“'Digital dirt' can haunt your job search - CNN” plus 1 more |
| 'Digital dirt' can haunt your job search - CNN Posted: 12 Oct 2009 06:36 AM PDT Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.  A recent survey found 45 percent of employers used social networking sites to research candidates (CareerBuilder) -- Just like Vegas, what happens on the Internet, stays on the Internet. How that affects your job search is up to you. Gone are the days when all you were concerned with was whether or not your résumé and cover letter were error-free. Now, you've got bigger things to worry about -- like what kind of personal information is floating around online. Job seekers should not only manage how they come across in person, but on the Web, too. We often forget that everything you post online, from your Facebook profile to your Amazon book reviews, is out there for others to see and judge. "Most employers nowadays hop on Google to search a name as a preliminary step, either before or right after the interview," says Monique Tatum, author of "Jumping Off the Curb and Into SEO Traffic." "A positive and strong online presence can play a tremendous part in the employer's first impression." In 2009, 45 percent of employers used social networking sites to research candidates, according to a CareerBuilder survey, a 23 percent increase from last year. Thirty-five percent of employers said that what they found caused them not to hire a candidate. "Hiring someone is scary," says Zack Grossbart, a virtual team coach and author of "The One Minute Commute." "You're paying them to represent your company, and your reputation affects theirs. No company wants a newspaper headline with their name in it because of an embarrassing employee." Times have changed Not only has the use of the Internet, social networking sites, blogs and other new media skyrocketed in recent years; all of these things have revolutionized the job search. It used to be that if a hiring manager dug around online and couldn't find anything, it was a good thing. Today, however, if you have no online presence, it could be more of a career killer than if an employer found some digital dirt. "If you have an established career and no online presence, it is a big red flag for employers," Grossbart says. "Employers expect to find blogs, forum posts, LinkedIn profiles and many other sources of information about you. If you haven't been mentioned by other people in a professional context, employers will wonder why not." Digital dirt Of course, the flip side to creating an online presence is that nasty stuff can make its way into your Internet space. As Marian Merritt, online safety advocate for Symantec, says, "One man's trash is another man's treasure and that's true online as well." And she should know. "Early in my career, I said some things to an interviewer that didn't come out as eloquently as I'd like, and they live forever on the Internet," she says. "There's nothing I can do about that, as it was a news piece. That is permanent 'digital dirt.'" Although it can be hard to cover your tracks on the Internet, experts say it is possible to get rid of those skeletons that have found their way from your closet to the Web. Sweep the dirt under the rug First, Merritt suggests using your name in search engine queries to see what is out there. Use every variation of your name and review every subcategory, from "Web" to "images" to "video." Use multiple search engines and click on everything, since thumbnail images might not represent what is actually posted. It also depends where your dirt is posted. If it's something on your social networking page or blog, you can delete it and it will eventually disappear. But Tatum says that if it's on a highly regarded site, it could remain out there for years. Luckily, one of the easiest ways to get rid of your digital dirt is to create digital material of the good kind. Tatum suggests developing your own positive content by creating articles, starting a blog or posting to forums. As long as you can smother any negative information about you, you should be OK in an initial employer search. Something to be proud of Here are five ways to build a digital footprint that won't scare away future employers: 1. Make your content useful Help people get something done or teach them something, Grossbart says. Respond to forum posts, answer questions or comment on blogs. Helping people is the perfect way to showcase your talents to potential employers. 2. Join social networks, both for career purposes and social purposes "Tell people in your network you are actively seeking a job. Even if you use online job boards, it's more likely that your real-world network of people will help you find the job of your dreams, or at least move your application to the top of the pile," Merritt says. 3. If you can't delete it, smother it "Potential employers are far less likely to find something if it is on the 10th page of your search results," Grossbart says. "It can also be worthwhile to post more content to the same site. If your dirt is on Facebook, then posting more good professional content right there is likely to replace your dirt." 4. Avoid joining groups or engaging in online activities that could embarrass or restrict opportunities Of course, during a job hunt you should consider your overtly controversial activities such as political, religious or social movements, Merritt says. It's all part of the online picture of you, so make sure it is the most accurate and flattering view. And it sounds obvious, but travel tips, book reviews and online gaming advice might not paint the picture of a "nose to the grindstone" kind of person, Merritt says. "For example, one applicant was a fan of romantic novels, and I found myself reading her reviews on Amazon.com. There was no impact on her job application, but I did waste oodles of time." 5. Beware the cybertwin Be wary of people out there on the Internet with the same name as you, Merritt says. "What if your cybertwin is in prison or owns a racist Web site? Find out who is out there with any variation of your name and be prepared to discuss and explain." Copyright CareerBuilder.com 2009. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority All About Jobs and Labor This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | |
| Premature Peace - Middle East Online Posted: 12 Oct 2009 06:50 AM PDT First Published 2009-10-12 | Premature Peace
According to the Norway Post:
Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened, the Committee says.
