Interview: Is it creepy to research them on LinkedIn

Any time I tell a client they are expected to research their interviewer on LinkedIn they are appalled.

Cue the shock. The disdain. The contempt. “That just seems creepy,” a jobseeker told me recently. “What kind of person reads up on where the interviewer went to college and what their job titles used to be? What kind of jobseeker does that?”

 The employed kind, that’s who.

The Attention-to-Detail Barrier

Whether this is a formal interview, a screening call, an informational interview, or a networking introduction, taking the time to look up the employer on LinkedIn is considered good attention to detail. In the civilian world, it is expected.

 For example, I talked to a hiring manager this week who is in the middle of interviewing a group of jobseekers for an executive position. The hiring manager told me that some of the candidates would be surprised to know they were knocked out of the running for a simple reason. “They did not even bother to look me up on LinkedIn,” the hiring manager told me. “I mean, it’s right there.”

The unprepared candidates got caught because they did not realize the interviewer had been in the same field for more than 10 years. They talked down to her as if she was an outsider. It was seen as marker for a lack of attention to detail—something required for the job.

“Did you call them on it?” I asked, picturing all those candidates who had clicked off their Zoom thinking they rocked that interview.

“No. The information is there. It is expected that you will have the courtesy to look it up,” said the hiring manager.

I’ve heard the same thing from many hiring managers and recruiters, too. My own rule of thumb is that if I am asking someone for their time and attention, I take a minute and look them up. Sometimes it is just to make sure we are already connected on LinkedIn. Or to see if there is any indicator of something we have in common like the Great State of Ohio. Or if we have ever been stationed together. Or if there is some kind of help I might be able to offer them. It only takes me a minute.

Admittedly, there are things you would do with information about an interviewer that would be in the creepy department. Mentioning you like their blouse is creepy. Telling someone you are glad they shaved that mustache is kinda creepy. Reciting their current address and credit score is exceedingly creepy.

What you are expected to do Is know how to spell their name. Know their job title and/or understand how they fit into their company. In the age of AI, you are also expected to find out something about their company and the kind of business problems they might be facing in their industry.

Getting a job is all about fitting in. You are constantly signaling to an interviewer, a recruiter or a hiring manager that you have done this kind of work before, that you can adapt your skills to help them solve their problems and that you would be a pleasant member of their team. Scanning the interviewer’s profile before you meet is just one way to nail your first impression.

A military version of this article was previously published here: https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/should-you-research-interviewer-interview-or-creepy.html