Well folks, for the benefit of future employers, whom I am sure are carefully combing this site right now - hi. Note the special care I've taken to avoid posting any incriminating or controversial material. Isn't that nice.
Using a search engine to vet future employees does seem to be a de rigueur pre-processing step for hiring individuals for jobs. Even if you aren't active online, participation in a wide variety of activities in the real world do leave a traceable, online footprint. In the time I spent working at CSIRO, I've read through a good few CV's and sat in on a number of interviews, and this footprint was critically important.
The first step taken for every applicant was a quick trip to Google. Common names, often considered immune to casual googling can be quickly narrowed down using the information on a CV - universities attended, sporting clubs and the like. Instant death for many applications came from loony posts to message boards. New graduates especially can be tainted by poorly constructed, overly revealing posts on social networking sites (for example, myspace, which I consider the visual dysentery of the modern era). Posting stuff and pulling it later isn't going to necessarily save you either - there's always someone, quietly taking notes while you aren't paying attention.
That said, there's plenty of room on your actual CV to make a mess too. There was the one guy who applied who had a fantastic set of qualifications, but put down "I like girls" in his list of interests.
He didn't make to the interview stage, funnily enough.
My immediate future is starting to finally come together, and I don't think I have to worry about future employers trawling this site at the moment. It has been a fun few years at the lab - though squeezing in working and PhD stuff simultaneously has been a bit of a trial at some points. I can't really divulge what is going to happen next as it hasn't really formally been put together yet - suffice to say, I'm looking forward to it :)
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