Blogging can hurt your employability

On the BBC World Service yesterday, and today on Silicon.com there comes a new threat to our employment chances - the Blog and other social sites.

Apparently HR teams are being encouraged to use the Internet to research applicants for jobs and apparently some of the results are quite interesting as more and more companies use the web to store data.

The man from the BBC advised everyone who is active in the job market to simply search on their own name in Google.  Almost everyone will find they have some kind of hit, be it from a sports club, social club, hobby, past employers and (get this) other people's Blogs!

He advised that we should conduct this search approximately every 6 months and ask those people who have insulted us online, or rubbished our reputations, or posted other negative thoughts to remove them - we have a right to ask, they have a duty to remove!

Of course I did the search and I was struck by the amount of information I found about myself, mostly written by myself I must add, but nevertheless it was there for all to see.

So, be aware that Blogging may do more harm than good unless you remain vigilant!