MattK Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Does anyone know if schools "google" potential candidates for their program? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackjacks Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I would say assume they do, and make sure good things come up about you! Better safe than sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 If they actually do take the time to do this, i'm considering using this to my favor, but don't want to waste my time if they don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 so how can you "use that" to "your favor."? is there someone that shares your name that you want to get credit for? i cant possibly figure out how them googleing your name will make a difference for you unless what shows up is actually something associated with you? elighten me please. if they google my name they get an adult film star... who is not me. although we share similar mustaches. I assure you, PAMAC, I am not implying that I intend to impersonate or otherwise defraud anyone online. However, if schools do look at your online presence, there are things you could do to impress them with your web presence. So I am wondering if they really do take the time to look you up. For instance if you had googled my real name, you would find articles I wrote along with my facebook and a few blurbs in the newspaper as the top results. And, PMAC, if your 'stache is anything like I am envisioning, I'm quite jealous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmood Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I just googled myself (not my screen name, obv). None of the people who came up were me. I tried putting in my name and a few other identifiers like my undergrad school and I found myself on page 2 with a picture of my senior capstone project. LAAAAAAME. I am obviously not famous enough for anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Steve Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 U of W had approx 600 applicants for the class of 2013. This year the early estimates are sitting around 900 applicants. Two faculty review all the applications, both of whom must agree that the applicant would be good to interview. If the vote is split, a third faculty member is the tie breaker. So image being one of those two poor people having to wade through 1800 or 2700 essays (I don't recall if I wrote 2 or 3 for UW), plus review their GPA and all that other fluff. Do you seriously believe they take the time to google your name, then try to find some link to confirm the person they find is you? Or do you think that they may trust their fellow AdCom members who interview you with their choice? That being said...I fully expect my future employers to google my name as part of the hiring process. So maybe your Web Gold Star will shine for you when it's time to gain a legit job. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IdahoPA Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 I just googled myself (not my screen name, obv). None of the people who came up were me. I tried putting in my name and a few other identifiers like my undergrad school and I found myself on page 2 with a picture of my senior capstone project. LAAAAAAME. I am obviously not famous enough for anything. I'm in the same boat. My name is waaaaay too common for it to be the real me. Kinda neat to see what the other ladies are up to, though. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAdamsPAC Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 I kinda like what pops up for my name! But then again it was 27 years ago that thinking about the ADCOM even mattered!!!!:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LESH Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 That would take up a lot of time and the outcome really wouldn't justify it IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Pretty sure schools don't do this. Not only is it unprofessional but also 99% of the time a huge waste of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 whether or not it's viewed as unprofessional, it's certainly happening in the job world. I tend to think of getting into PA school a bit like being hired for a job. I wouldn't be surprised to find ADCOMS using the internet as a resource in their final decisions. http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/14/news/economy/employers_creepy_web_searches.fortune/index.htm http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/more-employers-use-social-networks-to-check-out-applicants/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarian Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Not only is it unprofessional but also 99% of the time a huge waste of time. Nope....!!!! Becoming very common and done by "professionals." Which is why you should be careful about whats on your social media page and who's pages yours are attached to/associated with. What's "unprofessional" is having pictures of you and your girlfriends drunk or high, with alcohol, and drugs or drug paraphanelia (bongs, one-hitters, atomizers, rolling papers, etc.) posted on the internet. Or... allowing friends and family to post this stuff to your "wall." We have had a few nurses fired after someone tipped HR to look at their FB and/or Craigslist postings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Googling my name and looking at the first two pages: I find my Dad's obituary (I am a "junior"), my FCC HAM radio license, two pages that are about me in my career as a health care provider, and about 40 pages that have nothing to do with me. Nothing that I should worry about. You should be careful with what is on the internet about you. Information on the internet is forever, and more and more employers are using it to weed out undesirable applicants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 So you honestly think a school is going to google every applicant's name, dig through countless of pages hoping to find a picture of them at a kegger and deny them on this basis? Work - okay, sure, it happens here, where most the admin have way too much time on their hands and take their jobs too seriously. Interviewing for a high profile job or a job where your personal image is relevent... okay. Hundreds upon hundreds of applicants for a PA school... sorry, I just don't think it's very likely. Personaly I think it is a huge invasion of personal rights. Is it a bad idea to post a stupid picture out there on the internet? Yes. Should you be punished for it like a politician caught with his pants around his ankles for the rest of his life? Hell no. And to be candid, anyone who not only has enough time to google my name but then makes a huge judgement based on the search results, I really don't care to be associated with their business anyways. Also, those RNs should've known by now to put their FB pages on private. