To research a company, answer five questions: what it sells and to whom, how it makes money and whether it is growing, what the team you would join is working on, how it treats its people, and whether anything should worry you. The company’s own site, a year of news and the profiles of the people you would work with cover most of it. For a public company, add the annual report, Form 10-K, which is free on the SEC’s EDGAR database.
Key takeaways
- Match the effort to the stage: a few minutes before you apply, an hour or two before an interview, more before you accept an offer.
- Start with the company’s own words, then check them against outside sources: news, filings, people and reviews.
- A public company’s Form 10-K describes its business, the risks it sees and its finances, and anyone can read it for free.
- Private companies disclose far less. Piece the picture together from funding news, leadership, hiring and the product itself.
- Use what you find: one specific reason you want the job, two stories aimed at the team’s problem and three questions.
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What to find out about a company
| Question | Why it matters | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| What does it sell, and to whom? | You cannot explain why you want the job without it | Product and pricing pages, customer stories |
| How does it make money, and is it growing? | Growth brings budget and promotions; decline brings risk | Annual report for a public company; funding and hiring news for a private one |
| What is the team working on now? | It shows what problem this hire is meant to solve | The posting, the team’s blog or release notes, the manager’s profile |
| How does it treat people? | Pay, workload and management shape every working day | Employee reviews, how long people stay, your interview questions |
| Is anything worrying? | Layoffs, lawsuits and leadership churn are cheaper to learn about now | News search, filings, safety records |
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Where to look, in order
- The job posting. Read it again slowly. Note the first three responsibilities, the tools it names and anything it repeats. That is the problem they are hiring for.
- The company’s website. Product, pricing, customers, the About page, leadership, careers and any newsroom. Write down how the company describes itself in one sentence. If the opening is not on its careers page, check for the signs of a job scam.
- News from the past year. Search the company name with words such as “funding,” “acquisition,” “layoffs,” “lawsuit” and “launch.” Check the date on everything you read.
- The people. On LinkedIn, look up the hiring manager, people who hold the job you want and anyone you are scheduled to meet. Notice how long people stay and where they worked before.
- Employee reviews. On review sites such as Glassdoor, look for patterns across many reviews and recent dates. One angry or glowing review tells you little.
- Public records. For a company listed on a U.S. stock exchange, read its filings on EDGAR. For a workplace where safety matters, such as a warehouse, plant or hospital, OSHA’s Establishment Search finds enforcement inspections by employer name.
- Someone who knows. A current or former employee can tell you what no page will. An informational interview is the polite way to ask.
How far down the list you go depends on the stage.
| Stage | Time to spend | What to cover |
|---|---|---|
| Before you apply | 5 to 10 minutes | What it sells, where the job is based, whether the posting is on the company’s own careers page |
| Before a recruiter call | About 30 minutes | Steps 1 to 3, plus the recruiter’s and the manager’s profiles |
| Before interviews | 1 to 2 hours | All seven steps, with notes you can turn into answers |
| Before you accept | As long as it takes | Finances, your future manager, turnover on the team, a talk with someone who has worked there |
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How to read a public company’s annual report
Companies with publicly traded securities file an annual report, Form 10-K, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC gives free public access to these filings through EDGAR. On its Search Filings page, use the company search, open the list of filings and choose the most recent 10-K. The form sets a deadline of 60 to 90 days after the end of the company’s fiscal year, depending on the company’s size, so a company whose year ends in December should have a new one by the end of March.
You do not need to read all of it. Start with four parts.
| Part of the 10-K | What a job seeker gets from it |
|---|---|
| Item 1, Business | What the company does and sells, in its own words |
| Item 1A, Risk Factors | What management thinks could go wrong |
| Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis | Management’s explanation of the financial results and condition |
| Item 8, Financial Statements | Whether revenue is rising or falling and whether the company makes or loses money |
Item 3, Legal Proceedings, is worth a glance if you saw a lawsuit in the news. The Search Filings page also has a full-text search for finding every mention of a product or a competitor. Between annual reports, companies file quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.
