Hey guys I have a question:
If you know the name of the person who will be interviewing you, how much should you dig into their background?
What is good stuff to use in an interview to either make a connection or show that you have interest?
What is drawing the line and considered creepy?
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It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle. - Sun Tzu
I always google my interviewers if I have a name and it usually turns up with a Linkedin, and/or a public facebook if I'm lucky. What I do afterwards would probably be described as cyber stalking by most. Once you find something good, work it naturally into conversation during your interview and watch a connection magically appear out of thin air.
I say stalk. You two might just have a mutual interest and click from the moment you make eye contact. You might just avoid the awkward phase in the beginning. Can't hurt right?.
Where to draw the line? Just realize that mentioning anything about his previous work experience, education, or social life is a NO NO. No need to mention you saw his eurotrip pictures over FB (twice).
When I knew who my interviewers are. I linkedin-ed and googled them and tried to find information regarding (where they went to school, what was their previous job, what sector/industry they're experts in, what random/interesting things I can find about them) and listed out 4 or 5 questions to ask in an interview. I'm not sure what your definition of "stalking" is but I even watched a video clip about my interviewer on HBS website and mentioned how inspiring it was during my first round. I passed the first round, all of my thank you notes were replied so I guess getting to know your interviewers is never a bad thing!
And to echo what theTroll said "知己知彼，百战不殆“
@theTroll, OP was not asking whether it will help in the interview, but whether it is creepy to do so.
@Will Hunting,
I think it isn't creepy since the interviewers would assume that you would do so. However, you should make those "personal connections" as if they were coincidences.
I have an example: I got an interview scheduled for an SA position(first round), and I knew the interviewer's name, and that was it. I did not know his position/group/age, etc. I called up my friend at the same firm and found the interviewer's information, and learned that he was in a tech group and loved soccer. Before the interview, I studied the tech industries and the relevant current events(luckily I was a "football" fan myself). During the interview, I was able to hit it off with the tech stories, and while "telling about myself" I stressed the my own interest in soccer(I wouldn't have done so if I had not known his interest). The rest of the interview was about my favorite team, how often I play, etc.
So don't say "I found out about your interest in soccer" but rather lead the conversation into it and make it coincidental. It worked for me, at least. Note: I ended up going to final round and finally to the offer.
^ Somehow I think you may have been taking theTroll's post a tad too seriously. Plus, just because you found out who your interviewer's wife is having an affair with, it doesn't mean you have to let him know during the interview.
Don't troll his facebook. Linkedin at most. And I wouldn't advertise it during the interview, isntead if you liked something about hsi background in yoru 'research' I would ask targeted questions to elicit a response bringing up that piece of information which you can then relate to in order to push the interview forward. Saying "I saw X on your linkedIn profile and can relate to that looks a bit unclassy and stalker-ish"
i straight up stalked an interviewer once. didn't know anything about the firm. A deal everyone thought was in the bag decided to fall apart so the only research I did was ask a buddy who worked at the interviewer's old firm about him, got a bunch of random stories. Phone interview the next day, at the end I ask him a question about the culture but word it as asking the interviewer how he made the transition given his (well-known) personality. He goes, wtf how do you know this stuff about me, I tell him I asked around. Turned out fine, played the name game and laughed about it when me met in person later.
I wouldn't recommend doing anything similar though, I would much rather have stalked the fund and actually have known what they were invested in and thinking about.
Guilty of doing this then sort of wheeling the interview into the direction of their background. Once they have started talking about themselves and you pretend to give a damn. You know you are doing well.
If they have public profiles on the company website, I would assume it is okay, if not expected, that you would research their background a bit and bring up talking points in the interview as it pertains to the topic at hand?
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