The Search Engine Resume Skill

Do you remember when search engines were just getting traction back in the early 1990's?  It was an exciting time because we suddenly had the ability as end users make a request for specific content and have suggestions returned to us.   If you asked your question correctly, you could get meaningful results.  If you didn't ask your question specifically enough you would get garbage—or quite possibly porn—links instead.

I remember honing my search engine skills.   I knew all about the "-parameter" option that would help eliminate undesirable results.   For instance, if I wanted to search for a bikini top for my Jeep, I might enter, "bikini top jeep -ladies -model -nude."

Back in the nineties, knowing how to properly specify a search engine string was a skill not everyone had.    Back then, not everyone could sift through the internet via a search engine and get useful results the first, second or even third time.  I helped out enough people that I felt like I could add, "proficient at searching the internet" on my resume at one point.

Today, the search engine battle is largely over.   A few major companies have won market share and they did so by providing an excellent product.   Today, you don't have to be experienced.   You can just type into that top little area some words describing what you want to look for and you're going to get some good results.   You don't even have to go to a search engine to do so.   You can type straight into the URL field and your browser will forward the request on to your preferred (or default) search engine.

The Big Boy Update:   Blather.   My son was washing his hands using a lot of soap.  My mother told him to lather his hands.   He told her he was getting a lot of "blather" and he was going to help his sister get her hands blathered too.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Pocus pocus!   My daughter and son had a magic wand today that they were using to perform all sorts of magic with.   Mostly the magic was to turn people into frogs and then back into people.   My daughter didn't quite get the "hocus pocus" phrase though.   She insisted on calling out, "pocus focus!" as she waved the wand in our direction and exclaimed we were now frogs.