Googling & My Job Search

A BusinessWeek article talks about your online presence and the impact of that on your job hunt (or job security).

I have policies where I don't use my (or anyone else's!) last name on my blog, or first names of people who don't come up very often. I also don't talk about details at work, because of obvious confidentiality issues.

Googling my name doesn't even bring up this blog, nor does Windows Live search thanks to the fact I have used discretion. I'm actually most impressed with the AI-based search engince Accoona, which not only finds this blog, but has it as the first result. It does miss sites that the more popular engines find, so perhaps it's a toss-up.

As the article discusses, it is important what DOES come up upon a search of the internet for potential hires. I like the fact that my ResNet experience, Dean's List, and involvement with COSClub are some of the hits- many of the rest of them are where my friends have used my full name. Now, if an employer follows one of those links, often my blog is linked to from my friends' sites, and that's ok. I'm not ashamed of anything on here, mainly because I do think before I post.

Gotta consider your audience- all of them: friends, close family, extended family, future family, current & future coworkers, and then the occasional complete stranger.