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Employers are Googling you.  Do you know what they are finding?

Recently a colleague shared a very scary story about one of her clients that many job seekers should know about because recent research has shown that this is very likely not an uncommon event.

My colleague prepared a very professional resume for her client which he used in several months of job hunting.

After absolutely NO response to resume submissions in 4 months, they decided to Google him to see if something there might be causing a problem.  BINGO!  

Someone with the same name was involved in a US Supreme Court obscenity case!  This job seeker had a serious reputation management problem, and he’s NOT alone!

He was not the person named in the obscentiy case, but it didn’t matter.  Someone who didn’t know him wouldn’t know the difference.

However, his reputation management issue was managed successfully.  Here’s how:

New “green” job sites are sprouting up everywhere.  Colleges are rushing to add these curricula to their offerings as soon as they can identify – and retain – qualified faculty members.

Businesses are rushing to fill the need caused by higher fuel prices with everything from new, more energy-efficient products to natural gas-powered taxi cabs, like the one I recently used to get from SEATAC to downtown Seattle.

The current cost of oil, gasoline, etc. may be hurting our pocket books right now, but science and industry are rushing to solve the problems for us – higher mileage cars, solar panels generating electricity,  alternate fuels for transportation, heating/air conditioning, and power.

This could be the biggest mistake made by the oil industry and the oil-producing countries -  these higher prices have finally made alternative energy sources more economically sound.  In the long run, assuming we survive, this could be a really good thing for the economy and the environment.

All this turmoil and change are going to generate real economic growth and new job opportunites for everyone from the solar panel installer to the biochemist developing new biofuels!  I’m not happy about the price I pay to put gas in my car or to heat my home this winter, but the “silver lining” is visible.

For more on all ”green industry jobs,” check out Job-Hunt’s Green Industry Job Search Guide which includes a glossary of terms, articles about green industry careers by Green Careers for Dummies author Carole McClelland, and over 270 links to green industry associations, green job boards, and employers. 

If you are interested in finding a “green collar” job, check out EcoEmploy, a site which is focused on “environmental jobs and careers.”