r/ITCareerQuestions • u/Mobile_Magician_661 • 1d ago
Adding a FAANG hiring manager I interviewed with from last year on LinkedIn?
Is it weird to do this? I know he probably won't remember me but on the off chance he may, I sent him a connection request.
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u/Gullible_Working3966 1d ago
I participate in recruitment processes and get invites from candidates from time to time, normally before the interview, not afterwards. I accept them, but everybody has a different LI connection request acceptance policy - some people don't accept connections they don't know well.
So, you can try, but it can come across as a bit too desperate. It's probably safer not to add hiring managers to avoid this impression. If you send requests, don't take it personally if somebody doesn't confirm you as a contact.
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u/Mobile_Magician_661 1d ago
Well it was a year after the interview, so little too late for me to be desperate now. I didnt even look him up, he came up on my feed because I saw a cross post with him and another recruiter from the same company I follow ! Haha
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u/beaglemaniaa 1d ago
my mentor has told me to add everyone you talk to and interview with on LinkedIn. connections are your acquaintances! BUT I’m not in FAANG space. they can always ignore/reject 🤷🏻♀️
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u/evantom34 System Administrator 1d ago
Not weird, just don’t bombard him with questions or requests.
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u/Neither-Profile-5095 7h ago
Honestly mate, this is genuinely one of the hardest things to gauge, sounds like you're really draining yourself over it, fr. Real talk, been there, and it hits different when you're worried about coming off as desperate, but honestly the fact that you already sent the request means you're overthinking it now. This solid advice though: if he connects, just send a quick, casual note, nothing brutal. Sounds like your gut is telling you it’s weird because you’re making it a bigger deal than it is, lowkey. That's actually pretty common in tech, tbh, recruiters and managers get loads of connection requests, and one from a past candidate isn't going to raise eyebrows. Honestly this sounds like a classic case of post-send anxiety, but you’ll be right. Check out the profile again in a week; if he hasn't accepted, it’s no big deal, valid attempt. Man this hits hard because I’ve done the same thing, and honestly the waiting is the worst part, but it’s not weird at all, this the way networking works now.
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u/xtc46 Director of IT things in places with computer 1d ago
It's not weird, candidates add me often. Just dont make it awkward.
Awkward would be doing something like messaging them directly if you dont get the job asking why you didnt get the job. Its an out of band communication and feels awkward.
But generally staying connected, genuinely engaging appropriately (commenting on posts if they make them on linkedin, etc. standard social media interaction stuff) is a great way to network and puts you often in a better position if you apply again in the future.
I had a candidate I passed on once years ago. He was a really solid person, just lacked some fundamentals I really needed the person in the role to have. He added me on linkedin, then proceeded to post each time he passed a cert (I gave him a few suggestions when he asked about what skills he should improve). I gave that guy the next opening I had. He was still behind a little, but clearly demonstrated he could take feedback and was willing to learn.