::@:: Reality of Dreams ::@::

Its come to my attention in the past few months that  supposedly employers will now Google perspective employee… this does create a dilemma… I refer you to the following searches for “Adam Howie” and “Adam J Howie“… which if you didn’t know was my real world name.

Now, Adam J Howie, isn’t a problem, it just links to a competition I entered years ago… that being said it also exposes my on-line name of “Lurch Kimded” which opens a whole world of links. Anyway, “Adam Howie” on the other hand is a bit more common, admittedly I’m the top link but the 2nd link isn’t me, in fact the only link on the first page that is me is my CG Portfolio (which I must get round to updating).

Its an interesting problem, one I had never really thought about. What if an employer Google’s someone and then presumes that who they find is the person going for the job when its not and so judges the applicant on the merits of someone else’s on-line persona? I’m kinda lucky that I’ve had a net presence since 1994-ish, hence why I eventually settled on a unique on-line handle… of course this creates its own problem that I am very open on the web. I mean “Lurch Kimded” and especially the “Kimded” is unique as its something I made up, so its really linked only to me… except this link, as the page name is kimded

To be honest I’m not sure if its a good idea for employers to trust what they find online, either because it may be the wrong person but also because I don’t think you get a good enough picture of someone to decided if they are, or are not, right for a job. Do employers even take into account the age of a page, and that because someone did some stupid stuff back in uni at 1997 that ten years later they are not necessarily the same person? I mean I have changed, my core beliefs may not have but I’ve grown as person, I’ve matured and become, well, me (note- I didn’t do anything that embarrassing at uni, no really, I was kinda dull).

So what am I trying to say? Not much really its just an interesting thing, and of course by doing this I may effect Google’s rankings, hopefully in my favour, and if you are an employer… Hi, please look around, and hopefully take a positive view of me away.

Anyway, on a different vein, had a good night at the April Gathering, really enjoyed the two I’ve been at. I hope that even with being in Edinburgh I can make it to them.