(Image Credit: Bloomberg News, via Business Week)
For those of you who are not into geek lingo, the phrase "Googleing oneself" basically means typing in your name (first and last) into Google in order to see what appears.
This is a good exercise, as many employers, potential clients and friends will do a quick Google search on you in order to see what appears.
Example: When I Google Darnell Clayton, a bunch of "relevent" links appear, most of which deal with me. Unfortunately, there are a few random ones that appear--ironically dealing with other people named Darnell Clayton.
Here are just a few "unrelated Darnell Clayton's" that appear when I Google my own name.
- Darnell Clayton on LinkedIn: This Darnell Clayton is located in Georgia (the US state, not the country) and is currently a Senior Information Architect.
- The Polish Darnell Clayton on Facebook: I think this page is the polish version of Facebook (since "pl" represents Poland online).
- The Male supermodel Darnell Clayton: This guy apparently was reviewed by a blogger, and I think this is also his Facebook profile too.
None of these guys are me, and if you were having a hard time telling the difference, here are a few clues for you:
- I no longer have a LinkedIn profile (note: I previously had one, but found other social networks to be better).
- I don't speak Polish--although I am trying to learn Hebrew.
- My body isn't sexy enough to be a male model--even with the six pack (note: not that I would ever consider becoming one anyways)
Ironically, one of the reasons I bought DarnellClayton.com was to help avoid this confusion (at least online) of who the real me was all about.
I would recommend other people doing the same thing, as the last thing you need is a future employer/client mistaking you for a high tech geek who poses in fashion magazines during "the night shift." ;-)
