Before Abigail Garvey got married in 2000, anyone could easily Google her. Then she swapped her maiden name for her husband's last name, Wilson, and dropped out of sight.
In Web-search results for her new name, links to Ms. Wilson's epidemiology research papers became lost among all manner of other Abigail Wilsons, ranging from 1980s newspaper wedding announcements for various Abigail Wilsons to genealogy records listing Abigail Wilsons born in the 1600s and 1700s. When Ms. Wilson applied for a new job, interviewers questioned the publications she listed on her résumé because they weren't finding the publications in online searches, Ms. Wilson says. (See Google results for Abigail Garvey and Abigail Wilson.)
So when Ms. Wilson, now 32, was pregnant with her first child, she ran every baby name she and her husband, Justin, considered through Google to make sure her baby wouldn't be born unsearchable. Her top choice: Kohler, an old family name that had the key, rare distinction of being uncommon on the Web when paired with Wilson. "Justin and I wanted our son's name to be as special as he is," she explains.
In the age of Google, being special increasingly requires standing out from the crowd online. Many people aspire for themselves -- or their offspring -- to command prominent placement in the top few links on search engines or social networking sites' member lookup functions. But, as more people flood the Web, that's becoming an especially tall order for those with common names. Type "John Smith" into Google's search engine and it estimates it has 158 million results. (See search results.)
For people prone to vanity searching -- punching their own names into search engines -- absence from the first pages of search results can bring disappointment. On top of that, some of the "un-Googleables" say being crowded out of search results actually carries a professional and financial price.
That's because people increasingly rely on search engines to find things they want to read, music they want to hear, people and companies they want to do business with. U.S. Internet users conduct hundreds of millions of search queries daily. About 7% of all searches are for a person's name, estimates search engine Ask.com. More than 80% of executive recruiters said they routinely use search engines to learn more about candidates, according to a recent survey by executive networking firm ExecuNet. Nearly 40% of individuals have used search engines to look up friends or acquaintances with whom they'd lost touch, according to a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by Microsoft Corp.'s MSN unit.
Some people have taken measures to boost their visibility online, including creating listings in professional directories and paying companies to help them appear more prominently in search results. Parents-to-be routinely plug baby names into search engines to scout out the online competition. Some actors and musicians weigh the impact of less unique stage names.
That's the case for a Los Angeles singer-songwriter who in 2003 abandoned his given name and began going by his initials, "AM." At the time, he was launching a solo career and hoped the approach might help him stand out.
But even as AM began to experience some success, he soon realized that fans had trouble finding him on the Web. Google returned an estimated 2.3 billion results for "AM" -- ranging from American Greetings Corp. (ticker symbol: AM) to AM radio stations and a site called I-Am-Bored.com -- but no links to the long-haired L.A. singer within at least the first 20 pages. (See results for AM, AM music and AM singer)
AM titled a first self-released album "AM" -- which didn't help. "How much bad luck can a guy have when he's just blindly coming up with his image and he has no idea what the impact will be down the line?" asks AM, who declines to provide his age or real name. AM believes the difficulty people had finding him using Google cost him fans and sales. "We're an immediate culture," he says. "If you can't find the guy in a couple of minutes, you're going to give up." Yesterday, AM's site suddenly began appearing on the first page of Google search results -- he says he has no idea why.
Searching for "Jason Smith" using Google recently turned up an estimated 36 million results, with none of the top ones leading to Jason Smith the 36-year-old software researcher at IBM's Watson Research Center in Hawthorne, N.Y. Even adding Mr. Smith's employer "IBM" or his graduate school "University of North Carolina," or its initials "UNC," doesn't help much. So a number of years back, Mr. Smith began using the initials of his middle name, McColm, to stand apart. (See results for Jason Smith.)
A search for "Jason McC Smith" brings up his page as the top link in search results. But there are still lots of people who don't realize they need to add that.
Some people in similar straits have used services that can help generate more prominent placement for them in search results. Krishna De, a personal branding and marketing consultant in Dublin, signed up with Ziggs Inc. in 2005 after she left a corporate career and set out on her own. At the time, results for the Hindu deity Krishna crowded out links to her site. Ziggs tries to get profile pages individuals create with it to appear high in search results, and for a $4.95 monthly fee buys ads that appear along search results on sites such as Google's to link to a client's profile. "If you're not found in search results, people start to wonder why," says Ziggs CEO Tim DeMello. (See results for Krishna De.)
Professional networking site LinkedIn Corp. says its members' profile pages often turn up high in Google search results when the users opt to make the pages accessible to the public. Marquis Who's Who, whose print directories were a go-to place for finding important people in pre-search-engine days, says it has been testing a service where individuals can search its online database of more than 1.3 million people, paying on a per-search basis.
"Any time you can distinguish yourself with a distinctive name or a distinctive characteristic that sticks out in people's minds, that's going to be the best solution," says Matt Cutts, a Google software engineer.
That's advice parents like Ms. Wilson have already taken to heart. Her husband rejected her original choice for their son, "Kohler," on the grounds that it would subject him to playground ridicule. The couple eventually chose "Benjamin." "I gave up trying to find a one-of-a-kind name and decided that as long as he did not share the name with a serial killer, I would settle," Ms. Wilson explains. (See results for Benjamin Wilson and Kohler Wilson.)
Attempting to counteract her own anonymity on the Web, Ms. Wilson now goes by "Abigail L. Garvey Wilson" when she publishes scientific papers. And recently she has been running names through search engines in anticipation of the arrival of her second child, a daughter due at the end of this month.