The comments are mostly about talk: a new climatediplomacydialogue and negotiationsvisionnegotiations. all about ideas that have not happened on Obamas watch.
What you do speaks so loud, I cant hear what you say
Those who have read my work know that I refer to this phrase somewhat frequently, when the rhetoric, apologetics, excuses, visions, and hopes in no way match the reality of what occurs in the real world.
While Obama is a wonderful orator and speaks marvellous words of people talking and negotiating and dialoguing, about a world the majority of us desire, he has accomplished nothing, nor do I believe he has laid the groundwork for future success as his actions are often compared to his words.
Domestically he has failed - or is in the process of failing - with healthcare, the environment, and the economy, three of the biggest concerns of average citizens today. Healthcare has been strangled by a Congress that is falling in line with the large pharmaceutical companies. The people he put in place for the environmental agencies are old Clinton cronies who are linked to serve the very industries that are damaging the environment. The economy has been assisted by government largesse to the large corporations who helped create the economic problems in the first place (although it really was a group effort between government, the corporations, and the military) while the people who followed the mantra/propaganda of consumer debt pay the final price.
In foreign affairs nothing has been accomplished except more talk, with the western media in particular creating wonderful scenarios about a changing world, while strong doubts already have risen after his fine rhetorical speeches in Cairo, the UN, and elsewhere. Against international law, he has unilaterally extended the War on Terror into Pakistan. He has pretended to do away with illegal confinement and tortures, but is careful to make sure that occurs only on US territory, while it continues, against international law, in other alien lands.
Nothing has been accomplished with nuclear disarmament but a lot of talk, and while a lot of talk might be necessary in order to achieve a full and equitable nuclear drawdown, the best action that would speak louder than any of his rhetoric would be a unilateral decrease in nuclear armaments without asking others to do the same (after all, why quibble, overkill is overkill and there is still enough of that to go around several times). Threatening another country with military action, or possible military action also goes against international law, while the threatened country by most accurate accounts is well within international law with their actions.
Other nuclear countries receive the double standard. India has developed nuclear weapons outside of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and now receives preferential treatment from the US government. Later, Pakistan developed nuclear weapons, outside the NPT, with a wink and a nudge from the US, and now is suffering under increasing covert action, increasing direct action, and increasing political manipulation within the broader scope of the new AfPak war. All these actions - essentially the subversion of another countys sovereignty - could be deemed illegal under international law.
Israel and Palestine
Covering the smallest land area, but being at the centre of the emotional and geostrategic turmoil of the Middle East and Arab states lies Israel. It has been understood for decades that Israel has a nuclear arsenal of an estimated couple hundred nuclear weapons, deliverable by plane, missile, and sub (and who knows what other delivery units have been devised). Operating completely outside the NPT, fully avoiding the question whenever it might occur, Israel pretends that they do not exist, and the US pretends that they do not know they exist. Obama is the perfect foil for continued Israeli transgressions against the Palestinian people.
Obama has done nothing about the Israeli/Palestine situation other than a lot of talk, and a considerable amount of that talk has been decidedly one-sided. His advisors are all decidedly pro-Israeli in the context of the land question and settlements. He has given in to the continuation of the settlements, deemed illegal under international law, has said nothing about the separation wall, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice, and has said nothing about Israels nuclear arsenal nor Israels threats against Iran. While Obama talks, the Israelis continue to do what they have always done through negotiations and talking: talking about peace, while continuing to occupy Palestine, while continuing to build settlements, while continuing to suppress the civil society of Palestine, all actions against international law.
A greater purpose, or smoke and mirrors?
There are a number of comments about the prize being an incentive for Obama to live up to his rhetoric, to create an equitable peaceful world (although fewer than those that I could find wondering why he received it at all). That may well be true, and Obama may well believe it, but for me, it all comes back to the difference between the spoken word and the actions on the ground. Obamas rhetoric about the Middle East, about world peace and cooperation all sound mighty fine. The tools that he has used so far to try and accomplish this are the same old militaristic tools that have always been part and parcel of US foreign policy. Unilateral invasions, occupations, threats of invasion, covert actions against governments, hostile actions against civilians all go against international law - more decidedly they go against common sense that violent military actions will somehow create a peaceful world.
I would be happy to have Obama live up to the expectations (hmm, but what really are the expectations of the Nobel Prize Committee?) of the prize, to realize his rhetorical grand visions of world peace and harmony. However, unless he can stand up against his own advisors, unless he can go against the grain of the established Washington perspective of the world, unless he can face down the Israeli political machine, not much will change.
A farce is a pretence or mockery. It is the dismal humour of human tragedy. The human tragedy hear is Obamas sparkling rhetoric allowing him to receive a peace prize, while providing a thin veneer over the illegal and hostile actions the US promotes for its own geo-strategic purposes around the world.
Jim Miles is a Canadian educator and a regular contributor/columnist of opinion pieces and book reviews. Miles' work is also presented globally through other alternative websites and news publications. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Book-Reviews - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment