"12 hours studying the company and market".<p>For all but new job hunters, you should have a decent grasp of the market you work in already.<p>For some type of work, it's a bit different - for web work, you may know the web scene pretty well, but nothing about the insurance industry. If you're going for a web job at an insurance company, getting familiar with the industry <i>some</i> will help a bit, but probably not too much during an initial interview.<p>I had one case where I knew more about the industry the interviewing company was in than the person interviewing me, and I had to bite my tongue and not correct him when misstatements were made. In other cases, there was little I could glean from the company about what they actually did, so it was hard to research too much, and my assumptions ended up being wrong. I'd <i>tried</i>, and they appreciated it, but I didn't actually know much about that industry (got the job anyway). Maybe just because I'd tried that swayed the decision? Dunno...
I thought this was going to be about actual 'gifts'.<p>I haven't interviewed for a traditional job in a long time, but I sometimes used to bring something with me - milk and cookies, brownies, flavored popcorn, etc - as a bit of an icebreaker. I didn't always do it, but it helped to keep things a bit more casual, sometimes gave the others in the group something to snack on while a couple others of us would have a discussion, and what not.<p>In one case, I brought some milk and cookies to a smaller company, and it happened to be the owner's birthday. He was pleased as punch. :)
It's a lot of work to spend 12 hours researching a potential company, especially if you're applying to multiple positions. But I guess whoever is hiring you will know that you're committed and passionate about the position and company.