{"id":4608,"date":"2021-05-11T17:16:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T17:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobhunt.fj-dev.com\/defensive-googling-mistaken-online-identity\/"},"modified":"2022-02-18T08:32:59","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T15:32:59","slug":"defensive-googling-mistaken-online-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/defensive-googling-mistaken-online-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: How Name Confusion Can Make Your Job Search More Difficult"},"content":{"rendered":"

“What you don\u2019t know can<\/em> hurt you!” It\u2019s an old saying, but still very true today.<\/p>\n

You may lead a blameless life, but a bank robber, sex offender, drunk driver, or someone else with a bad reputation and with your name could be sabotaging your job search.<\/p>\n

No, I\u2019m not referring to what we traditionally think of as “identity theft” — this person didn’t steal your Social Security Number and run up bills in your name. No!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m referring to “mistaken online identity<\/strong><\/em>.”<\/p>\n

Mistaken online<\/em> identity happens often, can be badly damaging your online reputation, and — worst! — you won’t be aware of it unless you regularly practice “Defensive Googling<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Defensive Googling – Minimize Mistaken Online Identity<\/h2>\n

It probably seems unlikely to happen to you, and, hopefully, it never will happen to you.<\/p>\n

Unless your name is very<\/em> unique, it could happen to you.<\/p>\n

Best to understand how it works and what you can do about it.<\/p>\n

  The Sad Story of Two Women Named Mary  <\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

A professional resume writer shared the true story of what happened to one of her clients.<\/p>\n

  Mary #1:  <\/strong><\/p>\n

She is an accomplished professional woman, a senior manager working in a well-regarded company.  She was looking for a job, and she hired the resume writer to help her with her resume. Her resume was impressive, accurately reflecting the person, experience, accomplishments, skills, and knowledge.<\/p>\n

  Mary #2:  <\/strong><\/p>\n

She is a disbarred attorney living in the same state as Mary # 1, and also is named in a very visible Supreme Court obscenity case.  She uses the same name Mary # 1 used in her <\/em>resume, LinkedIn Profile, and other job search documents because it is her name, too. Nothing illegal. Just very damaging to Mary #1.<\/p>\n

The story:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being experienced as a hiring manager, Mary #1 was sending her resume in a very rational, targeted way to people she connected with through networking.<\/p>\n

She sent out her resume, carefully, for four months, with absolutely no result at all. <\/em>Not even a thanks-but-no-thanks letter or message from these people she had met through her networking and thought she had developed some rapport with.<\/p>\n

Mary # 1 couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Bad breath? Her age? Her appearance? Her LinkedIn Profile? WHAT was going on?<\/p>\n

Finally, after four months of nothing, <\/strong>Mary #1 Googled her name. YIKES! Then,<\/em> she found Mary #2.<\/p>\n

The people who received Mary #1’s resume thought she might<\/em> be Mary #2, and they were not interested in hiring Mary #2 for the job Mary #1 was seeking.<\/p>\n

 How Did Mary #1 Recover?  <\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Being a smart woman, determined not to make the same mistake twice, Mary # 1 Googled several versions of her real name (with her middle initial, with her whole middle name, extending her first name from Mary to Maryanne, which is her real first name). She discovered that no one had (yet) sullied the version of her name which uses her middle initial, Mary W.<\/p>\n

So, Mary # 1 added her middle initial to her name in:<\/p>\n