Applicant Tree

I love scaring college kids. Whenever I’m asked to speak to a group of students about jobs after college, I love to mention the fact that employers will plug their names into Google to see what they can find out.

At this point, they’re skeptical. “Why would they do that?” That’s usually the first question that springs to mind. The poor saps…er, I mean collegiate minds, don’t even understand what the employer is looking to find.

I tell them that their digital life is a far more accurate representation of who they are than what their résumé says. An employer can read about how they blew off a class because they stayed out too late partying, cheated on a test, bought a paper or two; in short, stories that are funny to share with friends but reveals a poor work ethic.

That’s the part where eyes start to fly wide and sweat beads on brows. That’s when I know I hooked them. I see that they’re whispering to friends about stuff they think they should take down.

It’s the new millennium ghost story.

If you’re not a millennial, it should scare you too. Sure, you don’t have a My Space page with pictures of your Spring Break that could get you arrested in twelve of these fifty states - but there’s other information living on the Web that could do you even more harm.

If you write a blog related to your work, what’s the message of that blog? Are you critical of your company, even indirectly? Do you question your company’s direction? Do you go so far as to cite little irritations you have about your boss or your company?

In reality, it’s the established employees that have more to fear from a Google search than the young folks. We were all young and did stupid things, and it’s easy to forgive those indiscretions in others. It’s expected of young people to screw up their early twenties, but we know they’ll pull it together eventually.

Those late night party messages aren’t as damaging to them as a complaint about a boss is to you. You should know better, the young ones don’t.