POIs Googling you

[when]

I am already in grad school, but this issue just popped into my mind so I thought I'd share it as a thread in case it helps others or is something that not everyone has thought about.

 

I've always been quite conscious of and conservative with what I put "out there" about myself on the internet and I always suspected that POIs might look for information about me online, but I was still surprised when our program head explicitly raised this exact issue with us at the beginning of term. The point was to draw our attention to how we present ourselves publicly when we are clinicians, and to be aware that this includes our online presence. She had thoroughly Googled each of us prior to class, and found that most of us had some information about us online that a potential client may be wary of (nothing scandalous or worthy of compromising our position in grad school, but simply information that some clients may be sensitive to or that presents a less professional side).

 

She also told us that she and pretty much every other faculty member she knows Googles applicants and uses the information gleaned to make judgments that are otherwise difficult to make when so many applicants seem great on paper. There were many stories about students whose Twitter feeds were combative or whose Facebook posts complaining about their undergrad institution or former professors were public.

 

I'm sure most people here have thought about this, but in case it helps a few of you, be aware of what's out there about you online!

Edited January 5, 2015 by DeltaSkelta

[Guest]

I always wondered this, thank you for the confirmation. Can you tell us anything about what types of things your classmates had up that were of concern to your program head? 

 

I do know most people change their real name on Facebook, etc. so POIs can't find them. I wonder if this looks bad, like they have something to hide? Just a thought. 

[jujubea]

When you Google me, an article about me in another language comes up, which, if you translate it via Google into English, comes up with a horribly embarrassing and completely incorrect translation about some very, very private activities... sigh.

Edited January 5, 2015 by jujubea

[KB0808]

Great advice/heads up!!

Sassybread: I changed my name on FB and had high controls so clients can't find me. I doubt that would look bad to POI. I would suspect they would prefer you being overly cautious than not - wouldn't phrase it as hiding something from PI. Another thing to consider is your email address - may be too late for that but I have been on hiring committees for several jobs and you couldn't imagine the strange emails people have that are a turn off!! Make it generic - use your cutesy names for friends if you must but not on resumes.

[KB0808]

I will say that my name is not too uncommon so while I don't have twitter (common on, we have all googled ourselves) - how do POIs know it's you. I know there is someone with my name that does have twitter!

[when]

I will say that my name is not too uncommon so while I don't have twitter (common on, we have all googled ourselves) - how do POIs know it's you. I know there is someone with my name that does have twitter!

 

If someone has a pretty common name and it's fairly clear that a lot of search results are not about them, then I'm sure that's okay. The prof did talk about a student she had who shared a fairly uncommon name with someone who had started posting all sorts of weird stuff on the internet, and her advice (for professional purposes) was to create a LinkedIn profile that made clear who the student was (professionally speaking, of course) as well other profiles that this other person had but that were professional and/or neutral so that it was easy to identify which was the trainee psychologist and which was the political propaganda espouser.

 

I always wondered this, thank you for the confirmation. Can you tell us anything about what types of things your classmates had up that were of concern to your program head? 

 

I do know most people change their real name on Facebook, etc. so POIs can't find them. I wonder if this looks bad, like they have something to hide? Just a thought. 

 

From what I can remember, these are things like having a wedding photo or children as a profile picture (think of clients struggling with relationships/parenthood seeing their would-be therapist happily married/parenting), photos of luxurious excursions (think of clients from lower socio-economic backgrounds who may presume you can't possibly relate to them) etc. These are not necessarily bad things, apparently, just things we should be aware of as clinicians and when thinking about how we wish to present ourselves. There are similar issues with what kind of things to furnish your office with, e.g. family photos.

 

And other than the example of the shared name with another person who posts questionable things online, the prof's advice was to have as little personal information available about yourself as possible (with the exception of professional sites such as LinkedIn, as long as their content works in your favour).

Edited January 5, 2015 by DeltaSkelta

[when]

When you Google me, an article about me in another language comes up, which, if you translate it via Google into English, comes up with a horribly embarrassing and completely incorrect translation about some very, very private activities... sigh.

Ah, that sucks. I had a stupid site I created when I was really young and the internet first became popular - it had some very embarrassing content literally from my 12-year-old self, and then of course I forgot about it, the host site changed ownership, I long forgot my logins and passwords, and it was all Googleable for the longest time. I eventually wrote to them again and again, explaining my situation, and after a while it disappeared. But this IS a huge issue - there are lots of people who have info out about them that they have absolutely no control over. I think that if it's a real problem, the options are to contact the host of the site and explain the problem, or invest in some search engine optimization tools that help bury that site in search results.

