THE NEW PRE-DATE RITUAL: WHY SINGLES ARE CHECKING LINKEDIN BEFORE A FIRST DATE

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Once upon a time, a little pre-date research meant asking a mutual friend what they knew.

Then came the Instagram deep dive, scrolling back years to see holiday snaps and exes.

Now there is a new place singles are looking before they meet: LinkedIn.

One in five have done it

A new US survey by careers website Zety found one in five people admitted to using LinkedIn to research a potential partner.

From checking out a match's career history to scoping out mutual connections, singles are looking beyond dating apps to get a better sense of who they are really swiping right on.

It makes a certain kind of sense.

Dating apps are full of carefully chosen photos and witty one-liners, but they rarely tell you much about how someone spends their working week.

A professional profile is usually more polished and more truthful about the basics than a dating bio, and it is hard to fudge where you work when your colleagues can see it.

Why LinkedIn appeals to singles over 40

For people dating later in life, career and financial stability can carry real weight.

By your 40s and 50s, many people have established careers, clearer priorities and perhaps children or a mortgage to think about.

Knowing that a potential partner has a stable job and shares your values about work and life can feel reassuring rather than shallow.

Some also see it as a simple safety check, confirming that someone is who they say they are before meeting a stranger from the internet.

With romance scams still a real concern, a genuine, established professional profile can offer a little peace of mind.

On the flip side, a profile that looks brand new, has very few connections or doesn't match what someone has told you might be worth a second look.

What a CV can and can't tell you

A LinkedIn profile can tell you where someone works, what they studied and perhaps how ambitious they are.

It can hint at shared interests, such as a passion for a particular cause or industry.

What it can't tell you is whether they are kind, funny, emotionally available or good at listening.

Professional success doesn't automatically translate into being ready for a relationship.

And a modest job title says nothing about someone's character, warmth or how they treat the people they love.

When dating detective work goes too far

There is a fine line between healthy curiosity and overanalysing someone before you have even said hello.

If you find yourself forming a firm opinion of a person from their job history, it might be time to close the app.

Remember that LinkedIn can show other users who has viewed their profile, depending on their settings, so your sleuthing may not be as secret as you think.

Bringing up details you found online on a first date can also feel intrusive rather than charming.

Our tips for a little healthy research

Use a quick search to check someone is genuine, especially before meeting in person.

Keep the deep dive short and resist the urge to scroll back through years of posts.

Let them tell you their story in their own words, because that is half the fun of getting to know someone.

Always meet somewhere public for a first date and let a friend know where you will be.

And go in with an open mind, because the right person for you may not have the most impressive job title in the room.

After all, the best green flags are the ones you can only spot face to face: good manners, genuine curiosity and someone who makes you laugh.