Who’s Interviewing You? Dig Deeper!

You have an interview tomorrow, and all that you know is a list of who’s interviewing you. What do you do? If you’re like most people, you probably jump onto the company’s website to check out the interviewers’ bios and client lists or backgrounds. If you’re savvy, you likely hop on over to LinkedIn to investigate their past work experience, interests, etc. You might even search their name on Facebook to see if they (stupidly) have their privacy restrictions loosely set. All great things to do to find out who the people are who are making your hiring decision and how you might interact with them more proactively.

But there’s more! LinkedIn works, sure. But did you know there are other tools you can use to get the “dig deeper” kind of dirt on your interviewers? Brazen Careerist introduced me to a couple of new tools in their article “3 Tools That Will Help You Totally Impress Your Interviewer.” The most exciting? Newsle

LinkedIn can be selective and squeaky clean at times, as you decide what is posted about you. But Newsle, a platform that lets you know when people make the news, will show you instances where your interviewer was mentioned in an online publication.

Maybe he was quoted in an industry blog; maybe he made a huge deal and helped his company expand into a new market. Whatever the case may be, look for opportunities to casually slip this knowledge into the conversation, especially if it directly relates to the company you’re applying for.

If your interviewer hasn’t made any news lately, follow someone higher up in the company; at this point in the job-hunting process, any and all knowledge will do you good. (Further reading: Check out even more ways to use Newsle in your job hunt.)

I signed up for Newsle immediately after reading this article and it’s an absolutely incredible way to find news about people you’re interested in. Of course, you can follow companies and look for people who are interviewing you. But you can also look for people who you already know by connecting Newsle to your LinkedIn and Facebook pages. Since using Newsle I’ve already:

• Learned that a friend of mine was speaking at a conference and sent her an email telling her good luck.
• Found out an old acquaintance was launching a new business that I might have a lead for.
• Read a guest blog another friend wrote for a great website I’ll definitely follow and include on Career Girl.

So dig deeper everyone, and use Newsle to do it!