Robert Contreras

With over 50 years of collective technical recruiting experience, we’ve prepared thousands of candidates for interviews and we’ve seen the positive impact that interview preparation can have. Finding information on the company and possible interviewers has become easier with the rapid increase of LinkedIn participation by companies and their employees. Here are some tips on how you can effectively prepare for an interview by researching your interviewers using LinkedIn:

1. Connections 

Look at the prospective interviewers’ profile and see if you have any mutual connections. If there are any, feel free to reach out to that person(s) and ask him or her to throw in a good word on your behalf. At the very least, he or she can share some information with you about the prospective interviewee.

2. Companies

Check out all the companies your prospective interviewers have worked with. Go through their entire history and not just their current job. See if there is a common place of employment you both shared at some point. On a few occasions, I have noticed that my clients and candidates have worked for the same firm, or competitive ones at some point, but fail to use that piece of information to help build rapport.

3. Skills

Keenly observe what they put as their particular skill sets. More often than not, it will probably be what you will discover about them at the interview.

4. Education

Look to see where they went to school. You may share a common alma mater or be part of the same alumni association. Who knows, you may even share the same college major.

5. Reading Lists

LinkedIn’s reading list is a great way to see what is on the mind of your perspective employers. They may have similar interests to you. You may also be curious to know what they find interesting, so you can better connect with them.

6. Groups

Always look at the different groups they’ve joined. If you share a common group, there may be some connections you both know. Again, this is another way to gauge their interests. For example, they may be part of a few technology, sales, or marketing groups related to their career and also be part of a photography or speakers group as well.

7. Recommendations

This is an area that you need to pay close attention to since most people seldom review them in great detail. People usually request and receive recommendations from connections they know and trust. So if the recommendation states that a particular person you are reading about is “detail oriented”, “highly technical” or, “very strategic in their thinking”, it gives you a small window into the mind of that person. This may be just enough information to help you effectively prepare and gain an advantage over the competition. Besides, it should also take some of the edge off of what to expect at the interview.

8. Posts

Finally, it would be in your interest to see what postings or links your particular interviewers have shared. How active are they on LinkedIn? Are they answering or asking questions in the Q&A area? Chances are if they invest the time to share or post a link or answer or ask a question, they must have a passion or a particular interest in this subject matter. It may not be a bad idea to invest a little time perusing through this.

So make sure the next time you’re preparing for an interview that you take the time to research your possible interviewers. Not only does it display a sense of due diligence on your part, it may also be the ice breaker you were looking for that enables you to be invited back for another round, or hopefully… an offer.

1. Look at network statistics to see what is going on with your account and the progress you’re making.
2. Keep in mind the number of characters in profile fields are limited, so you may want to do a few practice runs first before publishing everything.
3. Include past education and past companies/experience, not just your current business or company.
4. Customize your public profile’s URL so it’s easier to link this to other pages and people will remember it much better.
5. Utilize the reference check tool to find out how long someone worked for a company and much more.
6. Ask others within the community for advice. Since this site was designed for networking, people are usually more than willing to answer questions and give help.
7. Use the site to help get a much clearer picture of your competition.
8. Compliment others and give them praise when you’re speaking to them, so that they reciprocate. It makes both of your profiles look much better and can increase your exposure and ratings.
9. Do not only mention what you’ve done, but include what you’ve produced. Be sure to post results from your actions and include facts and figures if possible.
10. Use numbers, and show people percentages and actual, real numbers that back up the claims of your success.
11. The top of your summary is what visitors see first so be certain you’re including the most vital information here.
12. Utilize the answers tool as an opportunity to show off you expertise.
13. If you’re in need of a graphic designer, web hosting provider, or any other service, LinkedIn has its own services area where you can trade off with others who are among the trusted network.
14. Use your LinkedIn page link in your blogs, Twitter, Digg, your website, etc.
15. Try to become a recommended service or company by establishing a good reputation. People will flock more towards ones that have the “recommended” status.
16. Be sure to enable the “show website” feature in your profile.

