Tag Archives: google

What does the internet say about you?

You can ruin your career and job opportunities at the speed of light.  It can take anywhere from a few months to years to clear up the problem.  Google is the problem.

More bosses and companies Google their employees and candidates now. Before they give someone a promotion, raise in salary or a brand new job, they Google them.   It is an instant reference check. Your boss may Google himself to find out what the world knows about him. He will try to figure out who is slandering  him behind the online name “maddog231”.  If he figures out it was you, that can be a problem.

Worse, go to Google and you’ll notice a little link by every entry that says “cached.”   Cached means stored.  Even if your comment is pulled off the internet, Google is going to keep it for a while. If someone cuts and pastes your comment onto their website, that comment could be around for 20 years.  There may be no quick fix for the havoc you wreak on yourself by being sharp-tongued online.

If you don’t google yourself or be careful on the internet it’s time to start worrying about how you portray yourself in blogs, emails, resumes, comments and anything else you do online.  Google is a powerful tool.  Make sure what you put on the internet helps you instead of hurting you.

Something to do today

Google yourself, your bosses and your company.  Did you find anything interesting?

Are you buying a hirer’s attention?

Google is one of the most outrageously priced stocks in the market today. They give away services that competitors charge an arm and a leg for, and they make a profit. Google is the best company in the world that is in the attention business. If you are looking for a job or a promotion, you are in the attention business too.

Google started out as a search engine. It was a simple catalog. Then the owners started selling simple ads, but in a different way. That difference changed the internet. Macbook, Laptop, Google, Display, Screen

Go out and Google “jobs”. Everything you see on that first page is a response to your attention. There are a few ads at the top and to the right of your results. The results you see on the first page were also paid for by savvy marketers. Your interest and attention to “jobs” is a valuable commodity. Google is in the business of finding out what you will pay attention to, and serving it up with the least fuss and the most profitability. Google finds out what interests you and then shows you ads you really want to see. Their ads solve your problems. 

Now the scary part. Can anyone find you? My query about “jobs” produced 5,320,000,000 hits this morning. Even Google is selective about the information they present to me. They sell more by presenting less information. That’s why there is a first page of Google.

Let’s cut down the competition. Google “biomechanical engineer” in quotes and you get 69,600 hits, and a lot of the ads disappear. Google your name inside quote marks. I got 18,800 hits on “Bryan Dilts” because I am a blogger and businessman. Can anyone find you? Google is expert at finding what interests me and presenting the most important information in the first page. People can find me, can they find you?.

This is why you are in the attention business. To get a job, you have to get a hiring manager’s attention. You have to be at the top of his employee search. There is a huge amount of competition for his attention. He has to stop and look at you as a person. He has to call you, bring you in for an interview, and introduce you to the team. Then he has to decide to stake his career on hiring you. He has to pay a lot of attention to you. Are you doing what is necessary to be at the top of his search?

The next few days are about getting the attention of people who will hire you. Google is going to play a big part in the discussion, so go out and have some fun with it.

Something to do today

Cut a paragraph or phrase out of your resume and Google it. Do the same with a job ad. Have some fun.

How Google can be a disaster for your job search

You can ruin your career and job opportunities at the speed of light.  It can take anywhere from a few months to years to clear up the problem.  Google is the problem.

More bosses and companies Google their employees and candidates now. Before they give someone a promotion, raise in salary or a brand new job, they Google them.   It is an instant reference check. Your boss may Google himself to find out what the world knows about him. He will try to figure out who the person is who slanders him behind the online name “maddog231”.  If he figures out it was you, that can be a problem.

Worse, go to Google and you’ll notice a little link by every entry that says “cached.”   Cached means stored.  Even if your comment is pulled off the internet, Google is going to keep it for a while. If someone cuts and pastes your comment onto their website, that comment could be around for 20 years.  There may be no quick fix for the havoc you wreak on yourself by being sharp tongued online.

There is this paradox in pride – it makes some men ridiculous, but prevents others from becoming so.  (C. C. Colton)

It is time to start worrying about how you portray yourself in blogs, emails, resumes, reader comments and anything else you do online.  Google is a powerful tool.  Make sure what you put on the internet helps you instead of hurting you.

Something to do today

Google yourself, your bosses and your company.  Did you find anything interesting?

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