Job hunters urged not to add interviewers as LinkedIn, Facebook contacts

There's a line between an eager and pushy candidate.

A prospective employee may want to stand out and make a good impression in the next job interview, but recruiting firm Hays in Hong Kong warns that sending a LinkedIn connection or Facebook friend request to the interviewer is not the way to do it.

Social media is an important networking and researching tool, but there are boundaries and experts say that jobseekers need to be aware of the appropriate way to utilise social media before and after a job interview.

“It makes sense for jobseekers 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.

“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.