Edited January 5, 2015 by DeltaSkelta

[psych face]

I intentionally have avoided all social media using my real name for this precise reason. Unfortunately, I think that some people want to see that you have a social presence of some kind before accepting you because it gives them that stalker-ish fix, about your character. Alas, there is nothing about me out there. I think this is going to be in some way detrimental because... knowing that you are a little silly on the internet might seem better than knowing nothing at all.

Sigh. This idiotic world of stalking being commonplace and acceptable. (and expected) It's a little rediculous.

[FinallyAccepted]

Because of my classroom website, I was going to be an internet presence anyway.  Links related to that are the first few things that pop up online if you search for me.  My LinkedIn and legit twitter are next (I have a personal one which doesn't use my name specifically) where I follow a few of my POIs who themselves have a social network presence.  Then there's actually another person with my same unique first and last name (minus middle initial) who has a PsyD and working on a PhD.  She's a research analyst.  Maybe they'll be confused and think that's me.

[spunky]

googling people is pretty common here.  i've been a member of a few 'google search parties' at the request of admission committees here and there. i'm not sure whether i should feel flattered or not by other people knowing i'm somewhat skilled at finding people on the internet (i guess i'm just sorta creepy).

 

my assumption has always been to never put anything up on the internet that may hurt you down in the future. you would think that's common sense until you start seeing what a lot of people (particularly undergrads) post online.

 

where i feel somewhat ambivalent is when people adhere to certain ideologies or political affiliations, make that public on their social media profiles and, upon finding out, their applications suddenly...well... let's say 'disappear' 

[sdt13]

If this is something you are concerned about, set up an academia.edu account. When anyone accesses your profile from google, you will be notified of the location of the person (e.g., what city/state) and what key words they used to find you. If you have such a profile, chances are professors may be more likely to view that (at least first). Also, when I applied, there was always a "trend." Right before I heard back about interviews, I noticed I would get hits from the same city/state within the week...it was interesting. 

[psych face]

Here's another problem that might occur...

People judging you based on your pictures.

We know this happens. We can't help it. And it's stupid. And it will affect their judgments. Nothing you can do about it.

[spunky]

 

People judging you based on your pictures.

 

 

i believe this is a condition commonly referred to as "being human"

[mb712]

When I emailed a potential POI they were very forward (and also somewhat jokingly) honest about the fact they tried to Google me and couldn't find anything because my name is so generic. I found it really amusing especially since I wasn't expecting that kind of honestly at all. I had a Skype conversation with another last month and they mentioned looking me up online too. Seems pretty standard, at least from my experience so far. (Or maybe the people willing to strike up conversations online are also those willing to research people online?...who knows.)

[EliaEmmers]

 

my assumption has always been to never put anything up on the internet that may hurt you down in the future. you would think that's common sense until you start seeing what a lot of people (particularly undergrads) post online.

 

 

At the risk of sounding a little, well, maybe "too concerned" you don't worry about all the pictures/personal info you post on your webpage? (Yes, guilty, I clicked on it). I know it seems a little bit weird but you never know who is checking you out on the Internet.

[lewin]

When one googles my name without affiliation, the website for an erotic (but tasteful!) photographer comes up. I hope employers are smart enough to distinguish.

 

But yes, if the POIs aren't searching for you, the grad students are.

[FinallyAccepted]

This post is so timely. I had to go to a faculty meeting (high school) where our digital footprint was the subject. The person speaking asked if we had googled ourselves before. I was thinking "Yep, yesterday after reading that thread on GradCafe." Funny.

[isilya]

If this is something you are concerned about, set up an academia.edu account. When anyone accesses your profile from google, you will be notified of the location of the person (e.g., what city/state) and what key words they used to find you. If you have such a profile, chances are professors may be more likely to view that (at least first). Also, when I applied, there was always a "trend." Right before I heard back about interviews, I noticed I would get hits from the same city/state within the week...it was interesting. 

This happened to me with MIT! A couple days after the profile view I got an interview invite. Today I got a notification that someone in LA accessed my profile so I'm hoping that will turn out well too

[when]

This post is so timely. I had to go to a faculty meeting (high school) where our digital footprint was the subject. The person speaking asked if we had googled ourselves before. I was thinking "Yep, yesterday after reading that thread on GradCafe." Funny.

I love that! Synchronicity! 

[Shamrock_Frog]

I just tried googling myself. A ton of results popped up, so good luck to any POIs trying to find me.

[psych face]

I don't know man, I found you pretty easy:

 

[when]

I don't know man, I found you pretty easy:

 

Niiiiice

[TenaciousBushLeaper]

When I google myself the first links that pop up are 1. someone who tried to run over a cop, 2. someone who shot at a cop ......

[when]

When I google myself the first links that pop up are 1. someone who tried to run over a cop, 2. someone who shot at a cop ......

Well, at least you're not applying to a Criminal Justice program.

[mb712]

I share a name with a swimsuit model, which one of my POIs actually brought up when mentioning looking for information about me...