Marketing Profs

Hiring managers are googling you-as are your clients and business partners. Maybe you're being googled right now as you read this article. Personal googling is a phenomenon guaranteed to impact your career.

Do you know what Google says about you?

A recent Harris Interactive poll showed that 23% of people search the names of business associates or colleagues on the Internet before meeting them, and 75% of recruiters google candidates, according to a survey by Execunet.

Face it. People are googling you and you should be googling yourself, too.

Why Should I Google Myself?

There may be things about you on the Web that you're not even aware of. And perhaps what Google reveals does not convey the image that you want to share with the rest of the world.

That was the case for Susan, a marketing executive who had been fired by the board of her company. The meeting minutes detailing her firing got posted on the Web, and the first item displayed after a Google search of her name was the summary of those meeting minutes. She didn't understand why she couldn't get any job interviews until one executive recruiter told her about her Google results. Prior to that, she'd had no idea that she had been digitally dissed.

The moral of the story: Google yourself. It's called self-googling or ego-surfing—and you should be doing it regularly.

To those who don't know you personally, you are your Google results. So knowing what Google says about you is important, and influencing what Google reveals is essential.

According to comScore, Google continues to increase its share of the U.S. search market. Approximately half of all U.S. searches are performed on Google. If you're looking to advance in your career, you'll want to proactively manage your online identity to ensure that you have stellar Google results.