It was hard to miss Lindsay Lohan’s very public and sad self-destruction a few weeks ago. More excessive drinking and bizarre behavior, all captured on the evening news for any and everyone to see. What does that have to do with looking for a job? Early reports are that Lindsay’s actions are likely to put a crimp in her film career and may even end it forever. It costs millions of dollars to make a commercial film, and there’s not a producer on earth who would risk such an investment on an out-of-control employee.

And sadly, that reality holds an important lesson for many of us, but especially for those who are just starting their careers. The pictures and commentary posted on such social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are just as visible and open to the public as Lindsay’s wild SUV ride. Those who portray themselves as prone to excessive or bizarre behavior, complete with graphic photos and obscene commentary, offer the same kind of evidence that they too may be out-of-control, even dangerous employees. And, they should expect the same reaction from employers. They are likely to see their careers evaporate as employers see them as too risky to hire.

But wait a minute, those descriptions of your “wild thing” persona are posted on your own, private online page, so how can employers use that information against you? There are several appropriate answers to that question:

• First, information posted on social networking sites is, by definition, in the public domain. It’s available to anyone who has Internet access, and that’s virtually every employer, public and private, small and large. In other words, this information is not like your credit report, civil court record or employment references. Those data are private and not available to the general public, so an employer must get your permission, in writing, to access them. What you post on a social networking site, on the other hand, is a portrait of you that is just as public as the news reports about Lindsay’s partying.
  
• Second, recruiters have a fiduciary responsibility to check all available data about a potential employee. The dictionary defines a fiduciary as “A person to whom power or property is entrusted for the benefit of another.” In this case, an employer charged the recruiter with the ensuring that any person who is hired by the organization is who they say they are and will not be a danger to themselves or others. Therefore, if a recruiter fails to check information you post about yourself in the public domain, they fail to do their job.
  
• Third, in today’s litigious world, employers expose themselves to civil and even criminal penalties if they fail to evaluate a person fully before hiring them. We’ve all seen the news reports about employees who rampage through offices firing weapons and killing coworkers. The victims of such tragedies have every right to ask if the employer could have prevented the situation by doing a better background check of the prospective hire. And when the employer fails to do so, the fines are steep and the damage done to the company’s reputation is long lasting. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that employers leave no rock unturned when they assess employment candidates.

So, how do you evaluate the pictures and information you’ve posted about yourself online? Simple. Put yourself in the shoes of an employer. That organization must have a license to operate in the city or state where it’s located; and it must conduct its business according to established laws, regulations and social norms. Given those responsibilities, ask yourself if it’s likely the organization would see you as a valuable prospective employee or a potential risk, based on what they can see on your MySpace or Facebook profile. If it’s the former, leave what you have up. A positive online profile may help round out the employer’s assessment of you. If, on the other hand, it’s the latter — if your profile paints you as a Lindsay Lohan without the paparazzi — change your profile immediately. (You might also want to evaluate the behavior, itself.)

However, adjusting your online profile isn’t enough. Whether it’s fair or not, there are lingering consequences to what you post online. Much of the information that appears in public sites is copied by one or more sites using software agents. For example, the Wayback Machine at Archive.org has copies of Web pages as far back as 1996. So, the embarrassing pictures or you posted on a social networking site two years ago may still be out there on the Web a decade from now, even if you deleted them.

What should you do? Here are my suggestions:
Strut the good stuff. Replace the less than flattering information you’ve removed from your social networking site with material that will highlight your best attributes. Will that diminish your social standing? It shouldn’t. Even the party animals are likely to be impressed, and as long as the new information is true, it may also counteract anything else a prospective employer might find online.

Hire a helper. Sites, such as Naymz.com and ReputationDefender.com, enable you to monitor any information about you that appears online and deletes it or posts a more accurate version for employers to consider. These services are by no means foolproof, but they are increasingly used by recruiters who want to ensure that they are getting the whole story when they look for information about candidates on the Web.

Be ready to discuss it. Although there is no guarantee that a recruiter will discuss the personal information they find online with you, it’s important to be ready to do so, just in case. If they uncover embarrassing posts that you have since removed, you’ll have a good story to tell: you’re a proactive person who learns from their experiences. And, that may be just the kind of person they would like to hire.