What Do You Know About This Job Interview

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Why Interviewers Ask “What Do You Know About This Job Interview?”
3. Build a Research Habit That Produces Insight, Not Noise
4. Translate Research Into a Concise, Strategic Answer
5. Translate Your Resume Into Role-Relevant Examples
6. A Practical Interview Preparation Roadmap
7. Handling Different Interview Formats
8. What to Do When You Don’t Know the Answer
9. Integrating Global Mobility and Relocation Questions
10. Common Interview Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
11. The Role of Practice, Coaching, and Templates
12. Negotiation and Post-Interview Steps
13. Two Lists You Can Use Immediately
14. Sample Conversation Starters and Questions That Impress
15. How to Practice Effectively (Not Just Repeatedly)
16. Integrating Career Documents with Interview Answers
17. When the Interview Focuses on Cultural Fit
18. Extra-Level Tactics for Senior Candidates
19. How to Reframe a Weak Fit
20. Final Checklist Before the Interview
21. Conclusion
22. FAQ

Introduction

Most ambitious professionals report feeling stuck at a career crossroads at some point — unsure how to package their experience, how much to reveal, or how to communicate value so it aligns with an employer’s needs. That uncertainty becomes tangible the moment an interviewer asks, “What do you know about this position?” or “What do you know about this company?” — deceptively simple questions that separate prepared candidates from the rest.

Short answer: Interviewers ask this question to gauge your preparation, your alignment with the role, and your ability to connect your experience to the employer’s needs. A clear, structured response demonstrates you’ve done targeted research, can translate your skills into outcomes for the team, and are genuinely interested in the specific opportunity — not just any job.

This post teaches you how to answer that question with confidence, how to research efficiently, and how to use your answer to control the narrative of the interview. You’ll get a step-by-step preparation roadmap, practical phrasing templates for different seniority levels, and tactical advice for integrating interview prep with relocation or international career moves. If you’d like tailored, one-on-one support to convert these steps into a personalized practice plan, speak one-on-one about your interview strategy by booking a free discovery call.

My goal here is to give you the mental frameworks and practical scripts you can deploy immediately so your next interview becomes an opportunity to advance your career and, where relevant, your global mobility plans. The main message: preparation is not just about facts; it’s about crafting a targeted narrative that proves you’ll deliver impact from day one.

Why Interviewers Ask “What Do You Know About This Job Interview?”

The interviewer’s objectives

When an interviewer asks about your knowledge of the role or company, they are testing at least four competencies simultaneously: situational awareness, role comprehension, cultural fit, and initiative. They want to know whether you:

• Understand the role’s core responsibilities and the metrics that define success.
• Have insight into the team, reporting lines, or how this role interacts with other functions.
• Have done specific research that indicates genuine interest, not generic enthusiasm.
• Can present information concisely and connect it directly to their current needs.

The difference between shallow and strategic preparation

A shallow answer lists facts: company age, number of employees, or a generic mission statement. Strategic preparation connects those facts to the job’s requirements and your track record. For example, instead of saying “I know you sell software,” a strategic answer explains which product or service you’ve studied, why that product matters to a specific customer segment, and the exact ways your skills will improve adoption or reduce churn.

Build a Research Habit That Produces Insight, Not Noise

What to research and why it matters

Research is not an information dump. You should gather facts that let you answer three questions: Who are they? What do they need? How can you help? To answer those questions, prioritize these sources:

• The job posting: parse responsibilities, required competencies, and KPI language.
• Company website: product pages, leadership bios, recent press releases, and careers pages to understand tone and scale.
• LinkedIn: company updates, team structure, and the profiles of people who would be peers or managers.
• Product demos or free trials: use them to understand features and user experience.
• Recent news and interviews: strategic moves, acquisitions, or new markets reveal priorities.
• Public financials (if available): growth trends or revenue drivers help frame impact.
• Glassdoor and employee reviews: use cautiously to triangulate day-to-day culture and common themes.
• Industry reports and competitor sites: context about market positioning and threats.

Each source should inform a practical point you can use in a conversation. For instance, discover a public case study or product feature that relates directly to the role’s responsibilities, and use that to show you’ve thought about how your skills map onto real business needs.

How to extract signal quickly (research sprints)

Research sprints are short, focused sessions with a clear goal. Use this pattern to avoid getting overwhelmed:

• Sprint 1 (15–20 minutes): Read the job description line-by-line and highlight three phrases that describe measurable outcomes (e.g., “increase retention,” “launch campaigns,” “manage five direct reports”).
• Sprint 2 (20–30 minutes): Scan the company’s product or service pages and press release headlines to confirm priorities that match the job description.
• Sprint 3 (10–15 minutes): Review the LinkedIn profile of the hiring manager and two potential peers to identify background patterns (e.g., strong product, sales, or ops orientation).
• Sprint 4 (15 minutes): Note one recent company announcement that you can reference and one industry trend that matters to them.

