A few months ago I got a candidate an interview for an HVAC Manufacturer. I tried to prepare the candidate by describing the job and the company. I sent an email with the company’s website details, and explained the importance of investigating the company before the interview.
For one reason or another, my candidate did not have much time before the interview to prepare, and didn’t really check their website.
During the interview it quickly became apparent to the interviewer that my candidate didn’t know much about the company. The candidate said, “The interview was over in twenty minutes, but it felt like he’d made his mind up after the first few minutes.” To make matters worse the interviewer asked some fairly detailed questions about the company like:
- “How many employees does our company have?”
- “What was the turnover and profit of our company?”
My poor candidate stood no chance!
Not all interviewers will expect such detailed knowledge. But the information can usually be obtained on any limited company from Companies House where you can download company accounts for only £1.
On a separate point, many HVAC companies are struggling at the moment, but some are pulling through. It’s critical for candidates to understand what a company’s finances are like before you go through the interview process. As with many redundancies still being made, its normally the case of the the last in, is first out.
