Your (Internet) Reputation Precedes You

Posted on Thursday, April 5, 2007 by Frank Roche

Are you cr8zyguy14? Any spring break pix of you on your Facebook? Ever post a “great movie” of you and your friends on YouTube or Ziddio? Because he sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good. So, be good for goodness sake. “He” isn’t Santa Claus. “He” is your future employer.

An article on Guru Blog titled Internet Reputations Precede Job Candidates talks about the risks that people take by having their lives exposed on the internet. If you did it and it’s been published on the net, you can pretty much count on your potential employer knowing about it.

User Comments

Charlie

Apr 5th, 2007

Too scary. We have met the surveillance society and it is us.
Frank Roche

Apr 5th, 2007

People need to err on the side of caution when they’re looking for a job…or well in advance of it.
Alex Ross

Apr 5th, 2007

When I was teaching interviewing skills at a local college, I was suprised to read resumes and see email addresses suchas:
stoner69@hotmail.com
hotbunny@yahoo.com
flowerchild@aol.com

No longer are email addresses the only concern of someone looking for a job, a simple Google needs to be checked. I had a candidate late for an interview so I decided to Google them while I was waitng. As you wrote, up came photos and videos from their latest spring break vacation. It is difficult to be neutral or not have an opinion formed before they arrive after seeing that side of them.

The internet is everwhere.
JT

Apr 5th, 2007

Thanks for the Ziddio shout out.

TWLCC thanks you.
Frank Roche

Apr 6th, 2007

Alex, those hotmail addresses still astonish me. And as you say, the internet is everywhere. Zoiks!

JT: Digging the Ziddio. Super high production quality on there…
John Hunter

Apr 7th, 2007

It is true there are obviously errors to avoid, however, there is also opportunity to improve your career prospects by creating a positive online presence.
Frank Roche

Apr 7th, 2007

John, excellent point and resource there. I know a guy in IT at Penn who GOT his job because of the cool things he does blogging and tech writing. So, you point is well taken!