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How to research a private company or startup
Private companies do not publish annual reports, so you assemble the picture from pieces.
- Funding. Look for announcements of investment rounds and who invested. A company that sells securities in a private offering under Regulation D files a short notice, Form D, with the SEC within 15 days after the first sale. Those notices are on EDGAR too, so you can confirm that a round happened and when.
- Leadership. Who the founders and executives are, what they did before, and whether senior people have been leaving.
- Hiring. How many roles are open on the careers page, in which teams, and how recently the people on your future team joined.
- Customers and product. Named customers, case studies and outside reviews of the product. Try the product yourself if you can.
- Direct questions. In interviews, ask how the company is funded, how long its current funding is expected to last and what has to go right in the next year.
The guide to getting a job at a startup covers stage, risk and equity in more depth.
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Turn research into answers and questions
Before an interview, reduce what you found to one page.
Company: [name] Role: [title] Interview: [date] What they sell and to whom: [one or two sentences in your own words] How they make money and how it is going: [revenue trend or funding, recent news with dates] What this team is working on: [from the posting, the blog, the manager's profile] Why they are hiring for this role: [your best guess at the problem] Two things I have done that match that problem: 1. [story] 2. [story] Why I want this job here: [one specific reason that would not apply to a competitor] Questions to ask: 1. [about the team's priorities] 2. [about how success is measured] 3. [about something specific you read] Things to check: [concerns, and where you saw them]
The line that matters most is the specific reason. It is the core of your answer to “Why do you want to work here?”, and it is where research shows.
I've followed [Company] since you launched [product or change] last [month]. Your annual report says the priority this year is [specific priority, e.g. growth with mid-size customers], and this role sits inside that work. I've spent the last [number] years doing [closely related work] at [employer], where I [result]. I'd like to do that here because [reason tied to their product, customers or approach].
Use the rest of the page for your stories and the questions you ask in the interview. The full checklist is in how to prepare for a job interview.
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Warning signs to take seriously
- You cannot work out how the company makes money.
- The hiring manager or senior leaders have changed several times in a short period.
- The company has made repeated cuts. The federal WARN Act is meant to ensure advance notice of qualifying plant closings and mass layoffs, so large ones tend to be reported.
- Reviews written in different years describe the same problem.
- The posting has been open or reposted for months.
- Interviewers avoid questions about funding, turnover or why the last person left.
Each of these is a question to ask before you accept.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How much research should I do before an interview?
Plan on one to two hours before a full interview: the posting, the company’s site, a year of news, the profiles of the people you will meet and, for a public company, the main sections of its latest annual report. Finish with one page of notes: your reason for wanting the job, two matching stories and three questions.
Where can I find a company’s financial information?
For a company with publicly traded securities in the United States, read its annual report, Form 10-K, and its quarterly reports on the SEC’s EDGAR database, which is free. Private companies do not have to publish financial statements, so you rely on funding announcements, news coverage and what the company tells you in interviews.
How do I research a private company?
Combine several partial sources: the company’s site and product, news about funding and customers, any Form D notice it filed with the SEC after a private fundraising round, the backgrounds of its leaders and the pattern of its hiring. Then ask directly in interviews how the company is funded and what it needs to achieve in the next year.
Are employee review sites reliable?
Treat them as one input. People who post reviews choose to, so the mix leans toward strong opinions. Look for themes that repeat across many reviews and across years, give more weight to recent ones from your function or location, and test what you read by asking about it in the interview.
Sources
- SEC: Search Filings: free public access to company filings on EDGAR, with company and full-text search.
- SEC: Form 10-K, annual report (PDF): the items in an annual report and the filing deadlines after fiscal year end.
- SEC: Filing a Form D Notice: what a Form D is, the 15-day deadline and that it is filed on EDGAR.
- OSHA: Establishment Search: looking up enforcement inspections by employer name.
- U.S. Department of Labor: WARN Act compliance assistance: the law on advance notice of plant closings and mass layoffs.
Published by Jobbie and last updated on October 6, 2026. This guide is general information for job seekers, not legal, tax or financial advice. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.