A presentation given as part of the NYLA Conference program "Who Am I on the Internet?" held on November 6, 2010.

1. I amI am WhoWho on the Internet?on the Internet?
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http://faculty.msmc.edu/garofalo/nyla/nov6_2010.pdf

5. Who
searches? •Prospective
employers
•Current
employers
•Colleagues
•Family
•Friends

6. Why do they
search?
•Background
check
•Routine update•Routine update

7. Is it legal?

8. Is it legal?
YES
Not covered by the
FCRA
– Employer is
conducting searchesconducting searches
– No legal obligation to
inform you of the
search

9. What do they expect?

13. The Scoop on “Cyber-Skeletons”
24% lied about qualifications
Source: CareerBuilder.com

14. 24% linked to criminal behavior
Source: CareerBuilder.com

15. 35% bad-mouthed their former
employer
Source: CareerBuilder.com

16. 53% posted provocative photos
Source: CareerBuilder.com

17. 44% boasted about drinking/drug
use
Source: CareerBuilder.com

18. 29% showed poor communication skills
Source: CareerBuilder.com

19. 26% made discriminatory comments
Source: CareerBuilder.com

20. 20% shared confidential info from
former employers
Source: CareerBuilder.com

21. 8% used an unprofessional screen
name
Source: CareerBuilder.com

22. OR

23. Google yourself—your
employer or prospective
employer will

24. Review your facebook
profile in depth

25. Transparency on social networks
Transparency in your entire life

27. Pre-Job Search Internet Checklist
Email addresses
IM accounts
Blogs
Forum/lists/bbs postsForum/lists/bbs posts
Social networking sites
Google

28. Verify
email address and instant messenger
screen name(s) should be professional
Blog postings and comments
Flickr, MySpace, FaceBookFlickr, MySpace, FaceBook

29. Protect yourself
Don’t post anything obnoxious, lewd or
risque
Don’t trash former employers
Switch Facebook and MySpace profilesSwitch Facebook and MySpace profiles
to private
Edit what friends post on your wall—you
will be held responsible
Don’t write anything that could come
back to haunt you

30. More protection….
Avoid crazy and unprofessional email
addresses
– No iamahottie@yahoo.com
– Or ihatetowork@aol.com
– Or spicyhotmama@hotmail.com
Google yourself or set-up a Google alert
Ask friends to remove photos of you
that are less-than-professional

32. Works Cited:
Beware of Your Online Trail When Job Hunting. Teller Vision 1360.Aug. (2007):
5. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.
Brandenburg, Carly. The Newest Way to Screen Job Applicants: a Social
Networker's Nightmare. Federal Communications Law Journal 60.3 (2008): 597-
626.. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.
Cavaliere, Frank J. Fired by Facebook and Other Self-inflicted Damage on the
Internet. The Practical Lawyer Feb. (2009): 13-15. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.
Chen, Stephanie. Workplace Rants on Social Media Are Headache for
Companies. CNN.com. 2008. Web. 15 June 2010.Companies. CNN.com. 2008. Web. 15 June 2010.
Conlin, Michelle. You Are What You Post: Bosses Are Using Google to Peer into
Places Job Interviews Can't Take Them. Business Week March 27 (2006). Web.
2 Aug. 2010.
Du, Wei. Job Candidates Getting Tripped up by Facebook: Many Students Learn
the Hard Way That Online Image Can Limit Opportunity. MSNBC. 14 Aug. 2007.
Web. 26 July 2010. http://www.msmc.com/id/20202935/.
Eaton, Kit. If You're Applying for a Job, Censor Your Facebook Page.
FastCompany. 19 Aug. 2009. Web. 26 July 2010. http://www.fastcompany.com.
Frazier, Eric. Facebook Post Costs Waitress Her Job. Charlottle Observer 17
May 2010. Print.

33. Haefner, Rosemary. More Employers Screening Candidates via Social
Networking. Careerbuilder.com. 10 June 2009. Web. 26 July 2010.
http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-1337-Getting-Hired-More-Employers-
Screening-Candidates-via-Social-Networking-Sites/.
Lucky, Robert W. Who Are You? IEEE Spectrum 44.5 (2007): 68. Print.
Peluchette, Joy, and Katherine Karl. Examining Students'Intended Image on
Facebook : What Were They Thinking? Journal of Education for Business 83
(2010): 30-37. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.
Rosen, Jeffrey. The End of Forgetting. New York Times Magazine 25 July 2010:
30+. Print.30+. Print.
Simmons, Andy. How to Click and Clean. Reader's Digest Apr. 2008: 154-60.
Print.
Smith, William P., and Deborah L. Kidder. You've Been Tagged! (Then Again,
Maybe Not): Employers and Facebook. Business Horizons 53.5 (2010): 491-99.
Web. 12 Oct. 2010.
Stafford, Diane. Grooming Your Online Persona. Women in Business June
(2010): 36-37. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.
Wortham, Jenna. More Employers Use Social Networks to Check out Applicants.
New York Times Bits Blog. 20 Aug. 2009. Web. 2 Aug. 2010.

34. http://faculty.msmc.edu/garofalo/nyla/nov6_2010.pdf