I've been reading a lot about recruiters using Google to screen job applicants lately. I have to admit to being a little troubled by the process, in all honesty.
Google is entirely unregulated, understand. Through Google, one can discover my political leanings, my marital status, and the fact that I drink copious amounts of Fat Tire. None of those things would be legal to bring up in an actual job interview, and for good reason. Yet through Google, recruiters can decide without reprecussion, which candidates fit their moral standard and which do not.
I find this practice deeply disturbing.
The job I currently hold, a security position, had to pass the Google filter. The person who did the first phone interview admitted to reading up on me via Google. While I'm not ashamed of anything I've said on the net, I'm not sure I'd say it all over again to a potential employer. It certainly makes me stop and think about who might read this in 5 years when I sit down at the computer to publish a blog entry.
How much of this is my fault? I recognize that the Internet is a public forum, and things I say can be used against me. But the unfortunate reality is that I feel much more constrained now, knowing that my entries here today may influence a potential employer some years henceforth.
And that reality saddens me, as a creative, open and imaginative writer.