Self Searching
I highly reccomend checking yourself on Google.
Why? Because your next employer may be Googling you, that’s why. At least, according to this article on the New York Times, that’s what’s been happening. I certainly know that I’ve been found on Google on more than one occasion. Not only by employers, but also by potential dates and, well, obviously, dates. This blog did, after all, start as a marketing scheme, a way to get the search engines to find me and catalog me. It worked. Very well, in fact, as this page has a Googlerank of Five out of Ten. And, if you Google Linux Resume, I’m the second hit. If you Google CNE Resume, I’m the first two hits. If you Google Jim Hoffman, I’m the sixth hit. So, I think about what I say here, and how I say it, because I know people might actually read it. People I might care about and people who’s opinion matters to me or can effect my life. And, I’m told that in the dating world, it’s more and more common to Google potential dates to see what mischief they’ve been up to on the web. Obviously, one never knows what might turn up.
This is a special concern for bloggers, of course, who put themselves “out there” on a regular basis. Do you want a potential employer reading that last rant? Or about your after-hours antics? Or about the slacking you do at work to post to your blog instead? All things to think about. So, what do you find when you Google yourself? If you don’t know yet, maybe you should try it and see what turns up.
Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"If God is for us, who can be against us?"
--Romans 8:31 (NIV)
Yup, I know from whence you cometh. I had concerns about potential employers finding my blog… but it’s a little hard NOT to when your name is also the domain. So I go easy on the Dilbertville comments (sorta). ‘Sides, it didn’t seem to do The Scobilizer (Robert Scoble) any harm.
Comment by WhiteGuy — 7/11/2006 @ 10:11 am
I was actually thinking of Dooce.com and others like that who lost their jobs over things said in a blog. Also, of course, a potential employer might not want to consider someone who has an extra crazy personal life. For instance, if I were to complain loudly about some crazy person who was stalking me, an employer might see me as a security risk. (For the record, other than some rather interesting people watching this blog obsessively, I have no stalker that I know of at this time.)
And, of course, a potential date might be scared off by something he or she reads in a blog. I’m fairly certain that one of my blog stalkers made one potential date think twice about getting involved with me. Can’t blame folks for trying to be safe, after all.
Comment by the Network Geek — 7/11/2006 @ 10:21 am
I googled me and it would appear that there are a lot of people with my name who are doing some great things. I did find me there too, on the first page! It was a good thing I did. I have tried to find my blog using google and cannot find it. I can’t even find it on blog spot, and I know what is in the darned blog! I am pretty good at being anonymous, and hiding in plain sight! I am even pretty good at hiding from myself, but I am working on that!
Comment by Cheri — 7/11/2006 @ 8:18 pm
Aw, Cheri, don’t feel bad that you don’t show up more. I’ve had this blog for over six years now and have a teeny, tiny following. And, even that ebbs and flows, you know? All depends on what I’m writing about.
Comment by the Network Geek — 7/11/2006 @ 10:02 pm