Google my name arrest records pop in the search results. Will that affect me?(I was never arrested).

ftsmith

So when you google my name, about the fifth result from the top, my name in all caps is shown on a website about arrest records. It's obviously someone with the same name, I was never arrested (you just have to believe me), so I'm curious, will this ever haunt me in the future? Will future coworkers or employers google my name and see that someone with the same name was arrested and assume it's me and return treat me differently? Did something similar happen to anyone else? Stupid topic I know (some might even say pointless), but I am genuinely curious.

MiAlx

Not sure if it would really damage your chances for an interview. It might happen that a recruiter googles you and wonders, but I am guessing they would ask you in the interview? (if that's not illegal?)

Anyway, just add a photo and place of birth to your resume. Then, if for some reason they decide to google you, they can see it's not you.

low odor

I'm sure anyone really worried about your criminal background( or lack there of) will have it done  properly, and not just go by an instance of a similar name they get on a Google search. I share the name of an author who  that writes gay romance novels, and a soccer player...never been  mistaken  for either.

blankslatejoe

This sounds like it's probably some autogenerated site? Like those sites that basically pretend to be the yellowpages? If so, it's probably nothing to be too worried over. But if your name is fairly unique, and the person lives in the same country as you, this *might* be something to worry about...but only because you cannot count on recruiters--or art directors/hiring managers--taking the time to distinguish the difference, (its a very tough market for entry jobs these days, and it's smartest to just assume art directors are always short on time).

But if that criminal record site is some auto-generated crawler site then I think those don't usually have super strong placement in google results over more useful search results for person's name though. So just be mindful of that and be active in a lot of online places with your real name: participate in forums using your real name (and be civil), contribute to gaming news blogs or game-dev blogs, post tutorials on sites like cgtutsplus, etc. There's a lot of little things you can do to push legitimate results up to the first page of results...and that's all you really need, since, again, recruiters/ADs don't have time to click to page-2. :-) Even without the bad search result, building a trail of positive reputation results like that is never a bad idea in our industry.

PyrZern

Can you differentiate yourself with middle name or screen name ?

Also,  can you generate more favorable search results to fill the top ??
When I search my name on Google now; without my screen name; Facebook is top, then ArtStation, then LinkedIn, my older portfolio, then youtube, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. I think that's more than enough. You probably could do similar things ?

(if only I remember how to delete those old folio, lol ! )

ftsmith

Thanks for the advice everyone. I guess the general consensus is to push the bad/spam search results out and replace them with something good.

Add3r

99% of studios will do a background check at some point in the early/mid stage of the hiring process, so I wouldn't worry too much.  It is pretty common for people to have others that have the same first and last name

lefix

I don't think my company has done any background checks, but we're also a small company that hired ~20 people so far. I didn't even know you could google arrest records, is this an american thing?

MiAlx

Yeah, never heard of a background check in Europe, but they might still do it of course. Could be an only american thing though. 

Justin Meisse

lefix said:

I don't think my company has done any background checks, but we're also a small company that hired ~20 people so far. I didn't even know you could google arrest records, is this an american thing?

State by state transparency laws.  Can you guess which US state is the most transparent?

Add3r

Sorry, yeah 99% is more leaning towards medium to large US studios, should have specified further. 

Kwramm

In dubio pro reo? You're not that guy and nothing substantial says you are. I don't know about hiring practices in the US, but to me "guilt by Google search" is as damn unprofessional as it gets. As if everything on the internet were true... Personally, I wouldn't consider it an issue, though. I Have a hard time believing that any studio would make it an issue.

Deathstick

The company that would use only google to do a background check is a company you do not want to work for. Oh my god John Smith murdered someone in Kansas, in New England, in France, in the UK! Why hasn't John Smith been stopped yet?!?!?!!? Oh look John Smith is also a priest, artist, vegan, and has 1000 different facebook accounts? Scientist? Maybe that balances it out? Whoa this John Smith fellah gets around.

adrxzero

@ftsmith
Suffer not, studios run a background check before a candidate's start day. Every time I have run across this issue during my research, it is one I take with the benefit of the doubt.

EarthQuake

If you google my name you get that guy who called Obama a liar.