Perpetual Employee

I feel like these days you are expected to be a perpetual worker.

With employers now scouring the internet to find out every scrap of information about you, it is as if no one can have a personal life that is separate from their work life anymore. We have our cell phones that keep us connected to our work 24/7 - even when we are on vacation! We can't even put up facebook pictures of parties because there may be a potential employer that -gasp- knows that you drink Bud Light on the weekends sometimes!

I am thinking of all of this because of my photo project. If you google my email address, you will find my photo project and you will find this blog.

It is difficult because I want to have an online personal life. I want to do my photo project, I want to write my blog, and I want to post things on Facebook because that is who I am outside of my work. But I also want a professional life where I can work with clients who do not know much about me except the fact that I am there to help them. Sure, in the future when I am working in the field I can get a new email address. Or give them my Purdue alumni account. That's fine.

But what frustrates me is the fact that an employer might not hire me because I post artistic nude photos on the internet. Not pornography. Not even anything worse than PG-13. But still, even though I am ALSO an photographer and ALSO a blogger, they might not hire me. That I have to alter the entirety of how I live my life so that it is structured around my work.

That doesn't seem right. I understand that you should lead a life that is moral outside of your work because stupid, illegal, or unethical practices (like paying $3000 for a hooker) can make a company look bad. Or can be counter to what it is your are trying to achieve. For example, if I was posting racist propaganda while trying to be a multicultural counselor. If it plays counter to your working, sure that can be a problem. But...there are certain things that should be okay because it's just part of having a life and it doesn't affect your ability to do your job. Can I not be an artist AND a counselor?

I dunno. I just do not think it is fair for an employer to judge my worthiness as a counselor based on pictures I put on Facebook instead of how well I counsel.