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185 Comments
- redhatcat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+163Title should be "Don't use your real name on the internet"
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+148Don't like somebody?
Create numerous profiles with their name online and digg porn and blog about filth.
That should put a stop to their career :) - merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+126This is why I never associate my real name, Eugene Schmidt with any of my online activities as "merreborn".
Oh shi-- - maseone, on 10/12/2007, -6/+85Funny, I actually import my Digg RSS feed into the front page of my portfolio.
I actually want job recruiters to see what I digg.
m1 - Paktu, on 10/12/2007, -4/+80You know, how about hiring people based on their ABILITY TO DO THE ***** JOB???
Why do recruiters think a ten year old picture of me with a beer bong (for example) affect my ability to work effectively? - titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -3/+67Tell that to everyone on Myspace.
- ArcusOfSV, on 10/12/2007, -2/+54If I found that I would hire you instantly.
- threepio, on 10/12/2007, -2/+49Words I'll never hear:
"So... uh... Threepio, is it? Thanks for coming in for the interview today..." - InternetUser, on 10/12/2007, -4/+37Exactly. I was worried about this kind of thing when I started using the web about 10 years ago and I have very rarely revealed my real name online. Now, if you search for my name there are only 2 matches which are totally harmless.
Paranoid maybe, but it can't do any harm.
I read a similar article recently about social networking, where the author postulated after you die, your online persona/information lives on in this creepy archived-digital-grave fashion. So there's another reason for not posting your life online. - LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -3/+29But yet employers are doing it anyway - Facebook, Myspace, Friendster? They're all looking at it, and if you look like a drunk who only hangs out with skank hoes, there's a good chance that you're not going to get hired, even if you are the best employee they could have. Public and Personali lives are rarely separate this day in age.
- Drahkar, on 10/12/2007, -11/+36Not to mention that unless its illegal activities they can't use personal interests as a reason for not hiring someone.
- MisterCookie, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24After reading bash.org extensively, these job recruiters are very wise...
- NSMike, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24Exactly. And the fact that you correctly used affect and effect would make me want to hire you as well.
- SilentBobSC, on 10/12/2007, -6/+27Because that's life, and life is unfair.
- thenativeraver, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21Never link your screen names with your real name.
- tsunamisteve, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22I figure that I don't want to work at a place that is too conservative or proper to see what I've put online.
- templest, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Exactly what I was going to say...
I'm sure any company I apply for work at will know me by "templest".
I mean, isn't that the whole point of having an internet alias?
Anonymity? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19My motto is: if they're that anal where they'd go to that extent to spy on someone, then chances are you won't enjoy working for the company anyway. I mean who knew stupid ***** you posted on usenet 10 years ago would be forever archived by Google?
It's not your fault, it's their fault for not having logic or understanding that each person's personal life doesn't reflect their professional life.
The same can be said about places that flip the ***** out if you have tattoos or piercings.
It should be your goal as an employee to find a relaxing, welcoming environment to work in. So if I'm ever a "victim" of something like this, it would be a welcome thing because it would help me weed out the *****, overly strict jobs. - Yorn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Actually, you could do this to the person that refused to hire you quite easily then send them an email to all their new Myspace pages and Facebook profiles. They'll learn really quickly just how ridiculous it all is.
I've always told people though, if a company refuses to hire you based solely on something on your MySpace or Facebook profile, then I got some shocking news for you: you didn't want to work for them anyway.
Most companies that actually filter candidates based on online profiles are missing out on some extremely bright individuals. I think that, by now, most employers realize the difference between professional and personal. Still, it might not be a bad idea to clean up your online image before you apply somewhere. - greymaxcat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Nobody will hire me because I'm an obnoxious *****... online and offline.
- IHaveIssues, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Would anyone hire IHaveIssues? I think not so I'm so fuxored.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I can use my name as there are SO MANY "Brian Young"s out there, it's crazy.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Brian+Young&btnG=Google+Search
In fact, my full name is the name of someone in a joke!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Brian+Anthony+Young&btnG=Search
Craziness. - simianstyle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12facebook much?
I know i had to get rid of a lot of my personal info on it for this very reason. - Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Thankfully, I share a name with a D-List basketball player. His stuff will come up in Google long before mine does :)
- zirtbow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Drakhr... they could simply not say why they didn't hire you (much like Google) and you would really have no way to prove it was because they looked you up on the Internet.
Also on a separate note.. a lot of people on this thread reference only doing a Google etc on their name. If you include an e-mail address of any sort whats to stop them from looking that or the user name (IE: username@gmail.com) of the address up on the Internet? I have filled out a few applications that asked for an e-mail address and while my real name returns nothing of relevance on Google my zirtbow name has my digg profile right on top. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"Not to mention that unless its illegal activities they can't use personal interests as a reason for not hiring someone."
