With the number of people we read about who get fired for
blogging about their companies, it’s common sense that if you make
embarrassing posts or put criticisms about your company on the
Internet, it can be hazardous to your career. But what happens if you
are a job seeker who posts online? Would it affect your ability to
find a job?
You bet it does.
I’ve been part of search committees where in looking for a qualified
candidate one of the first places checked is not references, nor prior
employment. No, Google is the first place many employers look to find
out the “real” story behind candidates. It’s human nature to look and
verify – if not for the sake of thoroughness, for the sake of curiosity.
Perfectly qualified people can become unqualified if their homepage or
Net posts are offensive, weird or critical of their current company.
I’ve seen it happen more times than I care to mention.
Nick Corcodilos of Ask The Headhunter says you need to take accountability for what you do online as well as anywhere else. He says, “it fosters responsibility and, if your words have value, it builds credibility.” Obviously, having seen prior posts and online activity come back to haunt some job candidates, I believe this is true.
The
good news is that you can also swing this pendulum the other
direction. You can add some good to the world. Teach one of your
skills online. Let your professionalism shine through and it can
demonstrate your writing and documentation skills. Get enough people
to your site and it shows you can market. Simply put, you can
demonstrate your value to potential employers – in the very first place
they look.
Technorati Tags: career, job search, google, reputation
{ 4 comments }
It’s one of those cases where, if you have a strange fetish and like to write about it, you’re better off using a pseudonym.
My name is rather unceremoniously associated with my opinions because I’ve chosen to market myself, but I’m able to write about my flaming-cat-juggling obsession under a different name.
Always use a pseudonym when saying anything even remotely controversal on the Internet. You never know when it’s going to come back and haunt you. I just did a quick search for my real name, and all that came up was links to technical mailing lists. About the only drawback I can see is someone might get the mistaken impression that I prefer Linux.
“About the only drawback I can see is someone might get the mistaken impression that I prefer Linux”
The horror!
I never thought that employers would ever try to find the information about the prospective candidates on Google. It is too dangerous for any job seekers. Now every one applying for job has to be cautious about the information he is putting in his resume.