Associate Dean for Law Career Services
We have all heard the admonitions about maintaining a “professional” image on Facebook and other social media platforms to avoid limiting our opportunities with prospective employers and clients. Unfortunately, what constitutes “professional” is often in the eye of the beholder. What then, is a law student to do to maintain a clean digital footprint? Even more important, how can a burgeoning legal professional use social media to enhance their digital footprint and online image?
Our friends at the Culture and Manners Institute offer some practical examples and suggestions below:
Another story from an employer. The company was getting ready to tender an offer to a young man who just graduated from college. The last step in the process was a quick check of his Facebook page.
On the Facebook page, he was bragging about his third DUI. The offer was never offered.
"Never" is not completely accurate -- the offer went to the next candidate, whose Facebook page checked out.
If you are going to be on Facebook, what positive things can you do while growing your career? Show you can communicate in complete sentences. Have pictures with friends who don't have beers in their hands. Stay out of politics -- unless you plan to spend the rest of your life in politics. Wear clothes. Not swimsuits. Let some of the activities on your resume be reflected in your Facebook content.
The most important part: don't put everything out there. A little mystery makes a person interesting. When you publish everything you do, think and feel, your mystery is history.
One last tip: search your name and email address on Google periodically to avoid any surprises. For specific guidance on cleaning up your digital dirt and using other forms of social media effectively, check out NALP’s e-Guides on E-Professionalism.
