Original title: Seperating your personal and professional life online
Published November 20, 2007
Present-day note (2025):
This post was originally written in 2007 and is preserved largely as-is, as a snapshot of how I was thinking at the time. Some details are dated; others still feel relevant. If I were writing it today, I’d frame parts of it differently, but I’m leaving the original voice intact.
When employers research job applicants on the internet, what actually justifies a reason for them to judge you based on what they see alone?
For example, a prospective employer might look at your personal profile on social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, or Pownce. These sites might contain things from your personal life that have nothing whatsoever to do with your professional life. Things that you post online are not necessarily relevant to your professional life.
If you have a personal blog, why should you make it anything less than personal? Why should you not express yourself in any way you choose, even if it includes seemingly unprofessional characteristics? You are outside the confines of work, and professional expectations should not apply in a personal environment—unless you cannot tell the difference.
Some people use their personal blog and/or profiles for personal marketing and try to keep things aligned with their professional life, but that is their choice. Expecting the same level of professionalism from all personal blogs and profiles is overkill.
You may behave differently outside of work, particularly when you are offline, so what makes your online life any different? The equivalent of researching a prospective employee via the web can be similar to conducting a private investigation in real life—minus the required background investigations. An employer would not follow you around in the real world to learn about your personal life, so why should the online version be treated differently?
That does not always mean employers should not use this information to learn more about you and what you are capable of—but it should not be used to make personal judgements about you as a person.
Of course, not all employers use such information to judge you. In general, do not be afraid of what you do in your personal life—just do not do something stupid that might clearly reflect back onto your professional life.
Regarding how your name appears and what content it is associated with on search engines, employers should not rely on search results alone to determine your qualifications. Search results may include things that are not connected to you at all. That said, it can be beneficial to make it easier for employers to find you online, so your work is not confused with someone else’s.
If you want to establish a professional profile and make it easier for prospective employers to network with you, sites like LinkedIn allow you to do just that. For consolidating links to both your personal and professional work, services like ClaimID can help show which links are genuinely associated with you.
Building an online reputation can help employers and others learn more about you by highlighting your expertise, advice, or opinions in areas that genuinely interest you.
The bottom line is this: you should not have to worry about what you write or how you write it just to be seen as a potentially good employee. If you already possess the qualities of a good employee, you should have nothing to worry about.