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The best ways to collect these answers are to:
Attend career fairs and speak to the firm representatives. Pull out your list of questions and ask
three or four. Make sure that you try to turn this meeting into a conversation. At the end, thank the reps for
their time, ask them for their business cards, and inquire whether it would be all right if you called or e-
mailed them with further questions. At this point, no one is going to judge you on your level of company
knowledge. They are there to provide information and hype the firm.
Scour the company’s website. This will let you know how the firm sees itself and the image that
it’s trying to project.
Talk to alumni and graduate school students who used to work for the companies that
you’re interviewing with. Often, career services offices will be able to match you up with alumni who
are working in a specific industry. Interviewing past employees can be very enlightening. They will tell you
more about their old firm in a half an hour than you’ll learn by spending two hours on the Internet. Plus,
they’ll tell you things that you’ll never find on the Internet. They can be completely objective; they don’t
have to try to sell the firm.
Attend company information meetings. Get your name and face in front of firm representatives
so that they can associate your face with your résumé. While these people don’t have the power to hire
you, they do have the power to get you on the interview list. Top-tier firms often get 400 résumés for 100
first-round interview slots. Snag that interview slot by networking and schmoozing with firm
representatives every chance you get. One of the best kept secrets of company presentations is to go
early. If a company presentation is scheduled to start at 6 pm, show up at 5:45. Most students won’t
arrive until 6 pm or a little after, but the firm’s representatives show up at around 5:30 to make sure that
the room is set up correctly and the cheese table is laid out nicely. If you show up early, not only will it
impress the consultants, but it will allow you to get at least five minutes of quality face time with one of
them. They are more likely to remember you if you talk for five minutes at the beginning of the night than if
you hang around until the end hoping for 45 seconds of their time. They are also more likely to have their
business cards with them. Remember to ask for those business cards and send a follow-up e-mail.
Search The Wall Street Journal and the Internet for articles and information on the firm. This
allows you to be current on any firm’s news.
Have your list of questions with any specific facts or figures you’ve dug up written out when you walk into
the interview. It shows that you have done your homework and have given this interview a great deal of
thought. Besides, if you freeze up, it’s all right there in front of you.