Associate Dean for Law Career Services
Are you a Twitter or Facebook addict? Do you have a blog? Have you googled yourself lately and been surprised at what you've found? Employers ARE using social media in the hiring process; if the only information they had about you was your latest Tweet, what conclusions would they draw about you?
I recently spoke at NALP's Annual Education Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to highlight ways law students can use social media tools to enhance their professional image and promote their expertise. My co-presenters Brianne O'Leary of Perkins Coie LLP and Marina Sarmiento Feehan of USF's Office of Career Planning and I offered advice to a standing-room-only crowd of law firm representatives and career services professionals on the best ways law students and lawyers can use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and other media as part of their professional development. We also discussed the ways employers use this information in the hiring process and provided guidance on how to protect your online reputation.
While the potential of social media tools to showcase your strengths is powerful, we all need to be strategic about what we post.
Curious to learn how you can use social media to enhance your professional development and make yourself more marketable to employers? Contact LCS to make an appointment!
To get started, here are some tips to enhance your e-footprint:
- Periodically monitor your online footprint by Googling your name and searching on www.pipl.com.
- If you have a particular area of interest and enjoy writing, consider launching a blog. You don't need to limit your blog to legal topics, but you do need to make sure it is well-written and supports your professional image. For ideas, check out the ABA's Top 100 Blawgs.
- Review your privacy settings on Facebook to make sure your messages are only seen by your intended audience.
- Use LinkedIn as a way to meet other professionals with similar interests. Join the "Golden Gate University" and "Golden Gate University Law" groups on LinkedIn.
- Avoid making anonymous posts on websites, venting online or publishing information that might harm others' reputations.