 

Contributed by Judy Lindenberger

I love LinkedIn. It’s one of the best networking tools out there to help you expand your reach. It’s “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” for the business world. But it can be a big, foreign maze. To stand out in the LinkedIn crowd, here are ten quick tips:

1. To increase your Google search rankings, make your LinkedIn profile 100% complete.
2. Brand yourself by using a professional headshot that’s also on your website.
3. In the “Specialties” box, list keywords that will help people find you.
4. Don’t just cut and paste your resume – use short sound-bites that get your readers’ attention.

5. Update your status regularly by adding articles and blog posts you have written, awards you have won, promotions you have earned, or, if you are looking for a job, let people know exactly what you are looking for so it’s easy for them to help you.
6. Include links to your website, blog and twitter account.
7. Put your phone number and email address in the “Summary” section at the top of your profile for quick contact.
8. Be open to invitations to connect with new people.
9. Get involved in groups and discussions by asking thought-provoking questions, answering questions, and sharing interesting information.
10. Get and give recommendations.

But speaking of recommendations – keep in mind that the words people choose to describe you could hurt your chances. Here’s why.

 Researchers from Rice University recently analyzed over 600 letters of recommendation. The letters of recommendation for both women and men used positive words; however, communal words such as helpful, kind, sympathetic, tactful and agreeable, and behaviors such as taking direction well and maintaining relationships were more often used to describe women, while agentic words such as confident, ambitious, forceful, independent, and intellectual, and behaviors such as speaking assertively and influencing others were more often used for men. There was no difference in the gender of the letter writer – both men and women used more communal words when describing women than they did for men.

Here is the interesting part. When men and women reviewers were asked to rate the strength of the letters, the researchers found that letters with communal words were ranked lower than letters with agentic words.

After learning this, I went to my LinkedIn profile and scanned the words on my recommendations. Phrases that I thought were great before, like “very accommodating” and “excellent listener,” suddenly sounded quite different to me. Instead, I wished to be described as decisive, smart, and a leader. Let’s level the playing field for men and women by carefully choosing the words you use to recommend others.

SecondMarket, a firm that facilitates alternative investments, has shared with Mashable () a list of private companies its buyers and potential buyers were most interested in this year. The list is based on the percentage who indicated they were interested in each company.

• 1. Facebook (): More than 25% of the firm’s buyers and potential buyers indicated that they were interested in Facebook. With the company reportedly on track to bring in$2 billion in revenue this year and attracting 81% of Gen Yersdaily, it’s easy to see why.
• 2. LinkedIn (): Last month, the professional social networking platform announced that it was adding a member every second to its 85 million-person community. Earlier this year, estimates placed LinkedIn’s valuation at $2 billion.
• 3. Twitter (): Twitter finally tried to make money this year with promoted tweets, and it bodes well that beta testers are finding the new marketing channel valuable. The company just raised another $200 million that values it at a reported $3.7 billion.
• 4. Zynga: The New York Times pondered whether Zynga might be the “Google () of Games” this year. The company has more than 45 million active users on its social games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars.
• 5. Craigslist (): Craigslist makes money on recruitment listings, and it used to make money on adult services listings. Alas (for Craigslist, at least), the questionably legal section that expected to comprise about 30% of its revenue was shut down yesterday.
• 6. Groupon: Google was willing to pay $5.3 billion for the group-buying company, which has about an $800 millionannual gross revenue run rate.
• 7. Yelp (): This year Yelp took new funding and challengedFoursquare () and Groupon with new features.
• 8. SecondMarket: Given that the investors who indicated SecondMarket was an interest were signing up to buy through SecondMarket, this one isn’t a surprise.
• 9. Pandora (): Pandora reported its first profitable quarter — and $50 million in revenue — at the end of 2009. Earlier this year, a Wall Street analyst predicted the company’s 2010 revenue would reach $100 million.
• 10. Bloom Energy: Building a refrigerator-sized box that can power a whole house with sand-based fuel cells will inevitably attract some attention from investors. Before the Bloom Box launch, it’s rumored that the company had already won more than $400 million in funding.