One of my clients is both a university professor and private consultant. He lectures about the “Social Data Revolution.” The Industrial Revolution changed the entire fabric of our lives, and so the Social Data Revolution is bringing about massive change which is both exciting and a bit worrisome. <\/p>\n
Professor Andreas Weigend speaks about explicit data and implicit data. When we willingly and knowingly share information about ourselves, we are sharing explicit data, like when we fill out our profile on Facebook. Implicit data is information that may be gleaned by our “digital exhaust” as he puts it, the trail we leave behind, ad this may be without our knowledge.<\/p>\n
Before the recent explosion of virtual freelancers, “offline” job seekers carefully prepared their professional resumes or CVs to present them to prospective employers. Those resumes were protected within HR departments.<\/i> We wanted it that way because they contained our educational and professional achievements and we fiercely guarded them<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Today those same job seekers, in the virtual job hunting environment proudly and explicitly broadcast their professional wares across various platforms, such as oDesk, Elance, and others, with the intent of landing that great job. In this current economic climate it is even more evident. In the past few months, the number of new freelancers who have signed up with oDesk has greatly increased. This is the platform I have been working with for almost two years. I am sure the other ones have seen the same growth.<\/p>\n
I was one of those naive and blissfully ignorant souls guilty of indiscriminately displaying everything about my professional achievements on the Internet. I would have remained ignorant to the folly of that had I not experienced first hand the violation of having my resume and portfolio plagiarized by others; note that – it was plural. It’s just too darn easy to copy\/paste at will.<\/b><\/p>\n
I not only had my education, employment history, and portfolio items completely plagiarized, I suffered the additional insult of having my company name commandeered as being owned by the guilty party, although my photo appears on my website, as well as everywhere else my profile shows up on the Internet. I honestly didn’t know what to think.<\/p>\n
We are now venturing out into new territory and as such we must be ready for the changes. I would like to make a suggestion for my fellow virtual compatriots; be proactive in guarding your professional credentials<\/b>. At the minimum, from time to time, Google phrases, URLs, or descriptions from your resume, verbatim, with quotations around it.<\/b> As I did, you will see if there is anyone else purporting to be “you”. At present, I have thankfully only found the two incidents, and have taken steps against them, but you can be assured I am putting one more thing on my Google Calendar to do on a regular basis.<\/b><\/p>\n
We all work too hard to build up our professional credibility and reputation to have anyone snatch that away from us, and to receive jobs based on our credentials<\/i>. There are so many honest, hardworking freelancers in this new marketplace. It is time for us to wake up, and be on guard. I have drawn my battle line. I will not stand down. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of my clients is both a university professor and private consultant. He lectures about the “Social Data Revolution.” The Industrial Revolution changed the entire fabric of our lives, and so the Social Data Revolution is bringing about massive change which is both exciting and a bit worrisome. Professor Andreas Weigend speaks about explicit data and … <\/p>\n