Last week, I submitted my first job application in more than seven years. It took me almost two weeks to complete as I agonized over a customized resume and cover letter and an answer to the question "why would you be an asset to our company?" I find my usual writing "voice" is self deprecating and mildly ironic, but neither of those tones are particularly useful when one goes begging for work.
After a weekend off from my job search, I was back at the library this morning to pick up What Color Is Your Parachute?, a classic of the "How to find your perfect job" genre*.
What Color Is Your Parachute? is updated each year in order to provide the latest advice to us the unemployed, and Mr. Bolles is pulling no punches in this edition. In the very first chapter, he downplays the importance of the traditional resume I've just spent hours crafting. He titles his second chapter is "Google is your new resume".
Because I am a naturally curious person, I make a habit of googling customers, coworkers, acquaintances, family. Anyone really. So before proceeding further with Chapter 2, I flexed my Google muscles to see what is publicly available about me.
What I found out: I share my name with a lot of other women, some of them medical professionals. Also, a woman who is a clairvoyant and animal communicator specializing in photography psychometry; she is recommended by many users on a forum about horse ownership.
More relevant for me, of the top 10 results for my full name as given on my paper resume, only one related to me and it was a link to address history information I would very much like for any would be stalkers to have to work very hard to get.
That then led me to this post on reddit about how to have personal information removed from various information aggregation sites like whitepages.com and peoplesmart.com. (Keep in mind that a lot of the listed info is actually considered public record and these sites just make it easier for the average person with above average curiosity to get a hold of.)
So the day ends with me
a) comforted that my blog, Facebook profile, and any dirty secrets previously unknown to me are not at the top of Google's search results and
b) slightly more paranoid about what is in the search results at other sites.
And now it's time to play pass the paranoia...
What does Google know about you?
--------------------------------------
*Dad! There's a retirement version!
After a weekend off from my job search, I was back at the library this morning to pick up What Color Is Your Parachute?, a classic of the "How to find your perfect job" genre*.
What Color Is Your Parachute? is updated each year in order to provide the latest advice to us the unemployed, and Mr. Bolles is pulling no punches in this edition. In the very first chapter, he downplays the importance of the traditional resume I've just spent hours crafting. He titles his second chapter is "Google is your new resume".
"What we know for sure is that somewhere between 35% and 70% of employers now report that they have rejected applicants on the basis of what they found through Google."
Because I am a naturally curious person, I make a habit of googling customers, coworkers, acquaintances, family. Anyone really. So before proceeding further with Chapter 2, I flexed my Google muscles to see what is publicly available about me.
What I found out: I share my name with a lot of other women, some of them medical professionals. Also, a woman who is a clairvoyant and animal communicator specializing in photography psychometry; she is recommended by many users on a forum about horse ownership.
More relevant for me, of the top 10 results for my full name as given on my paper resume, only one related to me and it was a link to address history information I would very much like for any would be stalkers to have to work very hard to get.
That then led me to this post on reddit about how to have personal information removed from various information aggregation sites like whitepages.com and peoplesmart.com. (Keep in mind that a lot of the listed info is actually considered public record and these sites just make it easier for the average person with above average curiosity to get a hold of.)
So the day ends with me
a) comforted that my blog, Facebook profile, and any dirty secrets previously unknown to me are not at the top of Google's search results and
b) slightly more paranoid about what is in the search results at other sites.
And now it's time to play pass the paranoia...
What does Google know about you?
--------------------------------------
*Dad! There's a retirement version!
Well, I never! Who would want to know anything about no one is beyond me! I'd be thinking I'm safe in the digital world, at least for now!
ReplyDeleteI do love to read about others though!
Well, I have an unusual last name in France, and I discovered, the first time I googled my full name (I must have been in the UK at the time, around 2002) that the research institute I worked for when I was in my last year of study, actually published a scientific paper and put me as a co-author because they use swath of my graduation academic report in it (which was very honest of them !). As I had changed job and country, they couldn't find me to tell me. So sometimes, you have pleasant surprise. :)
ReplyDeleteThomas - I'd forgotten to try and find my published graduate research. Turns out, it's there if you add the right keyword to my name. Something to add to LinkedIn. :O)
ReplyDelete