A recent survey claims that 1 in 5 employers in the USA check up on candidates via social networks. Should you be worried about your reputation online?
11 RESPONSES TO "WHAT TO DO BEFORE EMPLOYERS GOOGLE YOUR NAME"
Scott M
It is still inconceivable that people would use their real name when posting personal information about themselves online.
If you were to Google my real name, you would find almost nothing about me, besides my old AOL home page and a few book reviews on Amazon.com.
If you were to use my online nickname, under which I post on a lot of web sites, you would find a whole lot more. That nickname is what I use on my hobby-related blog and other places. And use a more anonymous nickname to post to business related sites like Brazen Careerist.
The point is, I control what people see by separating my online identity from my real life. If you want to find out about my private life online, then I have to give you access.
I know that a lot of people don't do that. I can see the benefits of creating a online presence under your real name. But you have to take the bad with the good. You either accept that everyone can see your whole life online, or you limit what people can see. You can't have it both ways.
Is it fair? No. It's just reality. Things we regret doing can haunt us later on.
You just have to be careful on the Internet and be conscious of how it might impact your career. And it also depends on your niche.
Some career paths encourage individuality. So things like blogs, Facebook, MySpace, etc. are actually encouraged. But some paths don't really want individuals... I'm glad that's not my path.
I am actually going over this subject with my 18 year old brother who regularly uses sites like MySpace. I have been teaching him about his online presence and trying to help him build a positive one that everyone will be able to respect and not be able to hold against him, for any reason.
I never really understood why people continue to post pictures of themselves in drinking or sexual acts or write in a way that portrays them as immature, unreliable, uncontrollable, etc. Even when I use my real name its only my first name and even when I write something I always think, "Would this be good for my online image?". But then again, I feel that professionalism should be practiced at all times.
In this day and age, the only phrase to keep in mind when you do use the internet is, "Hey, you never know." I strongly feel that you must always be conscientious of what you put out there and not think that things will just go away.
Karma, people, karma!
September 16, 2008 11:02 am
Dan
I think that you can put a positive spin on this.
Set your profiles up to be secondary resumes, so your pictures and info make you look like a great potential employee. If you make an effort to do this it could very well differentiate you from the rest of the job competition.
Great advice, I will check for those 8-points on myself. Some employers also look at ZoomInfo, which is more professional than some random pictures/pages on google
Of course it's not fair to judge on those random pictures, but unfortunately first impression sticks.
I use all of my social networking sites as secondary resumes. Some may be more career-orientated (such as LinkedIn and XING) and others are geared towards the social activism projects I am involved in (such as Facebook and my various NING accounts).
Nevertheless, if someone were to "snoop around" on these various sites, all that they would see is someone who is as committed to her career as she is passionate about making the world a better place. I might come off as a bit of an idealist, but I can live with that characterization.
With that being said, I constantly come across MySpace pages that make me cringe. I would be more worried about my Oma finding pics of me drunk and compromised than a future employer. As you stated Jacob, common sense "should" reign supreme!
Hey, great minds think alike. I just posted about this very same thing today and added a few tips of my own to help social network users cleanup their "digital dirt".
Scott M- although your strategy isn't for everyone, I agree that people should at least think about how they're presenting themselves online. In fact, considering the young age that people are going online, this issue should be discussed in school at the same time that students are learning about the Internet. They'll have a hard time seeing the long term consequences otherwise.
Ryan- life's not fair, can't deny that, but we have to try to make it fair as much as possible :)
Tiffany- many people don't have the knack for thinking about consequences, especially long-term ones. Others simply don't know that recruiters might actually search MySpace for information about them, since they think it's a site for "regular" people. A friend of mine with over 400 friends and a few year's experience on facebook was truly surprised when I told him that the corporate world was using facebook for business and networking too.
Another thing- many people can't define professionalism and it's rarely taught in school, so they won't be able to practice it all times.
Dan- absolutely right. I mention that but it wasn't the main focus of the article.
Ian- so true about first impressions, regardless of how many times people experience things otherwise.
Elliot- thanks for the real-world examples.
Anonymous- like Scott, good to see that you've found a strategy that works for you. Thanks for sharing.
David- thanks for the link and the compliment. You're right about taking advantage of privacy options where available.
September 17, 2008 2:09 am
freed
IVE POSTED EVERTHING ABOUT MY SELF WITH MY REAL NAME THE WAY I LOOK AT IT IS IF NWA DID'NT BE SO OUT GOING THEN ICE CUBE NEVER MAKE MOIVE SUCH as ,are we there yet, IT'S SUCH A CLASSIC. see people are not perfect. and my online identity is not me IM ME. just like gun's dont kill people i do. Do you see what mean. You got kid punching one another in the head's to show off to the young girl's out there.
you got people choping off head on movie's like face's of death
you know and just because there's not a name atached to it does'nt mean THAT IT DID'NT HAPPEND.
you know I SAY never let anything stand in the way of change FOR THE BETTER. you can do anything you set your mind to good or bad ALL YOU NEED IS A PLUSE to set a corse of action.
nwa say f the google police. so to all my hommies in lock down this is for you keep your up. thing's are going to get harder but your going to get strounger cus of davis laws thinG.
we all have are fear's out there but still never let them get your gote milk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ever
11 RESPONSES TO "WHAT TO DO BEFORE EMPLOYERS GOOGLE YOUR NAME"
It is still inconceivable that people would use their real name when posting personal information about themselves online.
If you were to Google my real name, you would find almost nothing about me, besides my old AOL home page and a few book reviews on Amazon.com.
