Evaluate a google company according to methods described below: Industry
Product
Culture
Benefits
Industry
Understanding how a company fits into an industry tells you a lot about the business and how they are positioned relative to other players.

How mature is the industry and how long has the company been in the space?

Are they a leader or a disruptor?

Where does the company’s offering fit into the industry relative to its competitors?

If this is a new industry relative to your existing experience, it is important to research as much as possible to understand the trends and what the future holds.

Understanding how your prospective employer fits into the industry can help prepare your cadence for your interview. Being a an exceptional candidate with stellar accomplishments only gets you so far. Showing an employer that you understand their business and how it fits into the larger picture will set you a part from other candidates.

Product
What is the product or service your prospective employer is selling? Is it something you are familiar with it or is it new to you? Either way, understanding the product or service offering can help you:

Understand the value they provide customers.
What segment of the market they are in i.e. SMB, MM, Enterprise
Future growth
No, you don’t have to love what the company is selling BUT it helps. The more you understand what they offer their customers, the better you can understand the business inside and out. Even at a more junior level, understanding the business helps you be a better candidate and in turn, a better employee regardless of the department you are interviewing for.

I understand this is more in line with how salespeople evaluate companies. However, I strongly believe it is essential for anyone applying for a job that is looking to build a successful, sustainable career.

Additionally, who else offers this product or service? How was this impacted before, during, and after COVID? This is important to understand to see if the company is trending up or not and how that affects the future of the company.

Culture
What Are Their Core Values?

Core values are important because it is not only about how a company views and values it’s employees but also how they treat customers. Do you align with their core values? Do they resonate with your own core values? Core values tell you a lot about the company and how the operate day-to-day. This is because in some cases, core values are the underpinnings of the company’s successes and failures.

Culture is nuanced and core values tell one story. What a hiring manager, team member, or website says can all vary. If they all have consistent messaging that helps. The next step is knowing whether it is authentic. A lot of companies can claim to be employee centric and then when you join the company it is a different environment than what was expected. This is the exception rather than the norm.

Benefits
Benefits can be black and white. This is where understanding the market and industry helps flesh out the laggards. How does this prospective employer stack up to other companies? Are there benefits in line with other companies you are interviewing with? Are they progressive in what they offer?

Benefits can reinforce the employee-centered culture. Based on what the hiring manager and team members tell you can let you know how the work life balance is across the organization.

I recently interviewed with a hiring manager that used the term “work-life integration” which I thought was interesting so I asked him why. He explained that with everyone working remotely that it’s difficult to maintain a balance when your work is integrated with your life. Integrating the two makes for a more successful work life which I agree.

Conclusion