4 Common interview research mistakes that are wasting your time
There is a right way to research and a wrong way to research.
You need a plan.
More than a plan, you need clear objectives.
More than objectives, you need limits.
Or it gets out of hand.
This guide includes examples, links and sources specific to Amazon. The framework and methodology, however, will work for researching any company for interviews or applications. It puts structure into an otherwise vague and ambiguous process where success is hard to measure.
4 most common job interview research mistakes
Not setting research objectives
Research takes a long time when you don't know what you're looking for. When you lack clear objectives it's easy to get distracted with unnecessary or irrelevant tangents. Undirected time is time wasted.
Spending too much time researching
We all know we should research the company and the role, but many job searchers get caught in an endless research loop without learning anything meaningful. Some candidates even use time spent on research as a metric for good interview prep. Time spent is NEVER a KPI.
Not researching the right things
We've all been there. It’s tempting to read company gossip or new product announcements completely unrelated to the role you seek because it's easy to find the information. On the other hand coming up to speed on the relevant divisional challenges is much harder. You need to focus on information that will impact how you prepare or what you say in the interview. If it doesn't change what you say or do, it doesn't matter.
Not processing the research.
There are 3 ways to fail here: not taking notes, not reviewing the notes, and not reflecting on the notes. For your research to mean something you need to synthesise it into conclusions or findings. You need the “so what” for your interview. The only way to do that is to take notes, review them, and reflect on them. Everything you research needs to tie back to the interview. So many people research for hours and never bring any of it up in the interview. If you don’t talk about it, it doesn’t count.
Basic rule: only research what you need, and use everything you research. Keep a closed loop.
The key to effective interview research is to have a plan
Set a time limit.
Identify the research objectives.
Make a checklist of specific materials you will research & review for each research objective. Tick things off as you go.
Manage focus. Do not go off track. If you come across further source material to research as you go, write it down for later and come back to it if you have time at the end. Stick to the list as much as possible. Do not deviate.
Let’s break down each step.
Step 1: Set a time limit
Doing too much research causes prep burn out. Conserve your energy instead.
Use predetermined time limits to focus energy on the right research. Deciding time limits for each research objective allows you to rationally decide where your energy is most needed and to use that energy well. Using time limits is effective only if you adhere to them. When the timer goes off, you must move on.
The purpose of research is to improve the quality of the answers you deliver. It’s essential to cover a few areas. The following split is a good starting point for most roles. Adjust up and down to your specifics, gaps, and strengths:
Product: 50% of research time.
Most important and should be actively feeding into your interview discussion.
Team: 30% of research time.
Helps you understand the environment and provides foundation to build connection with your interviewers.
General company: 20% of research time.
This is about context and backbone. You probably won't be referencing a lot of this material directly but it will frame everything you do.
Steps 2 & 3: Suggested research objectives & materials checklist
The purpose of research is to improve the quality of the answers you deliver. It’s essential to cover a few areas:
Product - get to know the product you'll be working on inside out
Find KPIs - number of users, partnerships, annual revenue, margin, etc.
Find recent developments for the product - read news & press releases.
Understand history - was it acquired, merged with another product, where did it come from.
Read or listen to customer reviews. This is the best gauge of what the team's challenges are.
Become a user, if you can. Try features. Reflect on the sign up process and customer experience. Have a list of things you’d improve. Have ideas on how to evolve it.
The team - get to know your peers and stakeholders
Linkedin research - who are the other team members, what’s their background, how long have they been on the team. Look for similarities, pay attention to how they write, read their linked in / social media posts and articles.
Repeat the above for leadership. Pay close attention to any significant hires in related product or functional areas.
Read or watch any interviews with your team or related teams. E.g. If you're joining Amazon Prime marketing, see what the CMO has to say, as well as staff on the Amazon prime team and in the local office.
Seek out articles or press coverage about your function, location or product team. Limit this to 2-3 quality articles from reputable publications.
General company - establish the Amazon frame of mind
Listen to the last earnings call - was your team or product discussed? What stood out? What was raised in the Q&A, usually the last half of the call?
You can also read Amazon's earnings call transcript.
Read the Amazon's 2020 shareholder letter.
Read the Amazon's 1997 shareholder letter (the very first one).
Read recent Amazon press releases or quarterly earnings statements.
Scan recent news, such as Business Insider's Amazon News.
Step 4: Manage your focus
So you’ve set your time limit, set your objectives, and made a list of what you’ll do. Now the hard part - follow the plan. Do nothing more and nothing less. When you get to the bottom of the list you are done.
You can use the online pomodoro timer to keep you on track (read about the pomodoro method here).
What do you do when you find something in your research that creates a new tangent for you to pursue?
You do nothing. You can write it down, bookmark it, save it for later. But you do nothing more at the time. If you have time at the end of your preparation to revisit it, you can do it then.
It’s essential you don’t give in to following it!
Two reasons why.
You already identified what is important to research. If you pursue this tangent you are doing it at the expense of other areas of research, or other preparation you could be doing. Get through your list first, then come back to it.
Everything online is designed to take you from article to article. Headlines are buzzy and make you curious. Taking a step back and parking the new information lets you evaluate if that’s really an important tangent to follow, or just a distraction.
Don't go down tangents. Stick to the plan.
What about culture research?
You'll notice we didn't include culture in the research blocks. That's because we recommend you research culture as part of the core leadership principles interview prep. You’ll need to get to know each principle thoroughly to understand how to frame your experiences in an Amazonian way. It’s via this process that your understanding of the Amazon culture will come together.
If you have our Premium Prep Essentials or Complete guides, you will find each principle deconstructed to its fundamentals and demonstrated with real examples from Amazon’s rich history. The Amazon culture comes together in the leadership principles.
Final thoughts
As you research, develop a habit of questioning whether what you’re reading is valuable. Ask yourself if what you’re researching will be used in your interview responses, will inform how you prepare, or be valuable context. If it's not, move on.
Have a firm checklist of activities. Make your own or use the suggestions above. Be ruthless with staying on track.
Be firm with your time commitments. Do not be the candidate that spends 90% of preparation time on the research.
If your interviewer brings up something you didn’t research, don’t panic. Admit that wasn’t something you’re aware of and ask them to tell you more. Engage in a conversation and be interested. If you did come across something relevant, but not quite the same, bring it up. Don’t make it into a big deal, they won’t either.
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