Your Internet Image
Employers investigate job candidates online now more than ever. What can you do to protect yourself?
by Donna Gerson

Published in Student Lawyer, Volume 36, Number 2, October 2007.

© 2007 American Bar Association.

Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

Donna Gerson (donna@donnagerson.com) speaks at law schools and writes on legal career issues. She is author of the newly released Building Career Connections: Networking Tools for Law Students and New Lawyers (NALP, 2007).

A third-year law student applies for a federal clerkship and is invited to interview for the position. A Google search of the applicant’s name by the judge’s staff reveals a MySpace page posted by the law student that includes the following disclosure: “After a long day at law school, I like to relax with a few bong hits.” The federal judge notifies the law student’s career services office that he is withdrawing her name from consideration.

An associate with a large law firm keeps a blog detailing her interest in certain celebrities and commenting on their lives. The contents of the blog are discovered by her fellow associates and she becomes the subject of office gossip. Her blog soon becomes known to the law firm partners and staff. Eventually, the associate leaves the firm. The law firm personnel are still talking about the lawyer and her blog.

A second-year associate is invited to interview for a lateral position with an East Coast law firm. A lawyer at the firm Googles the prospective hire’s name and finds a Facebook entry that includes photos of the male associate bare-chested with several women holding drinks, comments from former girlfriends attesting to his sexual prowess, and several blatantly sexist and racist comments. The firm postpones the lateral candidate’s interview indefinitely.

These stories are true, the message clear: employers are searching law students’ and lawyers’ Internet postings, sometimes with serious career consequences. Forget about the C you received in evidence. That MySpace photo of you reveling with your pals during spring break might be the documentation that sinks your job search.

With the growing popularity of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook as well as personal blogs, information that might otherwise have remained under wraps is coming under scrutiny by employers. What may have been intended for your friends is fast becoming fodder for law firm hiring partners and the professional staff who make hiring decisions.

Does your Internet presence hamper your ability to be hired? How can you protect your reputation on the Internet? What steps can you take to ensure that your Internet presence is as professional as the credentials found on your résumé? Be aware of the consequences that come with posting information on the Internet, and take action to bolster your hiring potential.

Employers conduct research

Legal employers routinely investigate candidates for criminal records and check references with former employers. Why do employers conduct background checks? “Law firms research candidates because they have a fiduciary duty to their clients to hire candidates with good reputations, and this includes a good Internet presence,” observes Michael Fertik, CEO of ReputationDefender Inc., a company that finds and removes unwelcome online content. “It can also rise to the level of malpractice not to do a background check, including a review of the candidate’s Internet presence.”

A growing number of legal employers will investigate candidates’ names online. In fact, Internet investigation companies such as Vooga (www.vooga.net) market their services to law firms. “We Google, Facebook, and MySpace to the extent information is public,” says David N. Feldman, managing partner, Feldman Weinstein & Smith in New York City. “When one law student had an AOL address that was sexually suggestive, I decided not to go forward with that candidate, if for no other reason than the lack of simple good sense and judgment.”

Many law firms refuse to go on record disclosing the use of Google as part of the formal credentials-investigation pro-cess. This reticence to admit to Googling stems, in part, from concerns about discrimination claims. While difficult to prove (were you denied an interview because of your grade point average or your blog?), law firms are naturally risk averse when it comes to disclosing hiring criteria.

While statistics about the impact of Internet investigations by law firms cannot be quantified, anecdotes regarding damning or questionable information found through online searches should give law students pause. Law, always a conservative profession, may be quicker than other professions to care about reputation, and this extends to your presence on the Internet. Hence, your edgy blog postings may elicit a wink and a nod from an advertising agency but will be met with a critical eye by a law firm.

Should you have an expectation of privacy?

Should a law student assume that anything on her Facebook or MySpace might be seen by a prospective employer? “The answer to that question is yes,” says professor Michael Madison of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. “What’s more, law students should also assume that the Internet is forever. Once content is on the Web somewhere, it’s almost impossible to erase—ever.”

Madison, who teaches intellectual property law and observes trends in technology, advises law students to “delete their college Facebooks and start with a clean slate. The odds are pretty good that no employer will find or care about pre–law school partying or profanity. Once in law school, though, they should assume that everything they write online from that point forward—Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, Weblog, and beyond—is a ‘virtual’ part of every job application they submit.”

Maintaining an appropriate Internet presence

Use extreme caution when posting information online, particularly when engaged in a job search. Take time to assess the appropriateness of your online presence. Is your Internet presence consistent with the image you want to create in the minds of potential employers, clients, colleagues, and judges? The following are some guidelines to consider when posting information online or having others post information about you:

Propriety/Poor Judgment. Those college photos of you partying with your fraternity brothers may have been funny a few years ago. But today, that image of you grasping a vodka bottle in your hand conveys poor judgment. A law firm partner—who may have done the same thing as a college freshman—will look at that photo and say, “Do I want a client or opposing counsel to find this online? How will this reflect on my business?”

Illegality. Obviously, any photos or blog entries that suggest in any way that you are engaged in drug possession or use, relationships with minors, or a general disregard for law can and will be used against you.

