How to Research a Company Before an Interview (2026)

Quick answer

To research a company before an interview, spend 30 minutes in six passes: confirm it exists and is solvent in the official business register, read the last 90 days of news and any layoff notices, read Glassdoor and Indeed reviews for patterns rather than scores, look up your interviewer's role and tenure, check the role's posting date and pay range, and run a quick job-scam check. Then turn what you found into three talking points and three questions.

Key numbers

$362.9 millionlost to employment fraud reported to the FBI in 2025, across 24,688 complaintsFBI IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report
1 in 3people who lost money to a job or business opportunity scam in 2025 said it started on social mediaFTC Data Spotlight, April 2026
14 states + DCrequire a pay range in job postings as of October 2026, from California and New York to Washington and ConnecticutBrightmine pay transparency tracker
100 million+LinkedIn members had added at least one profile verification by late 2025, about 60% of them a workplace checkTechCrunch, December 2025

You have an interview next week. You want to walk in knowing what the company does, what has happened there lately, who you'll be talking to, and whether the job and the company are real. You also don't want to spend a whole weekend on it.

The research matters for two reasons. It turns a generic interview into a conversation, and it protects you from the fakes: people reported losing $362.9 million to employment fraud to the FBI in 2025, across 24,688 complaints. This guide gives you a 30-minute routine to research a company before an interview that covers both, with the exact registers and lookups to use in the US, UK and EU.

How do I research a company before an interview?

Research a company before an interview in six passes: confirm it's real and solvent, learn what it does and what has changed recently, read employee reviews for patterns, look up your interviewer, check the role and its pay, and run a quick scam check. Here is the time budget that works:

5 minutes: is it real and stable? Official business register, latest accounts or filings, layoff notices, major court cases.
5 minutes: what do they do and what's new? Their site, the last 90 days of news, product launches, leadership changes.
5 minutes: what is it like to work there? Glassdoor and Indeed, read critically.
5 minutes: who am I meeting? Role, tenure, what they've said publicly.
5 minutes: the role itself. How long it has been open, the pay range, who it reports to.
5 minutes: scam check and prep. Confirm the process is genuine, then write three talking points and three questions.

You don't need all six for a household-name employer. You do need all six for a company you had never heard of until a recruiter messaged you.

Is this company real and financially stable?

A real company appears in the official business register where it says it's based, and its filings show whether it's still trading. Start there, because everything else (reviews, the interviewer's profile, the job ad) is easier to fake than a government record.

United States

Search the Secretary of State's business database in the company's home state; NASS links to every state's search. Check that the entity is active and in good standing, when it was formed, and who its registered agent is. If the company is public, read the latest annual report and recent current reports in SEC EDGAR: the risk factors section tells you in plain words what management worries about. For layoffs, check your state's WARN notice list. The federal WARN Act requires advance notice of qualifying plant closings and mass layoffs, and states such as California and Washington publish each notice with the employer's name, location, headcount and date.

United Kingdom

Search Companies House for free. You can see the company's status, incorporation date, current and resigned officers, and the full filing history with images of documents. Open the latest accounts: even a small company's filing shows a balance sheet, and overdue accounts or a "proposal to strike off" notice are warnings. GOV.UK explains what's on the register, including insolvency information and mortgage charges.

European Union

Use the European e-Justice "Find a company" service, which searches the business registers of every EU country plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, then go to the national register for filings. For the fuller registry routine, including VAT, LEI and domain checks, see our guide on how to check if a company is legit.

What has changed at the company in the last 90 days?

The last 90 days of news tell you what the company is dealing with right now, and that's where your best talking points come from. Search the company name in Google News and on the company's own newsroom page.

Note four things:

Money: funding rounds, earnings, acquisitions, cost cuts, layoffs.
Product: launches, pricing changes, outages, recalls, regulatory decisions.
People: new executives, departures, reorganizations, a new office or a closed one.
Reputation: lawsuits, data breaches, awards, big customer wins or losses.

Write one sentence on each. If you can say "I saw you launched X in September and I'm curious how that changes the team's priorities", you've already separated yourself from most candidates.

How do I read Glassdoor and Indeed reviews without being misled?

