'Digital Dirt' Derailing Job Seekers (firms look for searching patterns

[IChing]

July 11, 2006 (4:41 PM EDT)


'Digital Dirt' Derailing Job Seekers


By K.C. Jones, TechWeb Technology News

More than one-third of employers have eliminated a candidate after digging up "digital dirt," according to ExecuNet.
In a recent survey of 100 executive recruiters, 35 percent said they dropped a job candidate because of information uncovered online. That is up from 26 percent just one year ago, according to ExecuNet, an executive job search and recruiting network.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents said they use search engines to learn more about prospective employees. Another study showed that 82 percent of executives expect companies and recruiters to enter their name into a search engine during the course of their next job search, yet only 33 percent have ever actually conducted an Internet search on themselves.

"Conducting searches for your own name is something that should be done on a regular basis," Dave Opton, ExecuNet CEO and founder, said in a prepared statement. "Until you're aware of everything that's connected to your name online, it's impossible to try to overcome any potential employer objections."

The survey also found that 16 percent of executives said they fear that information found online could eliminate them from consideration for a job opening. Thirteen percent said they have taken steps to add positive personal information online.>>>>>snip

http://www.techweb.com/wire/ebiz/190302267;jsessionid=3AARNY2LEELIMQSNDLPSKHSCJUNN2JVN

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1. I just googled myself

and the only thing that came up was that I am on a doner list for the Zeta Foundation (breast cancer charity)