Have You Googled Yourself Lately?
This has been such a hot topic in the job search arena lately and George Blomgren talks about it on his For Job Seekers Blog too. Your online persona can have a huge effect on your job search success.
As you are well aware, it’s quite easy to look up anyone on the Internet and see what they’re involved in - past or present. Do you have a personal blog? Do you have anything legal that might show up on public records on the Internet? You’d be surprised by how much information can be found sometimes.
Job seekers are beginning to use blogs to help with their job search. There have been instances where blogs actually play an important part of landing a job. While that is not the norm, it just goes to show how the Internet is gaining popularity in deciding whether you get - or don’t get - a new job.
College students beware - you are in great danger of being ‘exposed’. Just because you may not have a blog or are not involved with MySpace, doesn’t mean your image or name won’t show up. If your friends include you in their online activities, then you very well might show up if your name is searched for.
So be sure to search for your name before a potential employer does. If you find something offensive, try to get the material removed off the site. Even if you do, you don’t know when it’ll be erased from the search engines’ ‘memories’.
No matter what, get yourself prepared. Know what’s out there about you, address it and move on. Don’t stop looking for a job because of something you find. Not all employers are researching candidates this way…yet.
And, of course, be more careful in the future 
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