Read reviews for patterns across time, roles and locations, not for the overall score. Glassdoor says employers "absolutely cannot pay us to remove negative reviews" and describes a multi-step moderation process of technology and human moderators, but reviews are still self-selected: people write when they're very happy or very angry.

A method that takes five minutes:

Filter to the last 12 months and to your function or office. A sales team in Austin and an engineering team in Berlin can feel like different companies.
Read the "Cons" and "Advice to management" sections of ten reviews. Ignore one-off rants. Note anything three or more people say independently.
Check the dates against the news. A cluster of bad reviews after a layoff round is normal. A steady decline over two years is a trend.
Look at how the company replies. Thoughtful responses to criticism are a good sign. Identical pasted replies, or none at all, tell you something too.
Turn each pattern into a neutral question for the interview: "How has the team changed since the reorganization?"

Reviews are opinions. Treat them as a list of things to ask about, not as facts.

How do I research my interviewer?

Ask the recruiter who you'll be meeting and what their role is, then spend five minutes on each person's public professional profile. You're looking for three things: their current role and how long they've held it, their career path (did they come up through the function you're joining?), and anything they've said publicly that relates to the work, such as posts, conference talks, podcasts or an article.

Check whether their profile carries a verification badge. LinkedIn said in late 2025 that more than 100 million members had added at least one verification, and about 60% of those confirmed their workplace, usually with a company email address (TechCrunch).

What not to do: don't send a connection request before the interview, don't follow their personal social accounts, and don't bring up anything personal you found. Mention work things only, and only things they chose to publish: "I enjoyed your talk on X." LinkedIn can show people who viewed their profile, so browse in private mode if you'd rather not announce yourself.

A Search A-Z business search pulls the public picture together in one report. Enter the interviewer's, hiring manager's or founder's full name and country, choose "Business contact", and add the company if you know it. The report says how sure we are it's the right person, then shows their current job and company, work history, education, public social and professional profiles, news and web mentions from a live web search, and any public scam or fraud warnings. Business searches also show the work email and company registration details, including UK Companies House roles and the worldwide LEI register, and check whether the email and phone you were given are real and what line type the phone is. The person is never told you searched, and if we can't find the right person, the report says so.

Search A-Z is for you, the candidate, checking the company and the people you'll meet. It is not a consumer reporting agency: employers can't use it to screen candidates, and nobody can use it for hiring, tenant, credit or insurance decisions. Employers need an FCRA-compliant background screening service for that.

What should I check about the role itself?

Check how long the job has been open, whether the posting matches the company's own careers page, who the role reports to, and what it pays.

Posting age. Job boards show a posted date. A role open for four months, or reposted several times, may have had an offer fall through, a budget freeze, or a hiring manager who can't decide. Ask: "How long has the role been open, and what has made it hard to fill?"
Matches the careers page. If the job isn't on the company's own site, ask the recruiter why before you share any documents.
Pay range. In the US, at least 14 states and Washington, DC now require a pay range in job postings, according to Brightmine's tracker, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington. New York's law covers employers with four or more employees and bans open-ended ranges. If the posting has no range in a state that requires one, that's a fair first question.
EU pay transparency. The EU Pay Transparency Directive gives applicants a right to information about the starting pay or its range and bans employers from asking about your pay history. Member states had until 7 June 2026 to transpose it, and as of late 2025 only a few had fully done so (Chambers), so check whether your country's law is in force before you rely on it.
Reporting line. The posting, the interviewer's profile and the company's structure should agree. If they don't, ask.

How do I know the interview and the job offer aren't a scam?

A genuine employer never asks you to pay for anything, and every step of the process can be confirmed through contact details you find yourself. Fake recruiters copy real company names and real employees' profiles, run "interviews" by text, and then ask for a fee, for equipment you must buy, or for your bank and ID details. The FTC's advice on job scams is blunt: never pay to get a job, and don't deposit a check to buy supplies.

Watch for:

The role isn't on the company's own careers page.
The recruiter emails from a free webmail address or a lookalike domain, or wants to talk only on WhatsApp or Telegram.
You're offered the job without a live interview, or asked for ID or bank details before a written offer.
Any mention of fees, "training kits", equipment deposits or a check you need to deposit.

In 2025, 1 in 3 people who lost money to a job or business opportunity scam said it started on social media (FTC). Our guide on how to tell if a recruiter is fake walks through each check and the task-scam variant.

