Social media is an important networking and researching tool, we all know that. Many job seekers want to stand out and make a good impression in the next job interview, so that they are sending a LinkedIn connection or Facebook friend request to the recruiters. Is that appropriate?

Recruiting experts Hays in Hong Kong warns job seekers that sending to your interviewer is not the way to do it. There are boundaries and experts say that job seekers need to be aware of the appropriate way to utilise social media before and after a job interview.

“It makes sense for job seekers to look at publicly available information on social media as part of their pre-interview research,” says Christine Wright, Managing Director of Hays in Asia.

“But there is a difference between researching in order to prepare for your interview and crossing the line from an enthusiastic candidate to a pushy and aggressive one,” added Christine.

“That line definitely gets crossed when a candidate sends a request to their interviewer before or immediately after an interview to connect on LinkedIn. If you get the job by all means connect, but until then it can make you seem presumptuous as you are implying a level of familiarity that doesn’t exist.

“The same rule applies to all social media – so do not send a Facebook friend request to your interviewer. It is not appropriate and more than anything points to your inexperience when it comes to professional business conduct,” says Christine.

See: Social Media Recruitment: Hiring Manager’s New Fad?

Thus, what are we supposed to do? According to Hays, it is perfectly acceptable for job seekers to research their interviewer on social media, provided you focus on:

• Determining how her or his role relates to the role you have applied for – this can give you a better idea of how to focus your answers, for example on the technical aspects or on the implementation process.
• The culture of the organisation – you can get a feel for the type of person who is likely to excel in the organisation.
• Projects and clients – you can go into your interview understanding the type of projects or clients the organisation works on and with.
• 1st degree connections in common – you can check if you have any former work colleagues in common. If you do, ask if they can tell you anything more about the company.
• Published blogs or articles – read any published blogs or articles written by your interviewer. It’ll give you an insight into his or her point of view on current industry trends.
• Comments – you can comment on one or two of her or his industry-related blog posts. If you make an insightful comment your interviewer may recognise your name when it comes time for your interview, but don’t overdo it.

The bottom line is, any job seeker should know that it is not okay to connect with the interviewer or recruiter on Facebook and LinkedIn.

See also: Recruiters, Stop Abusing Social Media

Source: Hays