Interviews can be stressful, but they are a great opportunity to expand your network. Whether you are interviewing for a job or interviewing a candidate, networking is all about building relationships and every interview is an opportunity to start a relationship, find common ground, and build rapport. Here are some tips to help you leverage interviews as networking opportunities:
Do your research
- Before the interview, do some research on the person and the company you will be interviewing with. Ask the recruiter who confirms your interview for a prep call where you can ask about the interviewer’s personality and what it’s like to work with them and an email with links to their LinkedIn profiles, relevant blog posts, or sample questions.
- Draft thoughtful questions and show that you are genuinely interested in the person or company. Personalize the questions you ask and connect them to your priorities in terms of team dynamics, mentorship, communications, or other areas that are important to you. Asking personalized questions allows the other person to get a feel of who you are; avoid wasting time with general, top-ten lists of questions for interviews.
Show genuine interest
- During the interview, show sincere interest in the candidate or company. Ask thoughtful questions and take the time to listen to their answers. Exercise patience and listen to them. Approach the interview as a conversation, not a test.
Follow up
- Always send a thank you note after the interview. This is a great opportunity to continue the conversation and build a relationship.
- Your thank you note should thank them for making time to meet you and you should mention one specific thing you learned from them or about them during the conversation. Demonstrate the value of the conversation and that you were paying attention.
- If you didn’t have enough time to ask a question that was important to you, use the follow up as an opportunity to ask them.
Invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn
- Use the ‘add a note’ feature. This feature limits the characters so make it short and sweet (usually shorter than your full thank you note that you will send in a LI message, or email). Thank them for their time, mention something you learned from them, and ask them to connect with you. After they accept the invitation to connect, send a ‘Thanks for connecting with me!’, don’t wait for them to respond.
Email them in addition to sending the LinkedIn invitation to connect
- You can ask the recruiter for their email address, find it in the calendar invite or use one of the free apps available.
- If you don’t have their email address you can email the recruiter your thank-you note and ask them to send it on your behalf.
By following these tips, you can turn interviews into valuable networking opportunities. Remember, networking is all about building relationships, so be present and thoughtful in your interactions.
Job search is a marathon, not a sprint. Each connection you make could be the person who makes an introduction or referral for you to a different company in the future resulting in the offer you are targeting.
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