How to Research Employers Before You Apply
Company research before applying is not just useful for the cover letter — it improves every stage of your application and interview process. Here is a systematic approach to employer research and how to use what you find.
What to Research and Where to Find It
The basics: Company size, sector, products or services, business model, key markets. Most of this is on the company's About page or annual report.
Recent news and developments: Google news alerts, the company's press section, LinkedIn company page. Recent announcements — funding rounds, product launches, expansions, leadership changes — provide current context that older sources miss.
Financial health: For public companies, recent results and analyst coverage. For private companies, Companies House filings (UK) show filed accounts. For startups, recent funding rounds (Crunchbase, TechCrunch) indicate runway and investor confidence.
Culture: Glassdoor reviews (with appropriate scepticism — both very positive and very negative reviews are often unrepresentative), employee LinkedIn profiles (how long do people typically stay?), the company's own careers content.
The team: LinkedIn profiles of your likely interviewing panel, your potential manager, and the team you would join. Understanding their backgrounds helps you anticipate what they value.
The market: What are the company's competitors? What is the market dynamic? For any externally-facing role, market context is part of the basic knowledge requirement.
How to Use Your Research
In your cover letter: One or two specific, researched references to the company signal genuine interest. Do not use generic language that any competitor could have generated.
In your tracker: Store key research notes alongside each application. When a recruiter calls two weeks after you applied, your notes tell you instantly what you knew about this company.
In interviews: Research forms the basis of your informed questions, your contextualised answers, and your demonstrated interest. "I noticed from your Q3 results that [X] — how is the team responding to that?" is the kind of question that distinguishes serious candidates.
Build your CV free at CVCircuit and store your research notes in your application tracker for each employer.