GARVIN: Professionalism extends to online expression

I have the best internship ever. Every day I work, I have a new task, I learn new skills and I get in contact with new people. The variety is wonderful.

Also, I get to use Facebook and Twitter to connect with clients. One word: Awesome. When getting on Facebook is part of this Facebook addict's job, something in the universe must be working in my favor.

However, the problem for most Facebook users who are looking for a job isn't getting the stars to align; it's getting employers not to take their pages too seriously.

According to a March 29 CNN article, "A recent survey commissioned by Microsoft found that 70 percent of recruiters and hiring managers in the United States have rejected an applicant based on information they found online."

When I looked deeper into the Microsoft survey, I was astonished to find that only 7 percent of U.S. consumers think their online reputations affected their job hunt. Obviously, it's a lot more prevalent than we think.

While it can be annoying, employers have the right to look at your Facebook profiles. Anything you put out there is up for grabs, and that makes it important to keep your online reputation professional. However, keeping your Facebook professional means more than just untagging yourself in a few pictures. According to the CNN article, homophobic and racist slurs, rants about old employers, inappropriate comments — even ones made by friends — all contribute to reasons why employers might ditch you based on your Facebook page. In short, employers search for someone professional in and out of the workplace.

Even untagging yourself or changing your name won't always work. Employers can look through albums with low security, and they can search for your page by e-mail address too.

Now, I've heard a lot of people argue that this isn't fair. Employers should judge us based on our work and keep our personal lives separate. We have the right to free expression, and we should be able to use it however we deem fit outside of the workplace.

I both agree and disagree.

Good employers deserve good people, and employees can run into clients anywhere. What if you happens to be at your favorite bar and you've had too much? You don't want to make clients uncomfortable with working with you in the future. And if you swear up a storm or vomit on their shoes, I doubt many clients will feel you are a professional.

Granted, we are in college. For Halloween, I dressed up as Batwoman and went to The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Joyo. That definitely isn't the most professional activity, but it was fun. It was silly, but harmless. Thankfully, most employers will take that into account. Most also realize that we have a right to relax in our personal lives. How we do so is the issue.

As for language used on sites like Facebook, I believe employers have every right to judge potential employees on hate speech. I know a guy who got turned down for a job as a bus driver because he was associated with the KKK. Because he would have been driving people of all races, I think it's justified.

As for swearing, that all revolves around being professional. Swear words have a special place in the English language, and some things just can't be expressed properly without using them. "Oh fudge!" and "My goodness!" don't always fit when you're angry. But not using them shows self control, a trait many employers are looking for. Even if you have to say something completely ridiculous instead, it can be better than swearing — and sometimes it leads to funny stories. My boyfriend still teases me for a time when I broke my heel and said "nutty fudgekins." It's not necessarily cool or professional, but it works.

Now, the English lover in me is still impressed by how flexible swear words are. However, I often see friends take that flexibility to an extreme, using swear words to add emphasis to sentences that do not need it or to write in vague terms that could be clarified using regular words. If this is the case, I really don't blame employers for judging. Using swear words in this way shows a limited imagination and a small lexicon. Are you really being honest to yourself expressing yourself this way? If you can express yourself more professionally in your personal life, it ensures that you will be able to do so at work as well. This is what employers want to know.

Lastly, and probably most importantly, don't criticize your past employers online. It's like my friend Ashley says about relationships: Watch out. If he calls his ex a "crazy b****," it won't be long until he calls you that. Employers look at you the same way. If you rant and rave about your last employer, they'll be afraid you'll treat them the same way.