Brian Zulberti, Esquire wants to fight the good fight for sexually open people. Like many recent law school graduates, Zulberti began his job search in an unforgiving job market. Instead of assimilating to a professional culture, he has taken a radically different approach to applying for work in Delaware. Instead of attaching a resume and a headshot, he sent a mass email to hundreds of prospective employers and coworkers explaining how he recently passed the bar exam and included a photo of his toned arms.
It doesn’t end there. His website has gotten quite a lot of press attention because he included a portfolio with photos of all of his naked body. He even poses in various positions, just in case people needed a different angle. He writes periodically about his experience putting nude photos online and advertising them directly to employers.
“One of the reasons I put the naked pictures online, was because it was the only way I knew to draw eyes to my website in the hopes that the viewers would also stumble upon my message and see that I am not some attention-seeking jerk,” he wrote Oct. 13. “Rather, I am trying to champion a cause I believe deeply in.”
Zulberti allegedly wants to start a conversation about breaking down taboos, such as having nude photos in your past for the world to see. He wants employers to ignore what people do in their personal lives and focus on how qualified applicants are based on their education and past experience. From this perspective, his fight is noble. He is right to believe that an affinity for posting nude photos does not impede on his ability to practice law, but he’s going about this in an immature and sensationalist way.
But he wants to be a lawyer. He wants to enter a profession dominated by Generation X and their parents.
People are now turning to less conventional methods to distinguish themselves from other candidates, especially for those graduating law school. People such as Zulberti are doing what they can to stand out from the crowd, even if it means going beyond accepted professional boundaries.
In the end, individuals have the right to portray themselves as they wish online. The problem here is that his timing is wrong. If these photos surfaced while he was employed, and then he subsequently lost his job,, then he would have a solid platform to start a national conversation. But he can’t just circulate these images to potential bosses, and hope to start working next Monday. It goes too far in disregarding professionalism.
How does he think this will play out? Will Anthony Weiner’s attorney hire him as a paralegal? Zulberti is trying to make a statement that he still qualified even though he has nude pictures on his website, but in the legal field, professionalism is as important a skill as regurgitating facts about cases. While asking employers to look at your Facebook is the best way to get clicks and attention, it is not the way to actually land a job.
Perhaps he just wants to start a conversation instead of actually land a job. Regardless, good luck, Mr. Zulberti. You are definitely going to need it.
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