Resist the Temptation to Stalk Your Future Boss on Socials

Amidst the excitement of a potential new job, the temptation to stalk your future boss on social media can prove overwhelming.

It isn’t hard to identify your potential future boss on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. They are right there, posting away, and it doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to look at their profile picture. Imagine that face across a meeting room table or over a desk partition.

This mirage of accessibility can prove dangerous. Especially when you spend every waking moment dreaming about getting the job. It is oh-so-easy to press the “like” button every time they post something. Surely it will show them that you care and are keen…. won’t it?

That is a terrible idea. Avoid bombarding any potential boss or company account during your job search. Such obsessive social stalking will make you look desperate and naturally lead them to check out how many other companies/individuals you are stalking. Likely, they are not the only ones.

Showing a healthy interest in a company and its services is essential. Do this in the months and years before you apply for a job there. Suddenly developing an obsession with them during the week of your interview will seem contrived. Authenticity is everything in a job search, so be consistent with your social behaviours.

By all means, connect with potential future bosses; but do it so that they can see your relevant activity pop up in their feeds rather than enabling you to become a serial “liker” of their posts. Ideally, connect with them well in advance. Carefully curate your content so that it reflects the sort of traits that they might look for in an employee.

You might choose to drop your potential boss a message with a question or comment long before the job search starts. Name recognition cannot be underestimated. Avoid getting in contact in the middle of a job search. If you have applied and have not heard back after a few weeks, a quick message might be appropriate if you feel you are a strong candidate. Nagging them about the progress of an interview process is an absolute no-no.

So long as you don’t stalk your future boss, there are still many value-added activities that you can get up to on social media during a job search. Staying visible to your current connections is vital. Reaching out to your network for help can open hidden doors. Connecting with new people may bring unexpected rewards. A strong social presence can make all the difference – just don’t take your activity to extremes.

Stalking a future boss on socials is an act of job search self-harm.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).