Did you ever doubt it? What better way to find out some background history on potential hires? Google them! We Google everything else!
HR and Managers are now, more then ever, especially in the US, using Google to find out what employees, especially potentially new ones have been up to. From past experiences, to interests. HR is also using Google as a supplement to job applications, and resumes.
Resumes might make things appear that the applicant is the perfect fit for the job, but what happens if there is something online that questions this? Maybe false information about a company, and what they did there. Maybe a questionable situation they got themselves into is now online in the spotlight. Google is the place to get true dirt on people.
So, just make sure then when you apply for that next position, there are standard ways like searching Google, that your potential employer could, quite possibly, find out some interesting information about you.
Google Gets Searched by HR
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. "your name here" wins state award for excellence in "field of choice here"... now, where all to post that? hmm...
Posted at 6:58PM on Jun 12th 2006 by velcrocore
3. "So, just make sure then when you apply for that next position, there are standard ways like searching Google, that your potential employer could, quite possibly, find out some interesting information about you."
Best thing is to carry out search on your name once a month to see what has come in Google. This was you can know about the dirt against you and do something.
Posted at 4:34AM on Jun 13th 2006 by Razib Ahmed
4. Oh boy is this a can o' worms. When I tell people I work in SEO the most common response I hear is "I have a major problem with the results that come up when I Google myself!" Often this is because of old, outdated information, but sometimes it's because of online doppelgangers (people with the same first and last name), or materials posted maliciously.
Now you're talking about those Google results affecting people's livelihoods! I've come up with some advice for these folks (see "ask the experts" on my website, http://www.yourseoplan.com/), but there's really so little that the average citizen can do about it. I wish Google would introduce something like the old "RealNames" tool, so that when a name was searched the "REAL" owner of that name would have the opportunity to post the #1 results.
Gradiva
Posted at 1:58AM on Jun 14th 2006 by Gradiva Couzin
6. Sound like an interesting business model to come up with.
Neal Saferstein
Posted at 11:37PM on Jun 16th 2006 by Neal Saferstein
7. Googling applicants will open companies to discrimination lawsuits.
Google at your own risk.
Posted at 2:44PM on Jun 20th 2006 by Marc
8. As employers use search engines to look for information about potential employees (and others) more and more, it becomes a big issue for people with non-unique names. Services like www.claimid.com seem to be a promising way to claim what is actually "you", although only to a limited degree.
1. And, of course, the average citizen has no way to force google to remove anything defamatory about them, although large businesses do so all the time.
Posted at 4:26PM on Jun 12th 2006 by Alvin Brinson