Using LinkedIn to Prepare for Your Interview

Welcome Scott Allen to Interview Chatter today! He is my guest and I am pleased to share him with all of my readers here at Interview Chatter. Scott Allen helps companies transform virtual relationships into real business using social media and social networking. He is author of The Virtual Handshake and The Emergence of the Relationship Economy and blogs at Linked Intelligence and elsewhere.

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Using LinkedIn to Prepare for Your Interview by Scott Allen

Congratulations! You’ve finally landed a face-to-face interview for a great job. I know you probably already used LinkedIn to help with your job search. How can you now use it to help ace your interview?

If you’re unfamiliar with LinkedIn or brand new to it, don’t sweat it. Start with Darlene McDaniel’s 10-part LinkedIn Review. Now, if you haven’t built out your network yet, you’ll need to upgrade your account in order to be able to search and contact people effectively. If you do already have, oh, let’s say at least 100 people or so in your network, you may be able to get by with the free service. Try it and see how it goes, and you can upgrade any time if you need to.
Now, let’s get started:

1. Research your interviewer. Used the Advanced Search function to search by name and company. Read their profile – twice! Check out any links they have in their profile – blogs, personal web sites, etc. No, it’s not creepy or stalker-ish – it’s perfectly fine. Don’t try to force any of that information into the conversation during the interview, but if you all do have a common ground – school, former employer, hobby, etc. – that can help you build rapport during the conversation.
2. Research other people in the company. Don’t you want to know who you might be working with? Again, used Advanced Search and search by company and title – resort to keywords if you need to. Research other people in the department you’ll be working in, as well as the managers and executives above your interviewer.
3. Look at the questions and answers of the people above. From their profiles, you can see their recent questions and answers. This may offer additional insights into current issues and concerns of both those individuals and the company itself.
4. Research the company. Companies now have profiles on LinkedIn. It’s a beta feature, and I actually haven’t been able to find a way to navigate to the company profiles directly yet from the main navigation, but when you find someone in the company, just click on the company name in the position in their profile and it will take you to the company profile. This includes all kinds of useful information you may not find on the company website, including career path (previous and subsequent employers of employees of the company), recent promotions and changes and popular LinkedIn profiles of company employees. Take a look at LinkedIn’s own company profile for an example.
5. Use LinkedIn Answers to research the industry or market niche. Interviewing for a job in an industry or market segment you haven’t worked in before? Ask a question or two about what the hot issues and trends are.
6. Set up informational interviews. There’s nothing better than inside information, if you can get it. This is a very effective tactic, but you have to be careful with it:

*You probably don’t want anyone you might be working with directly. Try to find people in a completely different department.

*Unless you’re really pressed for time, request an introduction via someone who knows you well, rather than trying to contact them directly. This is where LinkedIn’s referral model really shines, and where having stronger connections, rather than just random links, makes all the difference in the world.

*Don’t use 3rd degree connections unless you absolutely have to. You really want friends of a friend if at all possible – the likelihood of them agreeing to an informational interview goes up significantly.

*Explain yourself, and don’t be vague. “I’m interviewing for a position at your company, and in order to best prepare, as well as make sure it’s a place I really want to work, I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time via phone to learn more about the company from an insider’s point of view.”

When it comes to a job interview, there’s no such thing as being over-prepared. Do your homework and go into the interview with confidence.

Scott Allen helps companies transform virtual relationships into real business using social media and social networking. He is author of The Virtual Handshake and The Emergence of the Relationship Economy and blogs at Linked Intelligence and elsewhere.