Keep Digital Dirt From Derailing Your Job Search

Jennifer E. King for lawyers.com

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According to a survey by ExecuNet, an executive career and networking organization, 83 percent of recruiters surveyed say they conduct online searches to learn more about job candidates, and 43 percent of recruiters say they've eliminated job candidates from consideration based on information they've found online. How can you keep your "digital dirt" from derailing a job search?

You may not be able to erase all of your mistakes, but there are steps you can take to minimize them.

Before beginning to job hunt, plug your name, email address and other identifying information into the major search engines. Carefully review all of the results--including the search results for people with similar names--and decide whether any of the information would be damaging to your reputation in the eyes of a prospective employer. (These would include pages or images that portray you acting in an immature or irresponsible manner; postings you've made that disparage your current or prior employers, or reveal confidential information; and pages that imply you might be angry, difficult to work with, unethical or not a team player.)

If you find web pages that are damaging to your online reputation, there are several steps you can take to minimize the damage those pages might cause.

Start by setting your profile on social-networking sites (such as Facebook and MySpace) to "friends only," or hiding the pages entirely. You should do the same with any personal blogs you write. Check to see if the site allows you to keep your pages from being indexed by the major search engines. This minimizes the likelihood that the pages will turn up on a Google search. Also, review comments you've left on blogs, message boards and social-networking pages. Edit or delete those comments, if necessary and possible.

Create a business-like email address (firstname.lastname@gmail.com, for example) that you use only for activities such as job hunting. If a prospective employer searches online for this email address, it should not be connected to any personal postings or websites. For your personal online life, use an anonymous screen name that cannot be connected to you or your professional email address. (Change your website screen name if it's identical or similar to your real name.)

If you find web pages that cast you in a negative light, attempt to have the information removed.

Legally, people have no obligation to remove information they've published that is true, even if it is unflattering to you. However, if the information is false, the person who published the information runs the risk of committing defamation. Defamation occurs when a person publicly makes a false claim that is damaging to another person's reputation. (If the information is printed, such as on the web, it is also called libel.) If you think a site has libeled you, contact the owner and explain where and why you think you're being defamed. Express an interest to resolve the problem without involving attorneys and suggest a specific remedy (such as correcting the information or removing the information entirely). If you are unsuccessful, contact a lawyer, who can advise you on whether you have a valid claim. Your attorney will probably start by contacting the offending website to again requesting the removal or correction of erroneous information. Lawsuits can be slow, expensive and time-consuming, so this is probably only a remedy of last resort.

You should also search services such as LexisNexis, which is an online repository containing archived articles from thousands of media organizations. There may be news stories you've long forgotten that don't cast you in a favorable light, and you should be prepared to do damage control, if necessary. (Unless you have a legitimate libel claim against a publication, it's highly unlikely you'll be successful in getting an article removed from a news archive.) Assume that potential employers will find these articles, and have an intelligent response prepared if you're asked about them.

Sites such as ReputationDefender.com, Spock.com, Wink.com and ZoomInfo.com will also search online, gather information about you and compile reports containing this information. Some, such as ReputationDefender, charge a fee to get damaging information removed or corrected. Others, such as ZoomInfo, allow you to correct erroneous information on their site, but won't correct the original source. Given that more and more employers are reviewing online information about prospective job candidates, the business of online reputation repair is likely to grow.

Finally, consider replacing bad information with good information. Search engines often rank pages depending on their popularity, and the number of sites that link to them. Register a domain name that includes your name in the URL, and create a website that includes your resume, portfolio or work samples, and testimonials. Start a professional blog that offers constructive, helpful information, and link back to your website. Make insightful comments on the other blogs or message boards related to your profession and use your real name. The more positive information that a prospective employer discovers, the less weight they're likely to give to negative material.