If you were to use my online nickname, under which I post on a lot of web sites, you would find a whole lot more. That nickname is what I use on my hobby-related blog and other places. And use a more anonymous nickname to post to business related sites like Brazen Careerist.
The point is, I control what people see by separating my online identity from my real life. If you want to find out about my private life online, then I have to give you access.
I know that a lot of people don't do that. I can see the benefits of creating a online presence under your real name. But you have to take the bad with the good. You either accept that everyone can see your whole life online, or you limit what people can see. You can't have it both ways.
Is it fair? No. It's just reality. Things we regret doing can haunt us later on.
You just have to be careful on the Internet and be conscious of how it might impact your career. And it also depends on your niche.
Some career paths encourage individuality. So things like blogs, Facebook, MySpace, etc. are actually encouraged. But some paths don't really want individuals... I'm glad that's not my path.
I am actually going over this subject with my 18 year old brother who regularly uses sites like MySpace. I have been teaching him about his online presence and trying to help him build a positive one that everyone will be able to respect and not be able to hold against him, for any reason.
I never really understood why people continue to post pictures of themselves in drinking or sexual acts or write in a way that portrays them as immature, unreliable, uncontrollable, etc. Even when I use my real name its only my first name and even when I write something I always think, "Would this be good for my online image?". But then again, I feel that professionalism should be practiced at all times.
In this day and age, the only phrase to keep in mind when you do use the internet is, "Hey, you never know." I strongly feel that you must always be conscientious of what you put out there and not think that things will just go away.
Karma, people, karma!
I think that you can put a positive spin on this.
Set your profiles up to be secondary resumes, so your pictures and info make you look like a great potential employee. If you make an effort to do this it could very well differentiate you from the rest of the job competition.
Great advice, I will check for those 8-points on myself. Some employers also look at ZoomInfo, which is more professional than some random pictures/pages on google
Of course it's not fair to judge on those random pictures, but unfortunately first impression sticks.
The world ain't fair.
You trash talk a previous employer - they know you will trash talk the new one - by-by you
You release confidential info, they know you will release their confidential info - by-by you
You brag about some morally suspect or illegal activity - they don't want to be sued when you do it to them - by-by you
ur ligwistic skillz r lmtd to sick b.s. - by-by you
Your resume shows BsC, your myspace page brags that you dropped out after week 1 - by-by you
You are trying for that account relationship exec position - but your social nickname is HornyStud69 - by-by you
Try this -
Print all your social info - stick copies on the front page of your folks newspaper.
Continue doing it all down your street or across your city.
The web is just as public.
Great post!
I use all of my social networking sites as secondary resumes. Some may be more career-orientated (such as LinkedIn and XING) and others are geared towards the social activism projects I am involved in (such as Facebook and my various NING accounts).
Nevertheless, if someone were to "snoop around" on these various sites, all that they would see is someone who is as committed to her career as she is passionate about making the world a better place. I might come off as a bit of an idealist, but I can live with that characterization.
With that being said, I constantly come across MySpace pages that make me cringe. I would be more worried about my Oma finding pics of me drunk and compromised than a future employer. As you stated Jacob, common sense "should" reign supreme!
Uh oh...now I'm worried.
Hey, great minds think alike. I just posted about this very same thing today and added a few tips of my own to help social network users cleanup their "digital dirt".
9/16/08 - Psst, Your Boss Checks Your Facebook And MySpace Page
Scott M- although your strategy isn't for everyone, I agree that people should at least think about how they're presenting themselves online. In fact, considering the young age that people are going online, this issue should be discussed in school at the same time that students are learning about the Internet. They'll have a hard time seeing the long term consequences otherwise.
Ryan- life's not fair, can't deny that, but we have to try to make it fair as much as possible :)
Tiffany- many people don't have the knack for thinking about consequences, especially long-term ones. Others simply don't know that recruiters might actually search MySpace for information about them, since they think it's a site for "regular" people. A friend of mine with over 400 friends and a few year's experience on facebook was truly surprised when I told him that the corporate world was using facebook for business and networking too.
Another thing- many people can't define professionalism and it's rarely taught in school, so they won't be able to practice it all times.
Dan- absolutely right. I mention that but it wasn't the main focus of the article.
Ian- so true about first impressions, regardless of how many times people experience things otherwise.
Elliot- thanks for the real-world examples.
Anonymous- like Scott, good to see that you've found a strategy that works for you. Thanks for sharing.
David- thanks for the link and the compliment. You're right about taking advantage of privacy options where available.
IVE POSTED EVERTHING ABOUT MY SELF WITH MY REAL NAME THE WAY I LOOK AT IT IS IF NWA DID'NT BE SO OUT GOING THEN ICE CUBE NEVER MAKE MOIVE SUCH as ,are we there yet, IT'S SUCH A CLASSIC. see people are not perfect. and my online identity is not me IM ME. just like gun's dont kill people i do. Do you see what mean. You got kid punching one another in the head's to show off to the young girl's out there.
you got people choping off head on movie's like face's of death
you know and just because there's not a name atached to it does'nt mean THAT IT DID'NT HAPPEND.
you know I SAY never let anything stand in the way of change FOR THE BETTER. you can do anything you set your mind to good or bad ALL YOU NEED IS A PLUSE to set a corse of action.
nwa say f the google police. so to all my hommies in lock down this is for you keep your up. thing's are going to get harder but your going to get strounger cus of davis laws thinG.
we all have are fear's out there but still never let them get your gote milk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ever
GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?