This rhythm gives you usable facts in under two hours — enough to craft a targeted, credible opening answer.

Translate Research Into a Concise, Strategic Answer

The three-part answer structure

To be memorable, answer in three parts: Context, Connection, and Contribution.

• Context: A single-sentence summary that demonstrates you understand what the role is and why it exists. Use a company-specific kernel (e.g., product, market, or team).
• Connection: A concise mapping of one or two aspects of your background to the responsibilities or challenges highlighted in the job description.
• Contribution: A measurable or outcome-focused statement about what you will deliver in the first 90 days or first 6 months.

This is an adaptable structure for phone, video, or in-person interviews because it’s short, goal-oriented, and evidence-based.

Phrasing templates (neutral examples you can adapt)

Entry-level framing:
“I understand this role supports the customer onboarding team for your flagship product, where success is measured by reducing time-to-value for new customers. In my current role I’ve focused on improving onboarding workflows, which decreased time-to-first-success by X%, and I’d immediately audit the onboarding journey and prioritize the top three friction points to improve activation rates.”

Mid-level framing:
“This position is responsible for aligning product marketing with sales enablement for your SMB segment. From the posting, you’re focused on increasing adoption among smaller customers. I’ve managed go-to-market programs across product launches and created enablement content that helped sales increase conversion by Y%, so I’d focus on aligning messaging and KPI dashboards for the top three use cases.”

Senior-level framing:
“You’re hiring for a head of operations role to scale processes across three regions while maintaining quality metrics. My background includes building operations frameworks to support rapid expansion, implementing cross-regional KPIs, and developing coaching programs that improved throughput and retention. In the first 90 days I’d map the most critical operational dependencies and design a two-quarter roadmap to stabilize delivery.”

Do not memorize scripts word-for-word. Use these templates to create answers that sound authentic and are grounded in your real metrics and experiences.

Translate Your Resume Into Role-Relevant Examples

How to map bullet points to outcomes

Interviewers want to hear outcomes, not resume recitation. For every bullet on your resume, ask: What problem did I solve? What was my role? What measurable result followed? Convert resume language into a short success story using a problem-action-result approach.

For example, take a generic line like “Managed onboarding program.” Translate it into: “I redesigned onboarding to prioritize top use cases, introduced guided onboarding sequences, and cut time-to-first-success by 22% in six months.”

This conversion is what makes your “what do you know” answer credible: you aren’t just repeating a job description; you’re matching your past results to their present need.

Walk-through tactic: anchor three stories to the job

Choose three concise stories from your experience that align to three areas the role requires (e.g., product adoption, cross-functional leadership, scaling processes). Each story should be:

• 30–60 seconds when spoken aloud.
• Focused on one measurable outcome.
• Framed to show your role, not just what the team did.

Practice these aloud so they become second nature.

A Practical Interview Preparation Roadmap

Below is an actionable, sequential roadmap you can follow the week before an interview. Use it as your rehearsal checklist and adapt timings to suit your schedule.

1. Analyze the job description and highlight outcome language: identify the three top performance metrics implied by the role.
2. Map those metrics to three matched stories from your resume; prepare 30–60 second STAR/Problem-Action-Result versions.
3. Conduct two research sprints: company product/press and hiring manager + team insights.
4. Script your three-part answer (Context-Connection-Contribution) tailored to the job.
5. Rehearse responses aloud in mock interviews, recording at least one video or audio rehearsal and assessing pace and clarity.
6. Prepare two thoughtful questions that demonstrate curiosity about the role’s immediate priorities and the team’s success measures.
7. Assemble your interview kit: one-page role alignment summary, resume tailored to the role, notes on stories, and questions.
8. Post-interview: send a concise thank-you note that references a point from the conversation and restates a specific contribution you’ll make.

Use this roadmap as your minimum standard. If you’re balancing relocation or visa considerations, insert a session to prepare relocation-relevant questions and clarify timing and sponsorship expectations.

Handling Different Interview Formats

Phone interviews

Phone interviews are about clarity and pace. Since there are no visual cues, your preparation must be structurally tighter. Open with a 30–45 second summary of what you know about the role and then say, “I can expand on any of these points; which would you like me to start with?” This gives the interviewer control while showing you’re organized.

Avoid multi-clause sentences that lose the listener. Keep your voice energetic and use short, outcome-driven phrases.

Video interviews

Video allows for visual presence, but many candidates underuse it. Set up a neutral background, check lighting, and test audio. Look at the camera when making key points and use subtle gestures to emphasize outcomes. Have your one-page role alignment visible (off-camera) as a quick reference; do not read from it.

Practice maintaining eye contact with the camera rather than the screen; it conveys confidence and connection.

