You already have an online brand…but you might not like everything it says about you!

by Elisa Laird-Metke
Assistant Director of Law Student Services & Law Career Services 

This is Part 1 of a two-part series covering online personal branding. Today's discussion focuses on getting rid of questionable online content that may surface when someone looks for you online. Part 2 will focus on creating the online presence you would like to have prospective employers and clients see when they look you up.

Researching online information about candidates is becoming a routine part of the hiring process. What do employers see when they look you up? You can take control of your online presence--whether you put it there or others did.

How do you ensure that your personal brand is intact? Start by knowing what is out there. Google yourself, or look yourself up on a comprehensive people search site, such as www.pipl.com. To see what your Facebook page looks like to those you haven’t made a "Facebook friend," use the "View As" feature (found under Facebook's "Who can see my stuff?" tab).

Next, fix the bad stuff. If you find something out there you don't like or that is false, reach out to the source and ask that it be taken down. Delete any Tweets you wouldn't want an employer seeing. Have you ever made a comment—anywhere online—that could be construed as badmouthing a professor or former employer? Prospective employers see that as evidence you may do the same to them in the future, and will avoid the risk by not hiring you.

If you are tagged in a photo on Facebook that isn’t appropriate, untag yourself, and make sure your privacy settings are not set to "public" so it's harder for prospective employers or clients to find your private info. (Facebook recently announced that it would be changing its privacy policy—again—effective September 5, 2013. To learn how to make your Facebook account less accessible to the general public, check out this guide.) But be aware that no matter how tight your privacy settings are, NOTHING posted on the internet is truly private.

The very best way to keep embarrassing online stuff from showing up where you don't want it to is not to let it online in the first place. Before you make that post next Saturday night, stop and think, "Would I be ok with this photo/comment/link hanging in my office?"

More information about maintaining your online brand is available in the publication "Managing Your Digital Dirt."