Yes they can. A company can refuse to hire you -- or even decide to fire you -- for ANY reason they like. Hell, they can fire you for being gay or black or too fat. They can't state that as the reason for firing you, but they can do it anyway. Maybe instead of "fired them because we hate fat people" or "fired them because we're a good old boy network", they'll say "failed to meet performance standards". It's as simple as that. - monkeyninja, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9I've seen loads of people write stuff on their blogs that would put me off employing them. People who blog about their attitude to their job, or indicate personal traits like laziness, are at risk if potential employers look them up online. Some of my friends blog stuff that I am sure they won't want to come back and haunt them in the future. I always make sure that if I write about something on my blog that it is something that I do not mind everyone knowing about me.
- Jangles, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10I agree.
aside: what if your name was something like John Smith? - zaren, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I don't have to worry about someone looking at my FaceBook or Myspace account to get damning info on me... because I don't use them. 18 years I've been online, and I've never seen a bigger waste of bandwidth than Myspace. (Well, except for spam, that is...) God-awful ugly pages, blaring crappy music, and not even a lawn for those rotten kids to stand on so I can scream at them to get off of it.
- ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It amazes me that people don't put this stuff together for themselves. Take myspace for example. If your girlfriend, fiends, and family all have you as friends, would you really want to also go around adding all the slutty girls you can find, too?
- DonSchenck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I don't care; let 'em look. I've done nothing criminal, and the rest is my opinion to which I'm entitled.
They don't like that they can kiss my ass. - drowningfish, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8eh. If a recruiter locates information about me through comments I may have made here or anywhere else on the inter-webs and objects to the content then so be it. I'm not going to lose any sleep nor will I censor myself.
I couldn't careless if an anti-Republican BLOG rant of mine is read by some ultra-conservative recruiter. I wouldn't want to work for the prick or the prick's client anyhow. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Exactly.. my name comes up 200,000+ times. My blog is on the first page though.. but so is the NBA player by the same name :P
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22Josh+Powell%22&btnG=Search - dustedbunny, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8just think. it might work in your favor....
...like if you tried to get a job working at big beer company...hmmm. - fohat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6One problem is, if the info was up there at some point, it gave google etc time to cache it. If it's in a cache, there's probably nothing you can do apart from asking google to remove it.
I personally think that HR departments just use this as a way to do less work. If they can reject a person without even having to interview them, that is. - hardkoretom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Employers are looking to hire somebody and to see how somebody might act in a work environment. they are trying to see who best fits their company and checking online personas is not a bad idea. Would you want to hire somebody that talks about how much fun they have when they lite up a bong every weekend and how ***** drunk they get every week? i sure as hell wouldnt.
there is nothing wrong with whatever you are doing, but if you talk about it, that is a good character reference to how your life might be since you are not giving an alternative lifestyle to how you might really be. - Raian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This just shows the stupidity of these recruiters-- They should instead be looking for the people with as much info on-line as possible-- that way they can have some locus of control over the people they are hiring rather than taking a risk with an unknown and unpredictable personality.
- zensmile, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Funny, I never really want to work at a place that is too liberal or informal.
- mousky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Gone are the days where your skills, knowledge, abilities, and so forth mattered. Nope, today, potential employers would rather not hire you because of something you wrote or said, even if you are more than qualified for the position.
- lcarsdeveloper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Another article saying the same thing (submitted an hour before this one, 643 diggs):
http://digg.com/tech_news/Digital_Dirt_How_to_Clean_Up_Your_On-line_Profile
Can't be bothered checking if the stats match before I yell 'dupe' :P
And I thought it was just deja-vu :) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5if someone were to search for my name on the interweb, they would find that i am also a basketball player for the Mavericks.
or am i? - rabiddogma, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I wonder if people did use their real names online if they might behave a little better ...
eh, I guess you ***** will never know! - Paktu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@monkeyninja
To some extent you're right, I could see why that could matter in a hiring decision. However, as a college student looking for internships, one of the first things the career center people tell you (at least here in Minnesota) is to set your Facebook/Myspace profiles to friends only. But what they have said is that employers are mostly looking for evidence of underage drinking or marijuana use, which strikes me as a waste of time. If anything, the college students that get out and network with their peers (even if it's at a kegger) are far better off than those that sit at home and study every Friday night. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So what, they go to google and type in your name and fire you based on what someone with the same name may or may not have done in real life?
I wouldn't want to work for a company that's that dumb anyway. - Jibberish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sweet, when you search my name the first results are some doctor guy!
I hope he's not some proctologist - matthewaaron, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5@Drahkar
Not true. They call it character analysis and they can use your personal interests to determine your character. If you digg stories that lead people to believe you would not be right for their company, they could/would/should use that to make their decision. - kalphegor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm John Smith, the dentist.
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=John+Smith - EyeWinSometimes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3When I search my name I get some professional clown... he's kinda weird.
- spamdies, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4So all you have to do to sabatoge a person of company is make up a fake profile on myspace, facebook, or blog using all their info... way to go corprate america on using solid verified information in your hiring process.
- dh8r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Couldn't the opposite be true. If you keep a blog with your real name, and you post things that reflect the good side of you, would that make a positive impression on employers?
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