I just got an email message from the recruiter "Jane" who is working with me in my job search.
Jane also left me a voicemail message but I haven't listened to it yet. From her email message I can tell she's angry at me.
Watch on Forbes:
Jane is upset because I changed my LinkedIn profile to say that I accepted the job offer I got yesterday.
In her email message she said "You shouldn't update your LinkedIn profile until you actually start the job."
I signed the offer and sent it back. Was it wrong of me to update my LinkedIn profile to reflect my new position?
I would think my new employer would want me to update my LinkedIn profile to show that I work for them.
They sent me an offer letter and I signed it. I got an email message from HR confirming my first day of work.
Is Jane overreacting, or did I miss a step?
There are a few possible reasons for Jane's discomfort. One of them is that although you were hired by your new employer, perhaps they haven't yet told the rest of their staff that you got the job.
There may be other candidates who also haven't heard the news.
Maybe Jane is working with one or more of those candidates, and maybe she's been waiting for some signal from the employer before telling those candidates they didn't get the position. Maybe she doesn't want those candidates to perform a LinkedIn search on the company name and job title and find you as the search result.
Go ahead and call Jane back and hear what she has to tell you. You can certainly change your LinkedIn profile back to its former status if you need to, just for a few weeks until you start the job.
Don't let Jane yell at you, of course. Tell her that if there was some reason for you to hold off on updating your LinkedIn profile after accepting a job offer it was her responsibility to tell you so.
Jane's power over you, if she ever had any, has now evaporated. If she is angry at you for jumping the gun, she needs to look in the mirror. You didn't do anything wrong.
However, there are certain things a job-seeker might want to do that they absolutely, positively shouldn't do until after they've signed an offer letter.
Here are ten of them:
1. Never update your LinkedIn profile to suggest or confirm that you got a job you applied for until you've signed an offer letter and confirmed your start date.
2. Never tell anyone outside your closest circle of friends and family that you got a job until it is official.
3. Don't stop your job search activity or tell other employers or recruiters that you're off the market. Until you sign the offer letter, you don't know for sure that the job is going to come through.
4. Don't quit your current job on the hope that a certain job offer will arrive and that you will sign it.
5. Don't start working for your possible future employer before you're on the payroll. Don't complete any projects for them, don't go to customer meetings and don't let them introduce you as a new staff member. Companies that want you to work for free as part of the recruiting process are companies that don't deserve your talents.
6. Don't give up your personal contacts, LinkedIn connections database or customer contacts before you work for your new employer (if even then).
7. Don't ever use a prospective job offer to try to get a loan, sign an apartment lease or enter into any other financial agreement. If the landlord or bank calls your possible future employer to ask them "Does Bernard work for you?" and they say no, you won't get the loan or the apartment — and you may also not get the job.
8. Don't say anything on Facebook about your possible job offer. Find a more private way to tell your friends that you hope to receive an offer soon.
9. Don't introduce yourself to anyone as a new employee of the company that you're hoping hires you. Unfortunately, this happens all the time and companies send "no thanks" letters to the over-eager job seekers who do it.
10. Don't tell other recruiters you're working with that your dream offer is in the mail. Maybe it isn't in the mail. Maybe there's a holdup. If you tell recruiters "I'm about to get a great job!" you will give up other opportunities, and that's never a good idea. Button your lip until you've signed the offer letter and set a start date.
Talk to Jane, let her vent if she wants to and then calmly let her know that you cannot read her mind.
If she had expectations of you around communicating your new employment status, she needed to make those expectations clear.
Most likely Jane will calm down when you get her live on the phone.
Congratulations on the new job, and here's to your brilliant future!