How do I turn research into talking points and questions?

Pick three things you learned that connect to the job and three questions you genuinely want answered, and write them on one page. Three of each is enough; ten feels like a quiz.

A talking point sounds like this:

"I saw the Q3 update mentioned expanding into mid-market accounts. In my last role I built the onboarding process for exactly that segment, so I'd love to hear how you're planning the handoff between sales and customer success."

A question sounds like this:

"Several recent reviews mention the team grew quickly this year. What has changed about how the team works since then, and what would you want the person in this role to protect?"

Then decide what to do with what you found:

What you found	What it likely means	What to do
Active registration, recent filings, ordinary news	A real, functioning company	Focus your prep on the role and the people.
Layoff notice or cost cuts in the last 6 months	Budget pressure, possibly an unstable role	Ask how the team was affected and how the role is funded.
Reviews repeat the same complaint for two years	A cultural issue management hasn't fixed	Ask about it neutrally. Decide if you can live with it.
Interviewer has been there under 6 months	New leadership or high turnover	Ask what they've changed since joining.
No registration, no listing on the careers page, recruiter on a personal email	Likely a scam	Stop. Don't share documents. Report it.

Company research checklist before an interview

The company is active in the official business register (state, Companies House or national register).
I've read the latest accounts or annual report, or checked recent WARN or layoff news.
I know what the company sells, to whom, and what changed in the last 90 days.
I've read ten recent reviews for my function and noted repeated themes.
I know each interviewer's role, tenure and one work-related thing they've said publicly.
I know how long the role has been open and what it pays, or I have the question ready.
The job is on the company's own careers page and the recruiter uses a company email.
I have three talking points and three questions written down.

Meeting a client or partner rather than an employer? Our guide to researching someone before a business meeting covers that side.

The bottom line

Thirty minutes is enough to know whether a company is real, how it's doing, what it's like inside, who you're meeting and whether the pay is in range. Do the register check first, read reviews for patterns, and keep the interviewer research to their work. Then walk in with three points and three questions.

Frequently asked questions

How long should I spend researching a company before an interview?

About 30 minutes for a company you don't know well: five minutes each on the business register and filings, recent news, employee reviews, your interviewer, the role and pay, and a scam check. Spend longer only if something looks off, such as a layoff notice, overdue accounts or a job that isn't on the company's own site.

Is it okay to look up my interviewer on LinkedIn before the interview?

Yes. Checking an interviewer's role, tenure and public posts is normal and expected. Keep it to their work, don't send a connection request beforehand, and don't mention anything personal you found. LinkedIn can show who viewed a profile, so use private mode if you'd rather not be seen.

How do I find out who will interview me?

Ask the recruiter or coordinator directly: "Could you tell me who I'll be meeting and their roles, so I can prepare?" Most will say. If the invite lists names, look each one up on the company's team page and their professional profile, and check for a workplace verification badge.

How can I tell if a company is legit to work for?

Confirm it exists in the official business register (your state's Secretary of State search, Companies House in the UK, or the national register in the EU), check that the job appears on the company's own careers page, and make sure the recruiter writes from a company email. Our guide on how to check if a company is legit has the full routine.

Should I trust Glassdoor reviews?

Treat them as leads, not facts. Glassdoor says employers can't pay to remove negative reviews and that it moderates with technology and human reviewers, but reviewers are self-selected. Filter to the last year and your function, look for themes that three or more people mention independently, and turn those into interview questions.

Can I ask about salary before the interview?

Yes, and in many places the employer must tell you. At least 14 US states and Washington, DC require a pay range in job postings, and the EU Pay Transparency Directive gives applicants a right to pay information and bans questions about pay history once a country has transposed it. If no range is posted, ask the recruiter for the budgeted range before the first interview.

Can employers use Search A-Z to check job candidates?

No. Search A-Z is not a consumer reporting agency and can't be used for hiring, tenant, credit or insurance decisions under the FCRA. It's for candidates checking a company and the people they'll meet. Employers need an FCRA-compliant background screening service with the candidate's consent.

Sources

Figures are the latest published by each source when this guide was updated. Reported fraud losses are a floor: most fraud is never reported.

How to research a company before a job interview: a 30-minute routine