The idea that employers perform Internet searches on job candidates is nothing new -- and the frequency of these searches is climbing. Some experts report that up to 85% of hiring managers "Google" a candidate before or after an interview.
"Recruiters and employers that I talk to routinely do online background searches on their candidates to learn more about them, as well as to filter out candidates with little or negative information about them," says Chris Perry, the founder of Career Rocketeer (careerrocketeer.com), a Web site that provides career-development advice.
Search results are critical to career reinventers, too. Mr. Perry faced a challenge when trying to establish himself as a career expert: "A Google search of my name didn't bring up anything about me. I basically didn't exist."
So Mr. Perry got to work generating consistent content for Google to index and attribute to him. "First, I created a LinkedIn profile in which I customized my profile URL so that it included my name," he says. "I then launched Career Rocketeer and started putting out content related to my area of interest."
He also made relevant comments on other blogs that linked back to his site. He joined Twitter and other business networking sites. Finally, he built a Google profile that housed links to all of his networks and content contributions.
Incorporate key words: Besides these strategies, there are other ways job seekers and career changers can influence what appears when they are searched. You should deliberately incorporate key words or key phrases related to your career direction into your résumé, but you should also add them to your online content. If you need help, look at Google's adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.
Recruit links: The number of external links pointing to your content also is an important factor in how you're ranked by search engines. You can generate links by providing useful content that's presented in an original way and by syndicating your articles in various online channels and social networks.
Fun and quirky videos, as well as guest "how to" posts on highly trafficked blogs, also have significant viral appeal. The point is, every time another site references your content, your search-engine cachet goes up. (You can find highly trafficked blogs by doing Google searches for industry keywords or by checking sources such as Technorati.com.)
Once you have a good amount of positive content floating around, a new tool you might find helpful is Vizibility.com. This site allows you to customize the search results for your name and to generate a unique URL that links to these results so that people see the material you want them to see, in the order you want them to see it.
Remove or push down negative information: What do you do if a search for your name reveals information that you'd rather people not see? The most straightforward way, says Mr. Perry, is to scour your Web sites and social networks and remove anything you would not proudly share. Stop producing content that has the potential to provoke a negative response, and publish appropriate content at a high volume so that you can push unsavory or irrelevant results off the most frequently viewed top pages.