Tom Cruise and his crazy antics

So the chairman of Viacom, which own Paramount Pictures has decided to cut their production arrangement with Cruise/Wagner Productions. Explained Sumner Redstone to the Wall Street Journal,

“As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

News links elsewhere, the Defamer one is especially good:

Among other reasons, there is also the financial side of it: Tom Cruise’s cut of the movies was high enough that Paramount was only breaking even on some of them. But had it not for Mr. Cruise’s antics in the past year, the relationship with Paramount could have probably been salvaged with a little bit of renegotiation.

In a nutshell, the contract was not renewed because Sumner Redstone does not like Tom Cruise. Simple as that.

Now what does that have to do with blogging? Well believe it or not, employers do consider the personality of a potential recruit. And some, if not most of them would google names. If you blog with your real name, chances are your blog will be found.

So an employer’s first impression of you would be gotten through your blog. Ask yourself this: if you were the hiring manager, would you hire yourself after you’ve seen your own blog?

Besides the obvious of not blogging about work specifics (client names and trade secrets are a big no-no and so are easily identifiable happenings), there’s also the more fuzzy thing of not coming across as a nasty person. Or irresponsible, or reckless, or selfish, or egoistical…

Even if you think that you won’t need to look for another job ever again, think of what people in your current company would think if they happen to stumble onto your blog. It pays to refrain yourself a little.

I go by a simple rule: if I would be ashamed for my mother to see it, then I wouldn’t blog it. If you also can’t blog without naming names or listing specifics, then don’t blog it. What’s more important: your job or your blog?

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