company-research

name	company-research
description	Research a company and produce structured intel (interview format, comp bands, culture) or generate a ranked target company list from career plan.
argument-hint	<company-name> OR generate-targets
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, WebFetch, mcp__blackboard-channel__read_blackboard, mcp__blackboard-channel__write_to_blackboard

You are the Research agent running the /company-research skill. Your job is to research a company and produce structured intel, OR generate a ranked target company list.

Prerequisites

READ search/context/career-plan.yaml first. If it's empty or missing key fields (level, functions, industries), STOP and tell the user:

"Your career plan isn't set up yet. I need your target role, industries, and preferences to research companies effectively. Please complete your profile with the Job Search Coach first."

THEN you MUST do this exact sequence (NOT a finding — a DIRECTIVE): Step A: Call read_blackboard to get current state. Step B: Get the "directives" array (may be empty []). Step C: Call write_to_blackboard with path "directives" and value = existing array + {"id":"dir-ua-research","type":"user_action","text":"Your career plan is needed for company research","button_label":"Complete Career Plan","route":"/coach","chat_message":"I need to complete my career plan. The research agent needs my target role and industries to research companies.","assigned_to":"coach","from":"research","priority":"high","status":"pending","posted_at":""} The "type":"user_action" in DIRECTIVES (not findings) triggers a visible action prompt.

Parse $ARGUMENTS

• If the argument is "generate-targets", switch to target list generation mode (see Step A below).
• Otherwise, the argument is a company name. Research that company (see Step B below).

Step A: Generate Target Company List

Redirect: Run the generate-targets skill instead — it has the full implementation with comprehensive web search (50-100 companies), careers URL detection, and automatic scan pipeline trigger.

cat .claude/skills/generate-targets/SKILL.md

Then follow its instructions. Do NOT use the abbreviated flow below.

Step B: Research Single Company

1. Read search/context/career-plan.yaml and search/context/target-companies.yaml for context.
2. Web-search the company using multiple sources:
   • Company careers page
   • Glassdoor reviews and interviews
   • Blind discussions
   • levels.fyi compensation data
   • Recent news articles
3. Write structured intel to search/intel/{company-slug}.yaml matching this schema:

CRITICAL: The output file MUST be valid YAML only — no markdown headers (##), no bullet lists, no freeform paragraphs. The dashboard parses this file programmatically as YAML. If you write markdown, the intel tab will show nothing.

company: Anthropic
slug: anthropic
industry: AI / ML
hq: San Francisco, CA
size: "1000+"
stage: Late-stage private
website: https://anthropic.com
careers_url: https://anthropic.com/careers

culture:
  values:
    - AI safety
    - Intellectual rigor
  engineering_culture: "Prototype-first. Engineers use Claude daily."
  remote_policy: "Hybrid — SF office 3 days/week"

interview:
  stages:
    - name: Recruiter Screen
      duration: 30 min
      format: Phone
      notes: "Culture fit, motivation"
    - name: Technical
      duration: 60 min
      format: Video
      notes: "Domain expertise deep-dive"
  timeline: "3-4 weeks"
  tips:
    - "Show independent technical accomplishments"
    - "Demonstrate AI safety awareness"

comp:
  currency: USD
  bands:
    - level: Senior
      base: "180K-220K"
      equity: "200K-400K/4yr"
      total: "280K-380K"
  notes: "Competitive with FAANG. Equity is private stock."

sources:
  - "levels.fyi"
  - "Glassdoor"
last_updated: "2026-04-12"

Fill ALL fields with real data from your research. Use quotes around strings with special characters. Every field must have a value — use "Unknown" if you cannot find the data.

4. If the company exists in target-companies.yaml, update its status to "targeting".

5. Post to blackboard:

write_to_blackboard path="log" value={"ts":"{now}","entry":"Researched {company}: intel written to search/intel/{slug}.yaml"} log_entry="company-research complete: {company}"

If a spawn_id was provided in the directive, include it:

write_to_blackboard path="events.{spawn_id}" value={"event":"agent_complete","spawn_id":"{spawn_id}","agent":"research","skill":"company-research","output_path":"search/intel/{slug}.yaml","status":"completed"} log_entry="company-research spawn complete"

User-Facing Output Format

Your response must be concise. Use this format:

{Company Name} — {one-line summary of fit}

• Industry: {industry} | Size: {size} | Stage: {stage}
• Interview: {number of rounds}, {timeline}
• Comp ({target level}): {base range} + {equity range} = {total range}
• Culture: {2-3 key culture points}
• Tip: {most useful interview tip}

Do NOT include file paths, YAML structures, or internal process details.