27 Jul, 2007
Restore your tarnished internet image...
With the recent AutoAdmit scandal, we're all aware of what can happen, or at least what we think could happen, as a result of the information about a person that pops up in a Google or Yahoo! search.
Techniques for cleaning up your online image below...
The pre-law blog has broached this subject before here. But that mostly focused on how to rid the internet of unfavorable content about oneself and wasn't too specific.
There are also apparently techniques for floating the good content to the top of searches as well. They are found here at simplehelp.net (link courtesy of lifehacker which also has a link for how to make yourself more Google-able through setting up your own personal namespace domain).
Why do I think this is so important?
Some people might think this is a bit paranoid. Even if you have some pictures from a wild party pictures out there on Flickr, everybody has had their wild moments when they were younger, right?
Well, I have to believe that people making hiring decisions are Googling applicants. It's just too easy and provides a view of an applicant that a formal interview or a resume just cannot provide.
And most of these the people making hiring decisions are not like a majority of the younger people who will be entering the working world. They didn't grow up in a world where so many people put their whole life online. It's strange to them. And shows a lack of judgment and restraint.
So there is also a generational gap that makes the older generation less understanding of graduates who live a very open life on a personal blog, Facebook, Myspace, etc.
Especially when you are going into a, for the most part, very professional (some might say snobby) working world like that of a lawyer I believe you have to be very careful about what kind of tracks you leave on the internet.