Self-Googling a must to protect job reputation

Mansfield posing for a competition. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Most of us have Googled ourselves - even if we don't admit it. Now employment experts say so-called ego-surfing could be a smart career move.

Recruitment agencies say if you can find dirt about yourself online, so too can prospective bosses.

"While all professionals should protect their reputation by monitoring their online presence, this is especially critical for jobseekers," warned Megan Alexander, general manager at Robert Half New Zealand.

"Many employers now routinely perform internet searches to quickly learn about applicants' interests, experience and industry involvement."

A survey commissioned by Robert Half International shows 69 per cent of respondents have searched for themselves online, but for the wrong reasons. They should do it to get ahead in the workplace, Alexander said.

Angela Gichard, people and performance manager at Salt recruitment agency, said prospective employees had to be aware of what damaging information and pictures were out there.

Candidates shouldn't be caught on the back foot if an issue was raised in an interview, she said.

"You can say, 'look, I am glad you mentioned it, this is what happened ...'."

But Gichard warned there were potential relevance and privacy issues, not to mention mistaken identity: "There might be others out there with the same name and age."

David Lowe from the Employers and Manufacturers Association said employers search to get a better picture of a potential new employee.

Peter Conway, secretary for the Council of Trade Unions, said any information that could influence a hiring decision should be raised with the prospective employee, allowing them the chance to answer to it.

Internet search surprisingly revealing

Workers and jobseekers spoken to by the Herald on Sunday have searched for themselves online at least once - and found nothing they didn't like.

Stephanie Mansfield, 23, says she searched to see what was out there. "I wouldn't have thought of doing it before applying for a job."

So, with Mansfield's permission, we plugged her name into search engines and databases.

The first thing we discovered were photos of her posing in a bikini for a Performance Car magazine covergirl competition three years ago.

We learned she's a 1.6m tall Capricorn living in Howick, and she enjoys working out and martial arts.

She finds confidence in men sexy and was educated privately at Corran School.

Last year, she was a Miss Auckland contestant. She likes Lady Gaga, Guns N' Roses, and Motley Crue, while her taste in movies run from Kickboxer to the Little Mermaid.

The LinkedIn network indicates in 2008 she left her sales co-ordinator position at electronics company Rakon and now works at AJ Park patent attorneys.

She was philosophical: "You always have to be careful about what you put up there but if someone wants to find information about you they are going to find it, with the internet or without."

Matt Barnett, 26, says he searched his name, but not because he was applying for a job. "I must admit I was just procrastinating, I was actually a bit disappointed nothing interesting came up."