Comments on: Keep Your Boss Out Of Your Underwear Drawer

By: Steph Woods

Steph Woods — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:04:27 +0000

I personally wouldn’t want to work for somebody who had a problem with me saying “good morning, BITCH” to one of my friends on Facebook. If they have no sense of humor then they’re probably not all that fun to work with either. I mean let’s face it, having a great job is important and all, but working for some stiff that can’t take a joke takes all the pleasure out of working.

Generally speaking, I try not to do things that will come back to haunt me. But I do like to swear sometimes and have a beer just like the next guy. If someone chooses to hold that against me then they seriously need to get their head out of their ass. Although, anything to do with public nakedness or illegal behavior is just not cool with me anyways. On or offline.

I’m pretty open with my Facebook and other online profiles because I am for transparency all the way. I am who I am. If someone is going to hold it against me, then they probably don’t want me to work for them anyways. It’s better that we establish that before experiencing the pain of a crap office job that suppresses individualism and encourages mechanical robots who don’t have a unique or creative thought in their head.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:59:46 +0000

John Andrews made a good point. Standards will change. Going back less than 50 years, having been divorced made you unlikely to get elected. Not being a Protestant was an issue. So going forward, some indiscretions in your teens will probably be forgiven. “Kids will be kids.” It will be your behaviour as an adult that will be scrutinzed in detail. The line will shift as HR people eventually will HAVE to hire somebody in the upcoming generation of the ORM challenged and they’ll turn out to be just fine. No more prone to being bad employees than the current crop of workers.

By: jlbraaten

jlbraaten — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:59:43 +0000

I’m reading Andy Beal’s Radically Transparent now. It’s fascinating how calculated it can be to create your online persona. Blend some interests here, some expertise there. Sooner or later you’ll have a very distinct profile emerge. I’m so glad I don’t have any embarrassing photos (er… moreso that they’ve remained under the surface, lol).

By: Nikhil Vaswani

Nikhil Vaswani — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:36:36 +0000

Very nicely written! Social networking will soon become the most effective way of building your professional career and creating a personal brand. However, one will have to invest time in learning the effectiveness of these sites and ways to use them properly.

By the way, if anyone is looking to make the most of their LinkedIn account, check out networking expert Jan Vermeiren’s new book “How to REALLY use LinkedIn”. You can find a free lite version at http://www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com/

By: michael-gray

michael-gray — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:48:21 +0000

pretty sure requiring someone friend you on facebook would be illegal, and if I had a boss and he fired me for not friending him on facebook … CA-CHING! ($$$ for eyes).

You can’t even ask an applicant what their age, race, marital status, or religon is so pretty sure requiring facebook friending is over the line
http://tinyurl.com/2zp9c2

By: Michael D

Michael D — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:51:32 +0000

We’re talking all the fun out of growing up and that sucks cow balls. I mean what fun is it if you jack a police car, do donuts with it in the parking lot and light it a flame, if you can’t capture the event on your Flip or iPhone?

Seriously though, after the Lakers nonsense that took place outside the stadium last Sunday night, I was amazed more young folk didn’t seem fazed they were being photographed and or video recorded by dozens of others.

By: john andrews

john andrews — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:42:45 +0000

Nice post Lisa… I think you’re right, but don’t neglect the potential for new laws to completely screw up the whole process. That example of the boss “requiring” Facebook friending, for example… sure smells problematic. HR law, which is already HUGE, will get so huge that .. well let’s just say a lot of systems are going to break as the norms are challenged.

I believe the bottom line in the shorter term is going to be the FU response… no longer wanting a job that cares about that stuff, instead being a “personal company”. ORM will still matter, but will be different, and many, many other aspects of reputation will be quite different than they are now.

Q: Name a public official in office today that would be ousted from power if it were determined that she had actually inhaled in college? Welcome to 2009.

By: Maureen

Maureen — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:10:39 +0000

Great Post Lisa,

This is definitely an issue I think everyone in their mid 20’s – 30’s is dealing with at the moment. With the advent of tagging people in pictures it becomes quite the task, to have to repeatedly untag photos, that may harm business relationships.

Managing your own personal brand is much like managing your companies brand and is a necessary evil. I think social media has blurred the lines between business and personal (especially for us search folk) and we just have to be smart about how we present ourselves.

Thankfully no naked, mechanical bull riding keg cupping pictures here. Thanks for more exposure on this unfortunate issue.

By: Rob Woods

Rob Woods — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:01:26 +0000

Great post! (as usual) I completely agree with separating work, career, and personal aspects of your personal “brand”. I keep Facebook and the inherent risks of drunken idiocy or shirtless photos (and yes, there are some flagged as me on Facebook) as a totally personal venue, Twitter is for work, SEO related stuff, and the occasional stuff that makes me laugh out loud from the likes of @netmeg, @SEOAly, or of course the aforementioned @lisabarone. LinkedIn is more for career planning etc. I think it’s worthwhile letting your personality come through on all of the venues but keep the things you don’t want prospective customers or employers seeing on your “personal” networks. I believe that maintaining your personal brand and being true to your real personalty and thought process is vital if you are a consultant or prospecting for potential customers. Today I would be much less likely to hire an individual consultant if I couldn’t get a sense of their personality and skill set through their blog, Twitter stream, etc.

By: Christina Gleason

Christina Gleason — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:49:20 +0000

I think we’re in for nearly an entire generation of unemployable people because of the ORM nightmare they’re creating for themselves as we discuss this. Not completely unemployable… they’ll be able to get crappy jobs at crappy companies that don’t know anything about the Web, so long as they can remember to use capital letters and refrain for using txtspk on their job applications. But today’s high school students are going to find it hard to get their dream jobs with the Web savvy companies that make them salivate. It’s unreal how many kids post photos and updates that not only involve alcohol, but illegal drugs and soft porn.

And even the “responsible” ones who do stupid things but don’t post those pictures online… they have friends with no such qualms who will post those pics and tag them for anyone to see. We’ve had a number of beauty queens dethroned that way in recent years.