Emailing employees at prospective job?

[cpals]

Just curious on the etiquette of job hunting and emailing current employees. For example, there is a job I am looking at and I found out the current (interim) employee working in that position. I'm curious to get his take on the job functions, how he personally liked it, etc before I apply for the position.

Is that frowned upon to contact someone like this or would it look like I'm motivated and trying to learn more about the company? I was almost tempted to use a fake name just in case it turned out to be a bad decision so I could still apply for the position.

 

[sjwaste]

It might be a little odd to do it before you've even interviewed. As in, they might find it weird and not call you.

However, once I interview, I do follow up with everyone that talked to me that day. Or at least everyone who gave me a card. At that point, I'm interviewing the potential employer as much as they're interviewing me as a candidate.

 

[Capt Caveman]

How did you get the name/email address of someone working the exact position you're interested in applying? Are you a stalker?

If I got some random email from someone I didn't know about my job, I wouldn't reply back or would forward it to HR.

 

[cpals]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
How did you get the name/email address of someone working the exact position you're interested in applying? Are you a stalker?

If I got some random email from someone I didn't know about my job, I wouldn't reply back or would forward it to HR.

No, my friend's wife works there and she knew about the job position and how the guy was just a temp filling in until they found someone. And I found his name on their website... it's a state job so they pretty much list everyone.

 

[mugs]

I wouldn't do it.

 

[JulesMaximus]

If I were working for that company I'd just delete your email.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd try to do it in person or over private phone (ex if you know the person off the job and have their home number). That way there is no paper trail.

 

[Black88GTA]

You're not going to find too many people willing to bad-mouth their employer over their own company email, even if they are just a temp. Plus, the fact that you got the internal email address of an employee at the company may raise a few eyebrows, and reflect negatively on your inside contact.

Even if you did email the guy and he responded, I'd take it with a grain of salt regardless. You can't trust him to give honest feedback. On one hand, he could say a bunch of generic nice things (even if the job sucks) just so he doesn't look like he's trashing his employer. On the other hand, he could make it sound worse than it is because he doesn't want you to pursue the position, get hired in and take his job.

I just wouldn't make contact in the first place.

**EDIT: nvm, missed the part where you said the employee names are on the public website. The rest of my post stands though.

 

[L1FE]

I had someone contact me before their interview with my company. For some reason, he thought it would be appropriate to ask me about our company's drug testing policy since he was tired of the strict standards at his current job. Needless to say, I passed on his emails to HR to prevent even the slightest chance that he'd get hired and placed onto my team.

 

[nageov3t]

well, think about how you'd react if you received an email like that out of the blue from a stranger.

if it were me, I'd either delete it without responding or respond with generic niceties.

maybe you should have your friend's wife contact him and ask if he'd be willing to answer some questions from a possible job applicant first?

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: cpals

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
How did you get the name/email address of someone working the exact position you're interested in applying? Are you a stalker?

If I got some random email from someone I didn't know about my job, I wouldn't reply back or would forward it to HR.

No, my friend's wife works there and she knew about the job position and how the guy was just a temp filling in until they found someone. And I found his name on their website... it's a state job so they pretty much list everyone.

Maybe the state wants to keep that guy... but by state law they have to call in people for interviews that are qualified. I went through the same thing once... but I was the temp. If you would have emailed me I would have told you a load of shit about the job.