on a Friday, don't just go onto the company website on a Thursday to research what the company does. If you do, you'll likely hit that 80% - 93% range (that B- to A- range), but to NAIL IT, to beat that puppy UP, you need to put the time in. Read up on the company a few days in advance and let that info sink in, day after day. Allow your mind to get to the next level of thinking: where you go beyond simply repeating back information and actually begin to have your own thoughts on the subject.
Why? Because the people applying for the job to your left and right…. are.
As a Product guy, having started and led the Product team at Drizly, I would ALWAYS ask this question a variation of this question when interviewing anyone… regardless of the role they were interviewing for (Product, Design, Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Ops, etc): "Have you been on our app or website? What do you think about it?"
And people fall into one of three buckets:
They never tried downloading the app and using it to really understand the product —> Massive Fail.
They downloaded the app, and the feedback on it was surface layer thin —> Fail
They downloaded the app, really dug in, and even placed an order to understand the whole customer lifecycle —> Win
The people I am always most excited by… the people I typically like to hire…. are the people who I LEARN FROM in an interview. Let me repeat that: The people I am always most excited by… the people I typically like to hire…. are the people who I LEARN FROM in an interview.
Winners take 30-60 minutes a day minimum, multiple days in a row, to study the business they are interviewing at and try to offer their own insights that are memorable. A+ players go for 98%. Perfectionists go for 100%. But no one is perfect.
Spit knowledge in your interview. Don't just scratch the surface. Give some insights you took away from all of the studying you did. Ask questions as to where you see holes and how you think you could improve those holes, whether it be in Product, Customer Service, Marketing, etc. Dive in a bit deeper than the stuff you know any average Joe would ask/talk about. Remember that no one is perfect. But 98% is attainable. And if you want the job over the others applying, it's better to be at 98% than 80-93%. Put in the time to research the company you are interviewing with days in advance. And be proud of the work you put in when you get the job.