You know someone at a perspective employer so you plan to talk up that connection during your first interview with the human resources folks there right? Not exactly, says a piece I read recently on TheLadders.com, a site I recommend for all job searchers.

Name dropping can make you seem smug and can irritate an HR person who might feel you’re belittling their role by mentioning your contact, writes Andrew Klappholz on TheLadders.com.

Know someone at a prospective employer? Don’t trumpet it to HR.

Better to focus on your sills and answer the HR person’s questions. If you happen to see your contact in the hall while there and that person says hello, it’s perfectly fine to acknowledge that and comment on the relationship if asked. But don’t play Mr. or Ms. Insider.

Better to show you know the company as well, that you’ve done your homework and can explain how your skills will help it.

Sound advice. I’ll be writing about several Ladders posts I’ve seen in coming days. As I said, I recommend this site, you can join for free to access its articles.
John N. Frank