An employer can grasp your experience by reading your CV. Getting a feel for your skills is a far tougher task. How many people do you think write in their personal profile “an excellent communicator” or “commercially astute” or “an eye for detail”? The truth is interviewers often don’t believe it until they see you in action.

The question “What do you know about us” can define the direction of your interview. This is the chance to demonstrate the skills you have. Too many interviewees make the fatal mistake of treating this question lightly. Giving a great answer will demonstrate your ability to research, prepare, analyse, understand business issues, communicate, empathise, etc.

To deliver a great answer you need to spend time preparing and spend it wisely. For each and every interview, use the below bullet-proof technique to give you a highly impressive answer:

Who is the company?

(Consider location(s), structure, ownership, key dates, number of employees, turnover)

What do they do?

(List and understand the products, services, industry they operate within)

Who are the clients?

(Sectors they come from, examples of specific clients, understanding of why they buy)

Who do they compete with?

(Company names, market share, anecdotes about how they compete)

What current news or economic issues affect the company?

(Identify appropriate magazines/journals/newspapers and review company and industry news)

What key skills are needed?

(As required by the company and the industry)

Who are the key people?

(Leadership team, structure, hierarchy)

What is the culture?

(Typical employee, demands of clients, style of work)

Researching the above thoroughly should give you a couple of pages of notes, giving you a great knowledge base to refer to throughout the interview, not just when answering this question.

When asked “What do you know about us”, remember the 4 critical components of a good answer: clarity, conciseness, structure & logical flow. Stick to the above structure, pick the best points from your notes and practice delivering your answer in a maximum of 8 sentences. Good candidates know that luck is good preparation meeting opportunity.