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&lt;p&gt;No matter how confident you are going into a job interview, you never know how important a role stress and nerves will play as you sit face-to-face with someone who has your future in the palm of their hands.&amp;nbsp; I learned the hard way that if you don&#39;t get your facts straight prior to a job interview, unemployment is going to a lengthy and difficult experience.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 4px 9px; float: left;&quot; title=&quot;Research is Key to a Successful Job Search&quot; src=&quot;http://www.vault.com/VCM/blogs/StudyingRight.png&quot; alt=&quot;Research is Key to a Successful Job Search&quot; width=&quot;271&quot; height=&quot;185&quot;&gt;I was going nowhere once I became unemployed. The millions of emails I had sent out were met with a discouraging silence. There was immediate anger, both warranted and unwarranted - &quot;How could I not get a PR position at a Bronx college when I was the managing editor of a newspaper in the Bronx and had written an entire Bronx Almanac, which included said college?&quot; &quot;How can I not even get an interview with Baruch College when I graduated from the school?&quot; It&#39;s amazing the sense of entirelement you feel when applying for jobs with companies and institutions you are extremely familiar with.&amp;nbsp; But after I had almost given up hope, calls started coming in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I received an interview for a PR position at Mercy College. I felt I was prepared. I had several copies of my resume (I learned that lesson the hard way, too), writing samples and examples of press hits I had garnered during my time at The New York Public Library. I knew I had the job before I got there. During my bus ride to Dobbs Ferry, I was questioning how I was going to make this trip each day, would I have to buckle down and get a car, and what it would be like to move closer to the school. I had another interview the next day - How would I choose between companies? &quot;Sorry, you can&#39;t have all this...I&#39;m working at Mercy.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I got to the school an hour early. I made small talk with my &amp;ldquo;new co-workers&amp;rdquo; and I was finally called into the office where the first question asked was - &quot;What do you know about Mercy College?&quot; I knew everything about Mercy College, because I had written about them so many times for the newspaper I had worked for.&amp;nbsp; I had been to their Bronx campus several times, but never thought to prepare for this question since the answer should have been easy.&amp;nbsp; However, fear suddenly crept in to the point where I forgot everything and said, &quot;I&#39;ve covered so many schools for the paper, I think I might be mixing them up in my head.&quot; NOOOOOOO!!!! I nailed every other part of the interview and then apologized about my earlier stumble before leaving, because I really thought reminding someone of my failure would help me in the decision-making process. &quot;That Jon, he knows nothing about us, but he came in an hour early.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lesson learned. I started creating cheat sheets with both the most important and most interesting information about the company I was applying for. The more I read my cheat sheet the more I remembered and the better prepared for the interview I was. It helped when I discovered that NYIT had an amazing lacrosse team. When I interviewed for a Global Relations position at the school, I rattled off facts and then added, &quot;You have an amazing lacrosse team,&quot; and quickly shifted the interview to my work experience, mentioning how I used to write about lacrosse. The interview was a breeze and I picked up a second interview. I didn&amp;rsquo;t get the job, but at least I didn&amp;rsquo;t disrespect the interviewer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This continued for every company I interviewed with up until I was offered a job.&amp;nbsp; Knowing about a company doesn&#39;t mean you will automatically get the job.&amp;nbsp; There are other lessons you learn during a job search, but the question they ask immediately weeds out non-serious jobseekers who apply to every job they can without rhyme or reason.&amp;nbsp; In today&#39;s economy, who can blame people for doing so.&amp;nbsp; Jobs are scarce and you take what you can get, but if you didn&#39;t do the research during the job search, when they ask you to come in or call in for an interview, the work has just begun.&amp;nbsp; Find out everything you can about the company, but don&#39;t stop there.&amp;nbsp; Figure out the aspects of the company that best apply to your skill set, personal history or future aspirations.&amp;nbsp; In this way, you can impress the interviewer, explain why you are perfect for the job, and add a personal touch that makes a memorable impression on those you meet with.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;What do you know about our company&amp;rdquo; is the easiest question they could ask. It&amp;rsquo;s like an open-book test. Information is on the company&#39;s website; it&#39;s available in a simple Google News search; and (cheap plug alert), a more in-depth peek is available in Vault&#39;s company profiles. The Internet does the work for you. It&amp;rsquo;s up to you to do the research and prepare. Get your facts straight. With the resources at your fingertips, if you walk in and don&#39;t know anything about the company you are applying to, you fail before you even started.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;--Posted by Jon Minners, Vault.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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