Sharing a guest blog with you on a pre-interview trend that is becoming more and more important.
– Coach Wolfgang

Technology is changing so many industries and so many jobs. Technology now allows companies to see if you’ve actually researched the company and measure how interested you are. Make sure you show up on their “technology radar” before an interview. This is quickly becoming an important requirement for applicants and no longer a differentiator. Here are 4 ways to get on a company’s “Technology Radar” and why it’s important to do so before your first interview.

1. Study Employees on LinkedIn

If you have an upcoming interview in the marketing department of a company then jump on LinkedIn. First research the company’s LinkedIn page and click the “follow” button. Next start looking at profiles of marketing employees. Those employees may see that you have been looking at their LinkedIn profile – that’s okay! In fact that may be a good thing. If they all start talking about you they’ll realize that you are just doing your homework.

2. Get Your Name in the Company Database

Signup for the companies upcoming webinars, register for their contests, download whitepapers and visit lots of web pages. All of those behaviors show up in the company’s back-end systems. If they search through their marketing database for your name and nothing comes up, it will look like you didn’t do your homework.

Bonus points if you get a sales call from someone at the company. Tell them you are interviewing for a position and doing your research. Also let them know that you aren’t a good sales prospect. You never know when your name will get mentioned over the water cooler.

3. Donate Your Code

If you are looking at software programming jobs, it will help to be active in the chat rooms – posting & answering questions and even sharing code that you’ve written for open-source projects. You’ll need to be active at least a few months before an interview but building a reputation under your username can go a long way.

4. Engage with Social Media Channels

Find out what social channels the company uses and use your personal social media accounts to follow, like and friend. They will see your activity and note that you are thoroughly researching the company.

Bonus points if you reply to some posts, re-tweet, or comment on some blogs (in a meaningful way) or other content. This shows effort, interest and helps you know the latest news about a company.

There are many more examples – some that aren’t technology based, even – for the company/industry you are interested in. Many times you can find those out with this question: how does a prospect, customer or partner engage with this organization? Think through those scenarios and step through the process as part of your pre-interview research. When you do make sure you get “recognized” for those efforts.