RFS Team
Interview preparation is an art, and one of its essential components is researching the company you're interviewing with. By thoroughly researching a company, you can walk into your interview with confidence – armed with knowledge that not only impresses your potential employer but also helps you make a well-informed decision about your future career path. This due diligence is especially critical in fast-paced environments like early-stage startups, where roles and companies evolve quickly. Understanding a company's trajectory and specific needs can be the difference between a good fit and a mismatch, impacting factors like career progression and compensation, which, based on 0+ technical hires we've made since 2019, averages around ~$252K for placed engineers.
The company's official website is your gateway to understanding its core identity and current strategic direction. To thoroughly prepare, we recommend reviewing the following sections in detail.
The About Us section: Begin your exploration with the "About Us," "Company Overview," or "Our Story" section. Dive deep into the company's mission, vision, values, and history. Understanding their fundamental principles will enable you to align your interview responses with their culture seamlessly. Look for recurring themes or specific language used to describe their ethos. Consider how your personal values and professional goals resonate with what they publicly state. This initial alignment check is crucial, as a strong cultural fit is a significant factor in long-term job satisfaction and performance within a company. A candidate who understands and articulates how they embody these values often stands out. Products and Services: Familiarize yourself with the company's products or services portfolio. Gain an in-depth understanding of what they offer, their target market, and how these offerings fit into the broader industry. Understand their value proposition: what problem do they solve, and for whom? Explore any product roadmaps or recent feature announcements. If you are interviewing for a technical role, try to understand the underlying technology stack or engineering challenges associated with their products. Your ability to discuss their offerings intelligently and show genuine interest will demonstrate both industry knowledge and a serious commitment to the role. For instance, an AI/ML engineer should understand the data pipelines or model deployment strategies relevant to the company's core product. News and Press Releases: Don't overlook the news and press releases section, often found under "Media," "Newsroom," or "Blog." This will provide you with insights into recent achievements, significant partnerships, funding rounds, expansions, or changes within the organization that could be highly relevant to your interview discussions. Note any major announcements, such as new product launches, market entries, or key hires. If the company recently secured a Series B funding round, understanding the investors and the announced use of capital can inform your questions about growth and future direction. Conversely, if there have been layoffs or executive departures, approach discussions with an informed, but not accusatory, perspective, focusing on stability and future opportunities.This is where many people stop, but we also recommend spending some time reading about:
Recent events or Webinars: If the company hosts or participates in industry events, conferences, or webinars, this can be a valuable source of information about its expertise, focus areas, and thought leadership. If there are recordings online – try to watch some, or at least part of one, to learn more about their offerings, their stance on industry trends, and the personalities of their key speakers. This can provide a deeper understanding of their public-facing persona and the specific challenges or innovations they are actively pursuing. It also gives you material for informed questions about their strategic direction or technological advancements. Investor Relations: If the company is publicly traded, spend at least some time reviewing financial reports, including annual reports (10-K) and quarterly earnings releases (10-Q), to understand its financial health, growth trajectory, and performance (they’re legally required to provide this). Key metrics include revenue growth, profitability, market share, and future guidance. For private startups, researching their investors or where they’re getting capital from is equally important. Look for announcements of seed, Series A, B, or C funding rounds. Understand the reputation of their venture capital firms and the typical stage where these VCs invest. Knowing a startup’s funding stage and lead investors can provide clues about their growth expectations, stability, and immediate priorities. For example, a company that recently closed a large Series A might be in an aggressive hiring phase, which aligns with the rapid hiring pace we observe, with an average time to fill of 29 days in our data from 0+ placements.While reviewing a company’s Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram can offer a glimpse into their brand and culture, dedicate most of your time to reviewing LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn to understand their size, growth trajectory, and key personnel. This platform provides professional insights that are directly relevant to your potential role.