In-person interviews

In person, your answer should be slightly more conversational. Use the Context-Connection-Contribution structure but allow a short anecdote that demonstrates cultural fit or understanding of the team. Mirror interviewers’ energy and pace, and be precise when summarizing how you’ll deliver immediate wins.

What to Do When You Don’t Know the Answer

Interviewers respect candor when it’s paired with curiosity and a plan. If asked a factual question you can’t answer, follow this sequence:

1. Acknowledge: “I don’t have that data on hand.”
2. Bridge: “What I do know is X, which suggests Y.”
3. Offer a plan: “If I were in this role, I would first audit A and B in week one to produce a reliable baseline, then report back with a prioritized plan.”

This approach demonstrates problem-solving, humility, and initiative — all more valuable than a stumble.

Integrating Global Mobility and Relocation Questions

How to research international factors that affect the role

If the role involves relocation or managing cross-border teams, expand your research to include regulatory environments, common visa pathways, and local talent ecosystems. Demonstrate that you have considered these realities in a practical way: outline how you would onboard remote colleagues, or how you would phase a relocation to minimize downtime.

How to share relocation or visa needs without weakening your position

Be transparent but solution-focused. Frame relocation as a logistic detail you have considered alongside the role’s priorities. For example: “I’m excited about the opportunity to relocate; I’ve researched common timelines for work authorization in [target country] and I’m prepared to begin the paperwork upon offer so there’s minimal onboarding delay.”

If you need employer sponsorship, present a concise plan that explains timelines and the minimum support you would expect. This signals that you understand the process and reduces hiring friction.

Common Interview Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

• Overloading with facts that don’t connect to the role’s outcomes.
• Repeating your resume without tailoring to the job.
• Failing to highlight measurable results.
• Skipping company-specific details and sounding generic.
• Avoiding tough questions about relocation or salary until late in the process.
• Not preparing targeted questions for the interviewer.

Avoid these by practicing the three-part answer, mapping your stories to metrics, and preparing two clarifying questions ready for any interview stage.

The Role of Practice, Coaching, and Templates

Practice is non-negotiable. Structured rehearsal with feedback moves you from competent to confident. A combination of recorded self-reviews, peer mock interviews, and professional coaching accelerates improvement. If you prefer guided learning, a structured interview confidence program will help you build daily habits for answering high-stakes questions and maintaining presence under pressure.

Templates are practical too: use resume and cover letter templates as a starting point to align your CV with the exact language and outcomes the employer seeks. Tailoring your documents to the job description increases the chance of screening success and gives you stronger material to reference during interviews.

If you want coaching that turns rehearsals into a measurable improvement plan, you can explore a structured interview confidence program designed to create consistent interview habits. For personalized, one-on-one feedback, schedule a session to practice and refine your answers with an expert coach.

Negotiation and Post-Interview Steps

Immediate post-interview actions

Your post-interview work determines how the hiring team remembers you. Within 24 hours, send a concise thank-you note that:

• References a specific part of the conversation.
• Reiterates one concrete contribution you will make (use the 90-day lens).
• Offers any additional material you promised or one follow-up thought that adds value.

If you prepare negotiation parameters in advance — salary band, relocation support, start date flexibility — you’ll be ready to respond if an offer arrives. Always anchor your ask to market data and the specific value you’ll deliver.

When to re-engage and how often

If you agreed on a timeline, wait until that window closes before following up. If no timeline was given, send a polite status check one week after the interview. Keep follow-ups succinct and add a small piece of value (a link to a relevant article, or a one-sentence idea based on the interview).

If you need high-touch help translating an offer into a negotiation strategy, get tailored coaching to run through scenarios and prioritize concessions that matter to you.

Two Lists You Can Use Immediately

1. Eight-Step Interview Preparation Roadmap (use this in the week before the interview):
   1. Parse the job description and identify top three result areas.
   2. Choose three career stories that directly map to those areas.
   3. Run two research sprints: company and hiring team.
   4. Draft the Context-Connection-Contribution answer.
   5. Rehearse three mock interviews, including one recorded session.
   6. Prepare two targeted questions for the interviewer.
   7. Ready your documents and a one-page role alignment note.
   8. Craft a concise thank-you and follow-up template.
2. Six Common Pitfalls to Avoid
   • Reciting company facts without tying them to the role.
   • Answering vaguely about impact or results.
   • Forgetting to ask clarifying questions about priorities.
   • Overlooking relocation or visa logistics when relevant.
   • Failing to practice aloud or record your answers.
   • Negotiating without a clear value-based rationale.

(These two lists are intentionally concise; the rest of the article provides the prose context you need to make each item actionable.)

Sample Conversation Starters and Questions That Impress

When the interviewer asks what you know, follow up with a question or offer to clarify. Here are proven conversation starters:

• “I noticed your recent announcement about [initiative]. Could you tell me how this role will support that objective in the next quarter?”
• “From the job description, success seems to be measured by [metric]. How do you currently track that metric, and what would you want to improve?”
• “I read about your expansion into [market]. What should the new hire prioritize to make that expansion successful operationally?”

