You may be thinking of that dreaded traditional resume you create detailing your past jobs in which you try to make jobs like sales clerk sound like you were managing the store. The employer may pick your resume from a pile or hear about you from a friend.  What comes next is what they find when they type your name in Google- your real resume.

Ever try this yourself? It can be amazing what you’ll find.  Remember that New Year’s Eve party at Amy’s two years ago?  Those drunken photos you have are still on Facebook.  Luckily, there are websites such as www.steves.digicam.com that give instructions on how to delete incriminating photos or albums.  Remember that you cannot delete other people’s photos of you (you could ask a friend to do so).  Otherwise your best bet is to “untag” these photos so when someone searches for you it will be more difficult to find you. You might want to remove that youtube video of you and your friends with spoons on your noses as well.  (http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&answer=55770)

If there are other things in your background you aren’t proud of that can’t be removed, be prepared to explain to your potential employer that they aren’t representative of who you really are.   If you notice that there are good things in your “self googling” that you are particularly proud of and want to share, then highlight them and be prepared to emphasize them in the interview.

Congratulations- now that you’ve cleaned up a bit, you can breathe easier but remember from this day forward, remember Big Brother is watching.