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1.: FW: [CCC] Article: Before the Interview, Google Yourself (WSJ) From: Chuck Burg

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1.: FW: [CCC] Article: Before the Interview, Google Yourself (WSJ)

Posted by: "Chuck Burg" chuckburg1111@gmail.com chuck.burg

Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:30 pm (PDT)

Chuck Burg

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From: CareerConnectionsConsortium@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:CareerConnectionsConsortium@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Eric
Nilsson
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 12:39 PM
To: Eric Nilsson
Subject: [CCC] Article: Before the Interview, Google Yourself (WSJ)

Master Online Searches

By Alexandra Levit

The idea that employers perform Internet searches on job candidates is
nothing new -- and the frequency of these searches is climbing. Some experts
report that up to 85% of hiring managers "Google" a candidate before or
after an interview.

"Recruiters and employers that I talk to routinely do online background
searches on their candidates to learn more about them, as well as to filter
out candidates with little or negative information about them," says Chris
Perry, the founder of Career Rocketeer (careerrocketeer.com
<http://www.careerrocketeer.com> ), a Web site that provides
career-development advice.

Search results are critical to career reinventers, too. Mr. Perry faced a
challenge when trying to establish himself as a career expert: "A Google
search of my name didn't bring up anything about me. I basically didn't
exist."

So Mr. Perry got to work generating consistent content for Google to index
and attribute to him. "First, I created a LinkedIn profile in which I
customized my profile URL so that it included my name," he says. "I then
launched Career Rocketeer and started putting out content related to my area
of interest."

He also made relevant comments on other blogs that linked back to his site.
He joined Twitter and other business networking sites. Finally, he built a
Google profile that housed links to all of his networks and content
contributions.

Incorporate key words: Besides these strategies, there are other ways job
seekers and career changers can influence what appears when they are
searched. You should deliberately incorporate key words or key phrases
related to your career direction into your résumé, but you should also add
them to your online content. If you need help, look at Google's
adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.

Recruit links: The number of external links pointing to your content also is
an important factor in how you're ranked by search engines. You can generate
links by providing useful content that's presented in an original way and by
syndicating your articles in various online channels and social networks.

Fun and quirky videos, as well as guest "how to" posts on highly trafficked
blogs, also have significant viral appeal. The point is, every time another
site references your content, your search-engine cachet goes up. (You can
find highly trafficked blogs by doing Google searches for industry keywords
or by checking sources such as Technorati.com.)

Once you have a good amount of positive content floating around, a new tool
you might find helpful is Vizibility.com. This site allows you to customize
the search results for your name and to generate a unique URL that links to
these results so that people see the material you want them to see, in the
order you want them to see it.

Remove or push down negative information: What do you do if a search for
your name reveals information that you'd rather people not see? The most
straightforward way, says Mr. Perry, is to scour your Web sites and social
networks and remove anything you would not proudly share. Stop producing
content that has the potential to provoke a negative response, and publish
appropriate content at a high volume so that you can push unsavory or
irrelevant results off the most frequently viewed top pages.

Write to Alexandra Levit at reinvent@wsj.com

Retrieved 3/14/2010 12:33 PM from
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126852207486461893.html?mod=WSJ_Careers_Care
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