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I'm going to make a website that describes how awesome I am just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarian Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 ... [your last post]... Nope...!!! I never suggested that I "honestly think a school is going to google every applicant's name"... I know if I had a stack of apps on my desk and had to quickly eliminate a hand full of them... I'd google a few. NOT a invasion of personal rights because it was posted to the public (the internet IS the public in case YOU didn't know) by the subject and therefore there was no "resonable" expectation of privacy. This happened before there was a "private" option on FB. Remember that those options are relatively new and was only implemented within the last 1.5yrs. The simple fact is that it REALLY doesn't matter if YOU like the practice or not... its being done by companies, practices, and HR departments across the nation... and the take home message is... if you don't want a potential employer, or recruiter to see it... DON'T POST IT ON THE INTERNET. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted October 3, 2011 Administrator Share Posted October 3, 2011 Contrarian is right. Those of you who say that Googling is time-prohibitive are also right--it's probably not an initial screening tool, but more like something that might be used to whittle a field of 50 perfectly qualified applicants down to 40. There are about 10 distinct people with my same name, without the middle initial. An art professor in Michigan, a local elected official somewhere in Texas, some guy in the Navy who runs track meets (or did)... No one really disreputable, which is good. On the other hand, if you add my middle initial or any of the various identifiers from my CV, Resume, or CASPA app, it's very possible to find out what I look like, and to substantiate my pre-healthcare career through the industry press. Here's a point to ponder: Since it's legal and ethical to look through public Internet postings, do you want your loved ones being treated by PAs who WEREN'T screened for rampant stupidity by their respective programs? I certainly don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c0untingstars Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Hey guys, I didn't have time to read every single response to this thread but when we started at my program they had a talk with us about facebook. The faculty told us that some programs are starting to look up applicants on facebook before they send them an acceptance. They said they would be deterred from accepting someone with pretty open privacy settings and photos reflecting drug and alcohol use. Just be smart about what you have out there via social media and utilize privacy settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Honestly man, if you are worrying about what comes up when your name is googled, you are worrying about the wrong thing. Unless you are an x-pornstar or started a 420 club with your last name as the club name, you really shouldn't worry about it. Yes it is done, yes legal, but unethical, and I really could care less to obsess over my e-reputation and how that makes firms feel about me. I find the practice not only unethical but also stupid and a waste of time. Yes yes, I know it still goes on. These are my opinions, take em or leave em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarian Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 CHILD...!!! No one here has a problem with your "OPINIONS"... and no one really cares what YOU think is "stupid" or a waste of time... unless of course you own a clinic, healthcare organization or PA program. The problem lies in your insistance on calling this practice "unethical" which causes one to suspect that you haven't taken any/many "ethics" classes... and/or simply don't know what the word/term means. Thing is... In the real live grown-up litigeous world... a business, profession, school, entity using public means (the internet IS public) to filter/screen who is allowed into their business, school or even profession to represent them is in no way "unethical" and in many circles in this here 21st century... considered prudent. What your obvious "professional" immaturity is disallowing you to recognize... and realize is that if I can find your drug problem easily on the internet with a simple google or social network search... then surely a plantiff's attorney can find it after you divert some dilaudid then kill a patient while high at work... and this attorney will ask your employers right before the settlement conference, "Why didn't HR identify your problem (since it was so easily found on the WORLD-WIDE-WEB) and refer you to EAP/TREATMENT to protect the public from you"...?? Again... the point: Don't want it seen or discovered... don't post it to the internet aKa... "the WORLD-WIDE-WEB"... YMMV Contrarian btw... you seem to be getting heated about this to a degree that suggest the emotional investment of a closet druggie. OR you have already posted stupid and potentially embarrasing nonsense on the internet and now trying to either defend or justify or minimize it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panelson Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I am not saying that colleges look up every student that they are considering accepting on google to make sure that they are the ideal candidate for their school. I am just saying that I think everyone in society nowadays better be aware that for everything you post, make sure you wouldn't mind your grandmother or boss seeing it, because if they want to they can. Just remember: "Say it, forget it. Write it, regret it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAdamsPAC Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 CHILD...!!! No one here has a problem with your "OPINIONS"... and no one really cares what YOU think is "stupid" or a waste of time... unless of course you own a clinic, healthcare organization or PA program. The problem lies in your insistance on calling this practice "unethical" which causes one to suspect that you haven't taken any/many "ethics" classes... and/or simply don't know what the word/term means. Thing is... In the real live grown-up litigeous world... a business, profession, school, entity using public means (the internet IS public) to filter/screen who is allowed into represent them is in no way "unethical" and in many circles in this here 21st century... considered prudent. What your obvious "professional" immaturity is disallowing you to recognize... and realize is that if I can find your drug problem easily on the internet with a simple google or social network search... then surely a plantiff's attorney can find it after you divert some dilaudid then kill a patient while high at work... and this attorney will ask your employers right before the settlement conference, "Why didn't HR identify your problem (since it was so easily found on the WORLD-WIDE-WEB) and refer you to EAP/TREATMENT to protect the public from you"...?? Again... the point: Don't want it seen or discovered... don't post it to the internet aKa... "the WORLD-WIDE-WEB"... YMMV Contrarian btw... you seem to be getting heated about this to a degree that suggest the emotional investment of a closet druggie. OR you have already posted stupid and potentially embarrasing nonsense on the internet and now trying to either defend or justify or minimize it... A direct hit on the soft spot,the truth meter is in the red zone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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