Yes, You WILL Be Googled
July 30, 2009 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing, Job Hunting Tips
Whenever I put out a call for writers, I get a flurry of what I call “Google Me” cover letters. These are from writers who are apparently too important to send me a proper cover letter, but, if I want to know more about them I can give them a Google. I always want to tell them to be careful what they wish for. You see, I DO Google potential job candidates, and so do many others. I often wonder if job seekers really aware of what they put out there.
Beyond page 2
To think no one will Google us in this day and age is naive. Everyone does it. Clients and employers do it to learn more about you. Folks who see you as competition do it to learn more about your weaknesses. Family members do it to see what you’ve been up to and people who don’t like you do it so they have stuff to anonymously throw in your face when commenting at blogs at forums. The good stuff is usually in the search engine’s first couple of pages – all of your crowning achievements and accolades. Interviews with you, your best received articles and blog posts and more. However, what happens when you get beyond page two or three? What will we see about you then? The embarrassing stuff may go back a ways, but it never completely disappears.
What will you be saying about ME behind my back
If you rant about all your clients or former employers on your blog or forums, we can find it. If you’re an incredible gossip, we’ll find it. If you’re stirring up trouble, we’ll find it. This may have no bearing on the job I’m hiring you for but if you’re saying stuff about everyone behind their backs, what will you say about me? I don’t need that negativity. You can be the best writer in the world but if you’re a chronic malcontent, I probably won’t hire you.
Do I really want this naked person representing my brand?
I don’t want someone with a racy MySpace or online portfolio. It’s not that I’m a prude, but I really need to think about who is representing my brand. I don’t want it being associated with vulgarity and promiscuity and if that’s how you’re portraying yourself online, I won’t consider you for the job. What you do in your private time is your business, but online isn’t private and I have to hire the writers who present the best image for my blog, my brand and my business.
Yes, it matters
Every time I talk about how we need to watch out what we put out there, I’m told it doesn’t matter. Yes it does. When it has to do with my business it absolutely does matter. Perhaps you thought you were having fun. Perhaps you were going for some shock and awe. Perhaps you even think that all that other, extracurricular stuff is nobody’s business, and you may even be right. However, there is no privacy in cyberspace. What you put online is there forever. If that messes up what I’m trying to do here, I can’t hire you.
This may seem harsh, but it’s also realistic. I know I’m not the only person who hires people who feels this way. We have to protect our best interests. If you’re not protecting your own brand, how can we trust you with ours?
As someone who hires freelance writers all the time, I second this Deb. I do it all the time.
Well said!
I’ve gotten to where I include that I’m not the same Julie Fletcher that made adult films through the 1990s. There’s a ton of ‘me’ on Google, so often I’ll use Julie E. Fletcher instead.
Exactly why I put at least one of my Web sites on my resume–I’ve found another writer with the same name (along with other people). Sure hope employers are clicking sites with right me on it.
Well I looked back to page 13–so far so good–but I have to admit I have concerns about very ranty, fury filled live journal posts that got put up way before I was a professional at all. In the Before Time–like–last year. c_c There’s some cussing. Can’t find them on Google and I think they were all friends locked, but–how concerned should I be about that stuff?
Same-name stuff is tricky. There’s a Lisa Rudy out there who was involved in the lobbying scandal a few years back… not me! Like Julie, I now go only by my full name (Lisa Jo Rudy) so no one gets confused — though of course there are no guarantees.
Lisa
What people do in their own personal time, what their personal views and opinions are, what websites they visit, often has absolutely no relevance to their career.
We do live in an age where many of the up and coming professionals spent a good deal of time on the Internet doing and saying stupid things before they were really old enough to know better. It is also possible to post content to the Internet using another person’s name specifically to cause negative associations in search results. It’s a growing trend in teenage circles, kids are taking bullying to new levels these days.
And as mentioned in some of the other comments, there are a lot of same/similar names in the world. How do you know who is who when you don’t really know the person you are searching for information about?
Let people live their lives for crying out loud.
There are several other Deborah Ng’s out there one is a child chess prodigy and one is a blogger. Things get mixed up, for sure.
@Burman – I’d like to say you’re right and it shouldn’t matter but it does. Googling the people who write for me tell me a lot about a person’s character, demeanor and how s/he will treat my brand and I’ don’t dig too deep. The big employers have people in human resources who will spend days searching out information on potential new hires. Yes, you can do whatever you like in your private life, but if that’s the case it should remain private.
@Deb – I said personal time, not private life. I understand that people use Google to snoop into other people’s online activities for the purpose of basing employment decisions on unrelated data, but it certainly isn’t very responsible to do so. As it has been stated before, the data one finds may not be related to the individual you search for, and it may not be true at all.
“Things get mixed up, for sure.”
Indeed they do. Should be interesting to see what happens when the teens of today start looking for serious careers. The Google Snoopers are going to have a lot of juicy material to drool over.
The writing we do on the internet never dies – even when we try to kill it. It is important to think about what you are SAYING to the readers and remember that online writing is not just words!
Online writing never dies – even is we try to kill it. It is important to remember what each article or post is saying to the reader and that words on the internet are more than mere words!
Hi Deb,
I agree with many of the conditions posted in this piece.
