Hey Jeff - definitely research BEFORE the interview!

Here's a good general process to follow:

• Come up with a question about the company
• See if I can answer it myself by reading their website
• If answer is already on their website, don't ask that question in the interview. If answer is NOT on their website, it's ok to ask in the interview.

Managers are much more likely to hire someone who can show that they've done their research about the company.

Hope that helps!

I get to interview a lot of people in my job, and I really like it when the applicant has questions. It shows that they care about the opportunity and did their homework in advance. It lets me know they're likely to be organized and proactive. Here's a few tips on questions:

1. Write down your questions in advance and try to rank them in order of what's important to you. This will keep you organized, and the interviewer will know you've prepared (I've had managers be turned off when an applicant doesn't bring a notepad or paper to an interview). I don't recommend starting with topics like "how much does this role pay?" or things like schedules, etc. Think about what you'll be doing on a day to day basis, what the team you'll be part of does overall for the company, what your manager sees as immediate goals, longer term ones. Good questions could be "How will I know if I'm doing a great job in my first few weeks? Few months? Year?" Get a sense of his/her expectations.
2. One clever tip: Try to frame questions in a way which also tells the interviewer about you. For example: "How many customers does the store see everyday?" is not as great a question as "I'm really motivated in roles where I'm helping customers get what they need. How many customers does the store have on an average day?"
3. If there is a job description for the role, plan in advance how you'll speak to each (or at least some) of the requirements. Sometimes candidates walk out feeling like they didn't get a chance point out their work qualifications. If you've carefully reviewed the job description beforehand, you'll be better equipped to frame your experience in a way that resonates with the employer.

Bottom line, a little preparation in advance can go a long way!

You should do both, Jeff! Do your research about the company so that the company knows how prepared and excited you are for the job, but then have good questions to ask them as well. Some good questions could be about what an ideal candidate might look like or what short term/long term goals are for the company/that location. Catering the questions to your role is always a plus.

Asking them to answer some questions that you already know the answer to doesn't hurt. If anything, it gives the company a chance to further explain/elaborate on information that you may have found online!

Good luck on your next attempt!