How Google Could Ruin Your Professional Career
December 04, 2011, By Chandlee Bryan 0 comments
You know it's important to have good street cred, but do you know your G cred? Short for "Google Credibility," G Cred is defined by the Urban Dictionary as "What someone sees when they Google your name, business, product, organization or whatever. It's an increasingly important measure of legitimacy and how seriously someone will take you."
Today, your G cred may be more important for your career than your resume: 90 out of 100 executive recruiters surveyed by ExecuNet say they do online searches on candidates.
"Even Dick Bolles, author of 'What Color is Your Parachute' says that Google search results are the new resume," says Donna Sweidan, a Stamford, Connecticut-based career coach who works with a national client base. "Most people don't realize the information that is available about them online—from political contributions to real estate transactions. What people see in the first two pages of your Google search results can make the difference between getting called for an interview or not."
Most employers say a positive online reputation influences hiring decisions, but if search results cast doubt on your candidacy, you'll likely never hear about it. In fact, a recent survey from the Society of Human Resource Management found that only 27 percent of companies give candidates for employment the opportunity to explain adverse findings.
