Mining social networking sites for information on potential employees is another example of how business and pleasure aren't always easily mixed.
As we report on page 1, more and more employers are using Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace—which were designed for people to connect, share common interests and build online communities—as a resource to check out job applicants.
The sites are yet another example of how the Internet has opened numerous opportunities for companies and individuals to conduct both serious and trivial research. Whether it be Googling a college roommate or looking for a new business partner in China, a few mouse clicks are all it takes.
When it comes to vetting candidates, however, companies may face some troublesome liabilities if they don't have a policy in place to detail how they should use Internet resources. Claims that companies discriminated against applicants based on what they saw on their MySpace pages could lead to costly litigation.
Banning human resources departments or other personnel involved in recruitment decisions from using the Web as a research tool is unrealistic. Before they hit the search button, however, managers and recruitment staff should have formal guidelines on what they should and shouldn't do and the potential consequences.
Let someone else be the test case for using social networking sites as a discrimination tool.
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