Flaming/Gossip. It’s not only what you say about yourself but what you say about others that may create a negative impression with employers. Beware of blog entries or other opportunities for online commentary that defame, slander, or injure the reputation of another. It may seem funny to remark about your ex-girlfriend’s anatomy, but think about what a third party may think when they read your brilliant observations.

Discretion (or lack thereof). Lawyers are expected to act discreetly and hold client confidences. Employers will look at personally explicit blogging activity and ask, “How discreet will this individual be if she’s telling the whole world about the intimate details of her last date?”

If you want to maintain an online presence as a law student, then remember that your information can be accessed by anyone, including those making hiring decisions. Post your résumé online. Create links to law-related areas of interest and your law school. If you add a photograph, keep it businesslike (no happy hour pictures).

Attorney David N. Feldman offers the following advice to law students: “Keep your profiles on every site set to private, and if you cannot help but enter the blogosphere, write everything as if your potential employer will be reading it. In fact, you can use your blog to talk about how amazing your summer associate job is going and, who knows, maybe your firm will notice!”

Protect your Internet reputation

Beware of others who may post information about you, impersonate you in cyberspace, or otherwise misuse information about you online. There have been increasing incidents of law students who have been the victims of online identity theft and impersonation as well as the subject of inappropriate blogs. The continuing controversy elicited by the AutoAdmit website demonstrates how reputations can be damaged through unauthorized online dialogue (see www. reputationdefender.com for more information about AutoAdmit).

Fertik of ReputationDefender offers the following advice to law students: “First, if you have something questionable on the Web, take it down right away. Second, be wary about posting information on the Web that may be accessed and commented upon by others. The article in your law school’s alumni magazine about your moot court championship is good public relations for you . . . but the MySpace page that enables friends to comment on how sexy you look in the vacation photo is inappropriate.”

Fertik also advises that law students monitor their online reputation on a regular basis. Incidents of Internet impersonation or expropriation of an individual’s identity online have occurred and will, no doubt, continue to happen. In these instances, an individual will use your name and either create a blog or chime in on a website in an inappropriate way. This information remains online, is attributed to you, and may be found by an employer. Your vigilance in monitoring your online presence can help prevent a disaster before it happens.

Companies such as ReputationDefender will monitor your presence for a fee, or you can Google yourself on a regular basis to check what appears. Some lawyers will hire information management companies such as ReputationDefender simply to see what is being said about them online. According to Fertik, “Some lawyers view reputation management services like a credit report for the 21st century.”

Removing information from the Internet is an imprecise business. With Web archive sites such as the Wayback Machine and others, removing harmful or inaccurate material can prove impossible. Some information can be de-optimized and buried deeper on the list of “hits” but will never disappear completely. Keep this in mind when you post comments, photographs, or other information about yourself or others.

Interview tips

If you do maintain a Web page or blog, be prepared to discuss your online presence in interviews. There is nothing inherently negative about having a website, blog, or social networking site presence so long as your content remains entirely professional.

When used appropriately, the Internet can be an effective way to connect with others, maintain contacts, and express your ideas. However, be aware that employers may be accessing this information and be prepared to discuss your blog or other online presence. If you have questionable material or have recently removed something that may be deemed inappropriate, you may want to address this with an employer.

After law school

Every bar exam requires that a candidate pass a character and fitness test attesting to their ability to uphold the law and represent clients. While bar examination offices do not typically Google candidates applying to sit for the bar exam, the day may come when an Internet investigation will accompany the routine criminal check and employer references. Keep this in mind as you blog, post commentary online, or otherwise create an online profile for yourself.

After you graduate and pass the bar, you become an officer of the court. That role brings with it a high degree of responsibility not only within the legal profession but also in the larger community. This responsibility extends to creating and maintaining an online presence that instills trust and respect.

Christine E. Miller, recruiting manager for Jones Day’s Washington, D.C., office sums it up: “In the age of MySpace and Facebook, a candidate is a candidate 24/7—not just during an interview.” Use your discretion and good judgment when it comes to posting information online. Your next job offer may depend on it.

E-mail Communications . . . Polishing Your Online Image

Your online presence extends to e-mail communications. What you say via e-mail can harm your candidacy with a law firm. Are you uncertain about the rules of e-mail communications? Want to polish your e-mail correspondence and avoid gaffes with employers? Read Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe (2007). This common-sense guidebook demystifies the art of effective e-mail communications and reiterates the importance of keeping your Internet reputation pristine. The introduction queries, “Why don’t people remember that e-mail leaves an indelible electronic record?” Send answers this and other pressing questions with humor and aplomb.

Tips for Keeping Your Internet Image Squeaky Clean

1. Remove your college Facebook, MySpace, and other website pages that may contain outdated, questionable, or inappropriate content. This includes party and vacation photographs as well as commentary about drinking and relationships.

2. If you do maintain an online Web page, put in place privacy restrictions to limit access to your information without your permission.

3. Refrain from excessive blogging unless it’s professional in nature.

4. Monitor your online presence. Google your name on a monthly basis and see what appears. Think of this as doing a regular “credit check” of your online reputation. Make sure, particularly when you are interviewing with employers, that you monitor yourself and be prepared to speak about questionable online content in interviews, if necessary.

5. Do not assume that anonymous postings remain anonymous for long.

—Donna Gerson

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