Stella Wilson seemed to do the trick -- a Google search turned up relatively few results -- but her husband shot it down. His counterproposal: "Sarah." (See results for Sarah Wilson and Stella Wilson.)
"I can't imagine how many Sarah Wilsons there are out there," says Ms. Wilson. "So I had to veto that one for sure." The Wilsons have two names in mind now but would rather not say what they are.
Photos and blogs on social networking sites could cost you your job
Charlotte Marten Ka Leo Staff Reporter
You might want to think about what kind of information and photos you post on the Internet. There is a new trend in the workplace, one which finds employers turning to search engines and social networking sites, such as MySpace.com, for screening backgrounds of job applicants as a way of saving money and time while recruiting.
Many members of social networking Web sites present themselves as "party animals." Imagine not getting the job you always wanted because a potential employer found your party pictures after a simple Google search.
Twenty-six percent of hiring managers said they have used Internet search engines to research potential employees, and 12 percent said they have used social networking sites, according to an online survey released by CareerBuilder.com.
Of those hiring managers who used Internet search engines to research job candidates, 51 percent did not hire a person based solely on what they found. Of those who used social networking sites in their screening, 63 percent said they did not hire a person based on what they found.
This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com, the nation's largest online job recruitment Web site with more than 23 million visitors and over 1.5 million jobs. It included 1,150 hiring managers nationwide and was completed in September.
According to the survey, many companies strongly believe they are entitled to as much information as they can obtain about job candidates, and that reviewing these personal Web sites is fair game to find out who will be the best fit for their organization. Internet screening has evolved into the ability to eliminate candidates early on in the hiring process.
"Hiring managers want to find the right candidate the first time around," said Laura Morsch, the career adviser for CBcampus.com. "Thus, it makes sense for employers to use every tool available to them to find the candidate. "Fair or not, if employers are checking what you write to friends and family, job seekers need to be aware of this and make sure they're not divulging any information they don't want employers to see. The bottom line here is that when you publish information about your private life on a public Web site, it's no longer private information."
Tracee Paknis, a business student at the University of Hawai'i at MÄ쳌noa, does not feel comfortable with employers probing into her private life.
"It is an invasion of privacy," Paknis said. "Everyone have a private life, and for employers to look into this information is not fair because it doesn't say anything about the type of worker I am. There is a difference between work and private [life], and it has always been that way. Just because the Internet is available should not change the way to hire. I would feel mistrusted from the start if I found out that my employer had been looking around in my private blogs to my friends."
There are currently no laws stopping employers from searching social networking profiles, and there is nothing illegal about employers Googling job candidates' names to see what they might have posted on the Internet.
"As long as there are profiles of candidates easily accessible on the Web," Morsch said, "employers will likely be checking them."
Hiring managers have reported finding information online that adversely affected their decisions to hire candidates, including candidates lying about qualifications, bad-mouthing former employers, provocative photographs and inappropriate screen names and e-mail addresses.
However, employers have also found information that strengthened candidates' chances, including awards and accolades, good communication skills, personalities that mesh with prospective companies and wide ranges of interests.
"I think that sharing information online can have a potentially negative impact on your job search, but it can also be a tool to differentiate yourself to employers," said Linda Olsson, a student at UH. "I can write about my accomplishments and that would probably impress the employer instead. I guess we just need to watch out what we write on our Web sites. I think the privacy concerns must be minimal if a person put their information out there for all to see anyway."
Kathleen Doss, speech instructor at UH, finds the incentive for employers to search networking sites for job candidates unclear.
"The image presented by someone on a MySpace account is probably not job-related," she said, "and does not necessarily have anything to do with someone's work abilities."
Rosemary Haefner, the vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com, recommends being careful about what type of information you post on your site. If the network offers the option for your information to be viewable only by friends, then use that option, she said.
She also suggested using a search engine to regularly look for online records of yourself to see what can be found about you on the Internet.
Morsch thinks students should keep a social networking profile that shows off personality, but created in a way that still portrays a professional image.
"The photos are the first thing a visitor to your site will see," she said, "and therefore the employer's first impression of you, so be very wary of posting anything seductive or showing you clearly drunk."
Because what you write is a reflection of your communication skills, Morsch stressed writing well whenever online, which means that all postings on a social networking profile should not include swearing, derogatory language or excessive abbreviations and misspellings.
"The candidate who describes his interests as 'tequila' and 'sleeping through class'" Morsch said, "is going to appear less professional than the candidate who describes his interests as 'running' and 'travel.'"
Survey
A new survey by CareerBuilder.com indicated that one in four employers will screen a potential employee using Internet search engines. The information found has led to both confirmations of candidates and revocations of job offers.
Hiring managers have revoked applications after finding:
€¢ candidates lying about qualifications
€¢ candidates' poor communication skills
€¢ information linking candidates to criminal behavior
€¢ candidates bad-mouthing their previous companies
€¢ evidence of candidates drinking or using drugs
€¢ candidates lying about an absence in the past
€¢ provocative or inappropriate photographs
€¢ unprofessional screen names and e-mail addresses.
Hiring managers have confirmed applications after finding:
€¢ background information supporting candidates' professional qualifications
€¢ candidates' well-roundedness
€¢ candidates' good communication skills
€¢ candidates' personal Web sites that convey a professional image
€¢ candidates' personality to be a good fit with company culture
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