As a former senior editor, I can relate totally!
I think I’ve been careful to adhere to all of your points… which is why I’m wondering if you ever even received my application to write for your website…
just curious.
For some reason, Google brings up another person with me, different but similar name, when I am googled. We have been sharing the first page of results for several years now, despite the different names. I am a writer and editor, she is a swimsuit/lingerie/nude model. It is very easy for someone to type in the right name for the search, but not notice the wrong name (a difference of one letter) is also in the results. Additionally, now thanks to Google images, images come up of her under my name search results. If someone is looking for ‘family friendly’, they could easily assume its me and pass me by on hiring.
Should I include a note on cover letters about this?
It’s a case-by-case thing. I have a blog in which I don’t hold back — but I would hope any prospective employer would judge the quality of writing before judging what is said. Of course, I don’t write much about work since I know I’ll be Googled, and whenever I write about a specific client, it is always positive.
I also split my time between freelance writing and creative writing, with the goal of moving my career more toward the latter. I write some pretty raw stuff, and have NEVER heard any negatives from a prospective client. Maybe the ones who don’t like me just don’t contact me. That said, I’ve gotten a few chuckles and thumbs up from clients who have read my spicier creative work.
I think the most important aspect to remember is that everything you say or do (online and off) contributes to your personal brand. Even if your prospective employers/clients don’t pick through Google listings in search of dirt, you should be aware of the image you present.
So many people forget (or simply don’t realize) that Web content is eternal! Even if you delete a post, or switch to private, the content still exists ’somewhere’. The instant you publish something it is cached, if it remains online more than a few days it will have been crawled, more than a few weeks it will have been web archived and backed up. Once you publish content you have very little control over where it might appear in the future.
What it really comes down to is living life with the same integrity you intend to bring to your business ventures or professional life. If you are reckless and wild away from the office and efficient and reserved at work then which you is the real you? In one case you are outside of your personal integrity and not being true to your potential.
Yes, obviously, you can let down your hair a little at home and in your non-business activities but even that side of yourself should be true to who you are. You should be able to reflect on your non-office hours with as much pride as you reflect on your work.
If you live with integrity you’ll find Google slime just doesn’t stick. The true you will shine through.
It is true… what you post on the Internet is theoretically eternal. As are the things posted by people with the same or similar names. As are the things posted by people using your name without your consent.
It is important to present yourself as a respectful, reasonable, decent person in all aspects of your life. In face-to-face encounters, people get to meet YOU, not your digital representation of a facet of a fragment of you. And, quite often, the “you” people think they found many not be YOU at all.
There are far too many variables to rely on a Google search for accurate data related to employment candidacy or professional relationship determination. I knew a guy who would post articles about himself on various sites under different names just to inflate his own reputation as a salesperson.
People are going to judge you for any number of conflicting reasons, you may lose business without ever knowing why simply because you posted your religious beliefs somewhere. Or someone noticed that you are a republican, democrat, or affiliated with some other party. You may be discriminated against based on your age. Your color. Your sexual orientation. Your gender. Any number of things. With the anonymity of a Google search, an employer can discriminate against you without you ever being able to prove your Civil Rights were violated.
You never really know a person until you know a person. It takes a lot more than a Google search for that.
Bah, when I wrote:
“And, quite often, the “you” people think they found many not be YOU at all.”
I meant:
“And, quite often, the “you” people think they found ONLINE many not be YOU at all.”
“If you rant about all your clients or former employers on your blog or forums, we can find it. If you’re an incredible gossip, we’ll find it. If you’re stirring up trouble, we’ll find it.”
Only a fool would rant or gossip about former clients – or other writers, for thatv matter – under his or her real name on a blog or forum for which he or she registered using his or her real name. I Google myself now and then, BTW; I have common first and last names and a Google search brings back over two dozen matches with ordinary folks who may or may not be me. An employer’s only clue would be a link to a blog or Web site also in my resume. Unless, of course, employers can obtain from webmasters personal information gathered during the registration process, and things like ISP addresses. Are you suggesting that they do?
@Sarah – No, I would never suggest anyone go that far. I just want writers (and everyone) to be realistic. Folks are going to find your stuff – even the embarrassing stuff.
I have to agree with Burnman, that it’s really none of anyone’s business, despite being online. I understand with the ratio to applicants-employers these days that employers can pretty much pick and choose down to brand of suit or eye color in an employee, but not only is the information almost always irrelevant to the task at hand, it’s actually bad business.
It’s one thing to weed out people that are extremely sketchy, find felony convictions, find hateful and destruction stuff from previous jobs and quite another to ignore people that do silly stuff or get drunk or are very passionately pro-life. This is stuff that 99.9% of the time has zero relevance as to how good a job a person is going to do. To weed them out based on a perceived image (Are we all politicians? Who exactly is judging your image?) is to weed out employees that would be a huge asset to have.
The people that don’t have any of this stuff online to find? They’re either better at hiding it (for now. I don’t think it’s fair to fire someone because they posted a picture of themselves drunk and peeing on a dumpster for instance, but it’s okay to weed them out before hand?) or are so completely boring and dispassionate and will likely work in the same manor.
I use writers on most of my blogs and can’t help but google most of them.