I didn’t do it!
by Daniel Satherley
In this day and age, it’s not uncommon for employers to do background checks on potential employees - that’s why job-hunters agree to supply references and acquiesce to police checks, right?
Increasingly however, employers are turning to the internet, using search engines and social networking sites to get a wider, less biased look at their new recruits.
But what happens when it all goes horribly wrong?
Last night I did what every wannabe-writer does on an all-too regular basis and “googled” myself - and got a nasty surprise.
Last month, a South Islander bearing my name was convicted of raping a 16 year old girl. He was sentenced to three years in prison, which on appeal was reduced to two years supervision. Outraged, the Sensible Sentencing Trust made a page on their site about this particular “Daniel Satherley”, which quickly rose to the top of Google’s rankings on a search for our name.
I’m no longer feeling very lucky, despite what Google’s ubiquitous button may say. How many people will just see that horrible link sitting there and immediately throw out my application? Even one would be too many.
So, panicking into damage control, I emailed the group’s head, Garth McVicar.
I don’t always agree with the Sensible Sentencing Trust, finding their rhetoric a little too knee-jerk much of the time, but I have to give them props with how swiftly they dealt to the matter. I emailed them late last night, and by 10am the page was offline - the broken link is still sitting there in Google, but should drop off in time. Their webmaster said they’ll eventually repost it with clearer details (such as his middle name) and a note that it is not the same Daniel as yours truly.
If it manages to find its way back to the top even then, I suppose I’ll just have to change my name to something more original. I’ve always fancied being a Vader.
According to Fortune magazine however, there are several things you can do to drive down the Google rankings of your idiot namesakes, and make yourself look awesome.
Don’t limit your self-search to one search engine. Each one indexes the Internet differently. Instead, use a meta-search engine like Dogpile, which brings you the top combined results from Google (Charts), Microsoft’s (Charts) MSN, Yahoo (Charts), and elsewhere.
I had a look at Dogpile, and there I’m a blogger and a musician before I’m a criminal, which is comforting. I’m also a half-marathon runner, apparently - it would seem us Daniel Satherleys don’t limit our activities to writing and raping.
Keep a running record of what turns up. You can set up a Google Alert (go to www.google.com/alerts) that will monitor the Web and let you know when any new reference to you appears online.
This isn’t a bad idea to be honest. Better for people with unusual names like me and fellow CityBeat blogger, Jaheb, but perhaps not such a good idea for Amy Williams.
Start a blog. Technorati, an online service that tracks activity on almost 40 million blog sites, says the blogosphere is doubling every 6 months. Since each entry on a blog is “signed” by the author, and since search engines rank the most recent and frequent results first, your blog should show up at the top of search pages. Just make sure your blog covers topics you’d want employers to see.
I’ve done this already, but I’m not applying for jobs under the name “Obi Dan Kenobi”, now am I?
Consider creating a simple web site, or “webfolio.” Popular domain sellers like Network Solutions, GoDaddy, and Yahoo! Small Business have all-in-one website creation services that include a domain name and hosting capabilities, so you can have your own place on the Net - where you control the content - without having to be a techie yourself.
Setting up a whole website just to say “I’M NOT A RAPIST!” seems a little dodgy - like that friend everyone has who can’t help but start every second sentence with, “I’m not a racist, but…”
Get noticed for the right reasons. Whether volunteering with Habitat for Humanity or writing articles for trade publications, it’s always good to be mentioned on websites where you’ll shine.
So wait - because I’m not a criminal, I have to do manual labour so people don’t find out? This sounds like way too much effort. I think I’ll just stick to not being a criminal and let things be…