Company Profile: Analyze the company's LinkedIn page. Look at the "About" section for a concise overview, mission statement, and specializations. Check the "Posts" tab for recent company announcements, milestones, or industry insights they've shared. This often mirrors their press releases but can sometimes offer a more direct, less formal tone. Pay attention to the number of employees and their growth over time. A rapidly expanding team, particularly in a specific department, suggests strong growth and hiring momentum, which aligns with the needs of our 549+ active startup clients. Employee Profiles: Spend time reviewing the profiles of existing employees, especially those in roles similar to the one you're applying for, or those who would be your potential colleagues or managers. * Recent hires and departures: Who are recent people who have joined, or left the company? Where did they work before, or where are they moving to? Consider if you have a similar trajectory or want a similar career path if you’re interviewing for a similar role. A pattern of senior leaders moving from larger corporations to a startup could indicate a company poised for significant growth. * Employee engagement: Are employees posting a lot? Do they seem happy to be working there, and are eager to share about their work, or the projects they’re working on? High employee engagement in sharing company news, achievements, or positive experiences can be a strong indicator of a positive work culture. Conversely, a complete lack of employee activity might warrant further investigation. * Awards and milestones: Is there a recent award, or milestone the company has achieved that employees are sharing? Bring this up in your interview! Congratulating them on a specific achievement shared by employees shows you've done your homework and are genuinely interested in their success. For example, if multiple engineers are celebrating a new product feature release or a technical patent, it signifies an active and innovative environment. Job Postings: Review the company's current and past job postings on LinkedIn. These can offer crucial insights into their current needs, strategic objectives, and the types of skills they are actively seeking. Observe trends in roles they are hiring for (e.g., an increase in AI/ML engineering roles could indicate a strategic shift towards advanced technological development). This also helps you understand the required qualifications and responsibilities for specific positions, enabling you to tailor your resume and interview responses more precisely. Identifying a pattern in their hiring across 549+ active startup clients, we often see a strong correlation between job descriptions and the company's strategic roadmap.Everyone knows to read online reviews from places like Glassdoor and Indeed to get a sense of what former and current employees are saying. These platforms offer candid insights into workplace culture, management styles, compensation, and work-life balance. Pay attention to recurring themes, both positive and negative. While individual reviews can be subjective, consistent feedback across many reviews often highlights genuine strengths or weaknesses within an organization. Look for trends in specific departments or roles that might be relevant to your application. For instance, if you are applying for an engineering role, check reviews from other engineers regarding technical challenges, project management, and opportunities for skill development.
But we also recommend researching customer reviews. Platforms like G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, or even app store reviews (for product-led companies) can provide valuable insight into the customer experience and help inform applicants of what they may face if hired. Pay attention to both positive and negative comments, which can offer key details about a company's level of service, how they handle complaints, and any potential challenges that may arise in the future. This is especially relevant if you’ll be working in a customer-facing role (e.g., Solutions Engineer, Support Engineer) or if your role directly impacts the product or service quality. Understanding how customers perceive the company’s offerings and service quality gives you a more complete picture of the company's market position and operational effectiveness. It also provides excellent material for questions about product improvements, customer feedback loops, or strategic responses to market needs.
This is probably the biggest tip, but if you can - try to start preparing and researching at least a few days in advance of your interview (if not longer). You never want to cram the night before, and you'll remember the information you find better. It's important to be well-rested and refreshed so you can articulate your insights clearly during the interview.
Effective research takes time. For an initial phone screen, an hour or two might suffice to grasp the basics. However, for later-stage interviews, especially for senior or specialized roles such as those in AI/ML, dedicating half a day to a full day of focused research across the company website, LinkedIn, news, and reviews is a reasonable investment. This allows you to synthesize information, identify key themes, and formulate thoughtful questions. In our data from 0+ placements, we see an average time to fill for technical roles of just 29 days from req open to offer accepted. This rapid pace means that opportunities move quickly, and candidates who are thoroughly prepared from the outset are often at a significant advantage. Proactive and detailed preparation demonstrates your commitment and professionalism, which are highly valued by the 549+ active startup clients we work with. Don't underestimate the time required to genuinely internalize the company's story, market position, and challenges.
By conducting thorough research using these methods, you'll be well-prepared for your interview and better equipped to ask informed questions that demonstrate your strategic thinking and genuine interest. This meticulous preparation directly correlates with the success we see in our placements, where engineers achieve an average salary of ~$252K.
Recruiting from Scratch possesses deep, data-backed expertise in technical hiring. Since our founding in New York City in 2019, we have specialized exclusively in Engineering and AI/ML roles at seed through Series C startups. This specialization has led to 0+ technical placements, partnering with 549+ active startup clients. This direct, hands-on experience provides us with real-time data on market trends, compensation benchmarks (e.g., ~$252K average salary for placed engineers), and efficient hiring processes (e.g., average time to fill of 29 days). Our high Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 90+ reflects our commitment to successful outcomes for both candidates and clients. This extensive, focused experience gives us authoritative insight into effective interview preparation and what truly differentiates successful candidates in competitive technical markets, aligning with E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) principles.
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