Dings and Things Forever

I’m starting to worry less about dings in cyberspace and more about the quality of the things I want to share with you. I still have cyberphobia, but I’m no longer a case for emergency technology services. My tech trainer and I have returned to our twice-a-month schedule, when we’ll have plenty of time to work through dings as they happen. By now I’ve accepted that dings will always happen, regardless of how much you know.

My manic cyber-puttering is over. I didn’t call my trainer when I had difficulty uploading this Weblog to an appealing site, Dogpile Web Search (http://dogpile.com), maybe because the site couldn’t process my change of email address to btrot60@gmail.com from AOL’s.

Dogpile is an interesting site. On ABC News online, womens’ career specialist Tory Johnson recommends it as a comprehensive search engine that may be able to deliver more that a standard one delivers. On its site, Dogpile says that it compiles information from several major sites. Yes, I’d Ilke to be part of that site, but I’m no longer freaked out by every little glitch like this one.

Tory Johnson’s site has a wealth of information vital to career women: http://www.womenforhire.com

Reading Tory Johnson’s article, “Dusting Your Digital Dirt” (the one that mentions Dogpile), I can appreciate my cyber-phobia because it protects me from the kind of scenario she presents. If you are woman looking for work, Johnson advises you to conduct a search of your name on the Internet (via Dogpile) to seek out embarrassing stuff you may have written about yourself, and then get rid of it if possible.

If that isn’t possible, be prepared to handle it head-on during a job interview. Employers conduct searches of job candidates, and vice versa. Anybody can conduct a search of anybody and find more information than you can imagine. Her suggestion for a job seeker might be to write instead about subjects that have to do with work areas that interest her.

As a cyberphobic I’ve had a healthy respect for where you can end up in cyberspace. When I conduct a search of my name, the listings are benign and professional. Now I need to focus on being more interesting. On Amazon.com, I found a book, “Writing and Publishing Personal Essays” by author and creative writing professor Sheila Bender. Using her material, I’m writing my first essay, which I hope to post very soon.