This is in continuation with our discussion in class on the 'We googled you' case. As mentioned by Professor Dutta in class, there has been a paradigm shift in the nature of information: from private by default moving to now, public by default. For many of us in fast track careers where finding free time is a challenge, managing our online profile is like adding another 'must-do' irritant to the never ending list. For example till that day I have never googled myself or in fact anyone else with whom I engaged in a professional relationship where I was on the advantaged side. For example, I googled people who were taking my interview but NEVER candidates I had to interview for recruitment. However this case and the discussion in class thereafter opened my eyes to two realities:
1. Anyone might be googled. Hence it is important to be conscious and aware of what your own online profile states about you, your political preferences, religious views etc.
2. Googling perhaps is not a bad idea especially when positions are important to the organizations, in markets which are not as stable, or geaographies which are not familiar.
While I firmly believe that everyone has skeletons in their closets and it is best to judge someone professionally, I also would not suggest that she be hired for that role. Not because there was anything negative about her on the internet (afterall it would be true for most of us), but because the negative news was very relevant to the position she was being considered for.
With time, I think there will be a rise of professional services akin to SEO, SEM for organizations doing this for individuals like us. Those with high powered careers, and very little time. I am not aware of such a service already existing for individuals, perhaps they do. But these will be becoming more widespread, pervasive and frequent.
No comments:
Post a Comment