Have You Googled Yourself Lately?

Recently in my business and professional communications class, my professor began lecturing on “netiquette,” or rules of acting professionally on the Web. Most members of my class pulled out their notebooks, ready to begin another lecture, when as a surprise to all of us, pictures of my classmates began flashing onto the screen. The point my professor was trying to make was that despite the fact she is not “Facebook friends” with any of my classmates, she still could access their Facebook pictures.

According to this April 2009 New York Times article, 45 percent of employers questioned in a survey are using social networks to check out potential employees. Facebook is the most widely used by employers to investigate applicants, but other social networking sites used were LinkedIn, MySpace, and some employers began following prospective employees on Twitter.

Had my classmates properly secured their Facebook accounts, my professor would have not been able to see their pictures or anything else for that matter. All job seekers’ Facebooks need to be rid of information you would not want a future employer to see. Those of us with an online presence seeking an entry-level position should clean up our social media websites. You should also perform a Google search on yourself.

If you do not think that prospective employers will find your personal Twitter or MySpace, you are wrong. You would be surprised what comes up when you type in your name and hit “search.” When doing this for the first time, I found an old article written about myself when I was a senior in high school participating in the spring musical. If employers cannot find you via Google, they might still go directly to the source and search Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and so on for your name.

Before applying to your next job remember to research the company; have your resume reviewed by several individuals; prepare a brief, exceptional cover letter; and don’t forget to Google yourself.

Are you an employer that has used Google or social networking sites to research potential job candidates? Or have you as an employee had an encounter with a prospective employer discovering your social media networking Web sites? What were your experiences?