Ego Surfing

Have you ever "Googled" yourself because you were bored, or because you just wanted to see what you would find? If so, you are familiar with Ego Surfing, even if you may not be familiar with the specific term. Ego surfing, as describing in a recent SHRM article, is "performing an internet search on one's own name to see what pops up." And the same SHRM article suggests that it is a good move to do from time to time in order to know what current and prospective employers might find out about you (see this previous Bizarre HR post).

So, I've decided to give it a go. When searching "Chris Hartwell," here are the top hits on Google:

1. The Music of Chris Hartwell - My (somewhat stagnant) music website.
2. Hartwell Ministries - Pastor Chris Hartwell - A Christian Pastor in Texas . . . not me, but very interesting. 
3. Chris Hartwell - LinkedIn - While I do have a profile on LinkedIn, this happens to be a different Chris Hartwell - a search engine marketing consultant.
4. Chris Hartwell on Facebook - Again, I do have a Facebook page, but this happens to be a different Chris Hartwell (and different from the other two above).

So there you have it. I guess I am glad that my music website comes up first on the search and, after browsing the first few pages of results, I found that there is nothing incriminating about myself online that I would mind an employer finding out about me (it's mainly just more music sites and links).

But I was more interested on how many Chris Hartwells there are out there in the world. In addition to the three mentioned above, further down the Google search results are a CrossFit trainer, a patent seeker and an Englishman studying plumbing. Who knew?

If you haven't tried ego surfing recently give it a whirl and let me know what interesting things you find.