Each starter shows you’ve done targeted research and are ready to engage at the level of outcomes and priorities.

How to Practice Effectively (Not Just Repeatedly)

Quality practice is deliberate practice. That means:

• Record rehearsals to evaluate tone, pacing, and clarity.
• Use a checklist to confirm you included a measurable result and a concrete 90-day plan in each story.
• Practice with someone who can challenge you with follow-up questions.
• Simulate stressors: low battery, network lag, or unexpected interruptions, so you know how to maintain composure.
• Iterate: after each practice, identify one improvement to implement in the next session.

If you prefer guided practice, schedule structured mock interviews that include detailed feedback and a prioritized improvement plan.

Integrating Career Documents with Interview Answers

Your resume and cover letter should speak the same language you use in interviews. Tailor each bullet to an outcome the employer cares about. Use concise metrics and ensure the top third of your resume mirrors the most important responsibilities in the job description.

If you need ready-to-use formats to accelerate tailoring, download resume and cover letter templates that let you align your documents to role outcomes quickly. These templates help you present consistent messaging across application and interview stages.

When the Interview Focuses on Cultural Fit

Cultural fit questions explore your values, work style, and how you handle ambiguity or conflict. Use specific behaviors to demonstrate fit:

• Cite how you onboard new teammates or mentor colleagues.
• Describe a specific approach to cross-functional alignment rather than a personality adjective.
• If asked about failure, outline the remediation steps you took and the learning you institutionalized.

Cultural fit is best shown through actions and routines, not abstract claims.

Extra-Level Tactics for Senior Candidates

Senior-level interviews often test strategic thinking and stakeholder influence. To answer “what do you know,” add an operating model perspective:

• Identify one operating-level risk the company faces (integration, scale, talent) and recommend a 90-day diagnostic.
• Reference relevant market moves and propose two strategic options, including trade-offs.
• Show how you will measure leadership success: retention of key staff, time-to-decision improvements, or streamlined reporting.

This level of preparation shows judgment and the capacity to lead beyond the role.

How to Reframe a Weak Fit

If you realize during your research that the role isn’t perfect, reframe the conversation to explore fit rather than forcing a mismatch. Ask questions that test whether the role offers enough opportunity to use your strengths or to grow in ways you value. This prevents wasted energy on roles that don’t advance your career roadmap.

If the role lacks alignment but the employer remains appealing, get clarity on adjacent roles or future hiring plans and express openness to alternate pathways.

Final Checklist Before the Interview

• Three tailored stories ready and rehearsed.
• One-page alignment summary visible during video interviews.
• Two targeted questions that demonstrate strategic curiosity.
• A brief plan for the first 90 days linked to measurable outcomes.
• A clear relocation or visa timeline if relevant.
• Recording device set up for self-review.

If refining this checklist with a coach would help you accelerate results, find a short coaching session that focuses on interview rehearsal and feedback.

Conclusion

Answering “what do you know about this job interview” is not about reciting facts; it’s about translating research into a concise, outcome-driven case for why you are the best candidate to deliver results. Use the Context-Connection-Contribution structure, map your resume bullets to measurable outcomes, and practice deliberately until your answers are both natural and strategic. Integrate your interview work with your global mobility needs if applicable, and use tailored documents and focused coaching to close gaps quickly.

If you’re ready to build a personalized roadmap that turns these frameworks into a confident interview performance and a career plan tied to international opportunities, book a free discovery call to get started.

FAQ

Q: How long should my answer be when asked what I know about the role?
A: Aim for 45–90 seconds for your initial framing. Use a concise Context-Connection-Contribution structure that hits the role’s purpose, links two relevant experiences, and states a 90-day contribution. Be ready to expand if the interviewer asks for more detail.

Q: Should I mention salary expectations when I first ask about the role?
A: Not on the first answer. Focus your initial energy on demonstrating fit and value. You can ask about compensation later in the process once both sides have established mutual interest and you have a clearer view of responsibilities and relocation needs.

Q: How do I handle a situation where the interviewer challenges an example I used?
A: Remain calm and treat it as a discussion. Clarify specifics, acknowledge any ambiguity, and offer evidence or a follow-up (e.g., “I can share the relevant metrics after this call”). Use the moment to demonstrate reflection and professionalism.

Q: What is the best way to incorporate relocation or visa questions into the interview?
A: Be transparent but solution-oriented. Briefly state your status and preferred timeline, then offer a concise plan for minimizing onboarding impact. For example: “I’ll need employer sponsorship, and based on common timelines I’d target a start date X weeks after offer. I’ve mapped the typical steps and can coordinate closely to ensure a smooth transition.”