I do have other things I'd like to post about, and the heading for this topic is one of them. Googling your name. I'm sure any one reading has tried it already, and if you haven't check it out. Just enter your name in Google and click search. Some of the results are just funny and sometimes you find a reference to yourself you never even knew about. And sometimes, your unlucky to have a common name and all that comes up is references to other people you'd rather not be involved with.
This potentially could cause some serious damage, especially if a new employer or client uses this technique to "check you out". I've heard several stories (perhaps urban legends) about individuals applying for a new job and getting denied a position due to some information and HR rep dug up on them on the web, either in general or on their myspace or facebook account.
It's been a while since I Googled my name and I thought I'd give a try a few weeks ago since we were in the process of hiring a new Sr. Manager for our group at work and because I was researching domain names for this site, plus considering applying for a new Sr. level position with our Corporate Communications team.
To my surprise, there were a TON of results for my name: Brian Kopp. (I'm sure I'll just get traffic from Google now since I added my name to this page) Why, well apparently I share my name with someone else named Brian Kopp who's really into World of Warcraft (WOW). I used to play Warcraft, but never touched WOW. Anyways, I guess he wrote some unofficially strategy guide and he's in a lawsuit, or was in a lawsuit (don't follow this much myself) against Blizzard Entertainment, the makers of WOW. Sounds like he's got a few people pissed off.
Next I decided to try and narrow my Googling by adding my middle initial since I was interested in having a domain that related to my name and I wanted to avoid just using Brian Kopp. My search for Brian J Kopp resulted to several pages on Google making reference to yet another person I'd rather not be involved with. The results were referring to a Dr. Brian J Kopp who has some, how can I say it, has interesting articles on the web regarding to homosexuality and abortion. Now, I haven't read these articles and I cannot comment on them in any way, but the point is, I'd rather not have these results be interpreted by some HR rep as results for me.
And before I get a bunch of comments telling me how to properly Google someone using a combination of location information or industry related information, I know that stuff already. Problem is, my future client or employer may not be that savvy and unaware of the issues just using someone's name in a search engine. Their the ones I'm concerned about.
So what am I suppose to do?
- Change my name...not likely.
- Buy Adwords for my name and compete...not likely.
- Create a stronger online presence for my name...sure, but I'm up against some big communities.
- Advertise my "User Name", you know, the name you always use for every account you've ever created online...sure, great idea, if I want my clients and employers to know how many thousands of posts I've created on different car forums.
Want to read more about the importance of Googling your own name check out this Wall Street Journal article.
Just so set a few things straight. I live in Minnesota and I'm a professional web designer who graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BS in Scientific and Technical Communications and works for Medtronic. I guess that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
So what am I suppose to do?
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