This employer’s taken the concept of online background checks to a new level.

Candidates applying for jobs with the city of Bozeman, Montana, are asked to list “any and all” Web sites, chat rooms and social networking groups they use (“including but not limited to Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.”) — along with their usernames and passwords.

Many hiring managers Google applicants’ names or look for them on Facebook, but actually logging in to their personal profiles is something new entirely.

Why does Bozeman want that access? According to city attorney Greg Sullivan, it’s “to make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the city,” The Consumerist reports.

Sullivan also said the city doesn’t look at “the things that the federal Constitution lists as protected things” (whatever that means).

The story drew a lot of attention and outcry from the media, potential Bozeman employees and HR pros. That’s not surprising, considering there’s a debate going on about whether hiring managers should even look at candidates’ profiles, let alone obtain log-in information.

Apparently all the press got the city rethinking that part of the application. In a recent press release, Bozeman announced it will “suspend its practice of reviewing candidates’ password protected internet information until the City conducts a more comprehensive evaluation of the practice.”

What do you think? Did the public overreact to Bozeman’s hiring practice, or was the negative response justified?

Should social networking profiles play any role in the background check process at all?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Judge B. Carlton Terry, Jr., of North Carolina was recently reprimanded by the state’s Judicial Standards Commission for “friending” a lawyer on Facebook.

At some point during a pending child custody case, Terry found Charles Shieck, the lawyer representing the defendant, on the site and added him to his list of friends.

The two “friends” posted messages about the case to each other, the Lexington Dispatch reports. Comments included a discussion about proving whether the plaintiff had been having an affair and Terry’s statement that he had “two good parents to choose from.”

Eventually, Terry was disqualified from the case and a new trial was granted. He was then reprimanded by the state — interacting with counsel during a pending trial violates the state’s judicial code of conduct.

Regular, old-fashioned networking.

A recent survey by AfterCollege.com asked recent graduates to pick the job-searching methods they found to be most effective. The top two options were searching job boards and applying directly through a company’s Web site, followed by various types of networking, such as:

• talking to someone who works at an employer of interest
• attending a job fair, and
• talking to friends or family members.

Other preferred methods include asking professors for help, looking at ads in a newspaper and attending information sessions at a school.

Last on the list: using social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, with only 11% of users finding them to be effective job searching tools.

What does it mean? While companies have been able to find employees through social networking sites, like any recruiting tools, they need to be used in conjunction with other strategies. Focusing too much on one avenue, especially a brand new one, limits the audience you can reach.

More than half (53%) of employees say their managers shouldn’t be able to view what they put on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, according to a recent survey by Deloitte. For workers 18-34 years old, that number jumps to 63%.

But most managers disagree — 60% say they deserve to know what their reports do online. The main reason: Monitoring and protecting the company’s reputation. Social networking gives users a chance to make details of their lives public — and work is a heavily discussed topic. Browse any Facebook profile or Twitter account, and odds are you’ll find something about the person’s job.

Managers might have a real cause for concern: One-third of employees admit that they never consider how their employer will be affected when they post material online. Almost 75% admit that social networking sites make employers more vulnerable to damaged reputations.

What do you think — do supervisors have the right to check out employees’ online personalities? Do managers at your company search for folks on the Web? Let us know in the comments section below.

Regular, old-fashioned networking.

A recent survey by AfterCollege.com asked recent graduates to pick the job-searching methods they found to be most effective. The top two options were searching job boards and applying directly through a company’s Web site, followed by various types of networking, such as:

• talking to someone who works at an employer of interest
• attending a job fair, and
• talking to friends or family members.

Other preferred methods include asking professors for help, looking at ads in a newspaper and attending information sessions at a school.

Last on the list: using social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, with only 11% of users finding them to be effective job searching tools.

What does it mean? While companies have been able to find employees through social networking sites, like any recruiting tools, they need to be used in conjunction with other strategies. Focusing too much on one avenue, especially a brand new one, limits the audience you can reach.

Twitter.

For those who don’t know, Twitter is a social networking site that lets users post short updates about what they’re currently doing or thinking. Naturally, work is a common topic.

But poking around the site shows many users don’t understand that what they say can be read by not only friends and colleagues, but also bosses and HR. Updates range from the simple “goofing off at work” to more serious admissions.

Here are some examples of most ridiculous workplace Twitter gaffes, according to the online resume service ResumeBear:

1. “I used a new Autosend email feature last night on my boss. Completely fooled him! He called me this a.m. to thank me for working so late!”
2. “I’ve been sleeping with my boss for years and haven’t gotten a promotion yet. It’s not worth it.”
3. “I am currently trying to decide which disease to fake so I can leave work early.”
4. “Work was crappy today, my boss is a stupid idiot.”
5. “I lied about being sick on Friday, now I really am sick.”
6. “I hate the fact that they have Twitter blocked at my job … Gotta do it from my phone.”

What would happen if a manager at your company found a quote like those on an employee’s Twitter page? Is it grounds for firing? Or should the boss look the other way? Let us know in the comments section below.

That’s the question a Swiss insurance company recently had to answer.

A woman working for Nationale Suisse went home early because of a migraine. She told her boss she needed to lie down in the dark, away from a computer screen.

That’s why the manager was surprised to see that she was editing her Facebook profile that afternoon. The woman was fired for lying about needing to get away from her computer.

Many managers would do the same thing. But the story isn’t quite that simple. First of all, the employee did admit to logging into Facebook after she went home — but she said she did so on her iPhone, which didn’t exacerbate her symptoms the way a computer screen would.

Also, she attests the company unfairly spied on her by checking on her profile while she was out. The company claims a co-worker stumbled across it and let the boss know.

Either way, the woman says she’s not suing to get her job back — in fact, she wouldn’t take the job back if it was offered to her. “My trust in this employer is gone,” she told the Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten.

Was the company fair when it fired her? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.

According to a new survey, many don’t.

Only 50% of employees access their employer’s intranet on a daily basis, according to a report by Watson Wyatt. Most (80%) say their company’s system needs improvement.

Specifically, 50% say searching on their intranet is too difficult.

What are some other ways they can be improved? Companies are moving toward functionality that increases communication and makes the intranet a place for employees to access regularly, according to a recent report by Prescient Digital Media. For example:

• 48% of companies have discussion forums on their intranets
• 42% have blogs, and
• 15% have social networking features.

A manager finds a Web site where angry employees post vulgar insults directed at supervisors and co-workers — can the employees be fired? That’s the question raised by this recent lawsuit.

Two employees at a restaurant chain in New Jersey set up a forum on MySpace.com. It was a private group, meaning the creators had to e-mail co-workers before they were able to access it. The purpose of the forum: to let employees “vent about any BS” they had to deal with at work.

One employee who’d been invited mentioned the forum to her manager. He asked her for her password so he could read what was on the site. Afraid she’d get in trouble for refusing, she told the supervisor her log-in information.

As you can probably guess, the manager didn’t like what he found. In addition to derogatory comments about himself and other managers, employees had left sexually explicit comments, as well as references to violence and illegal drugs.

The two employees responsible for creating the group were fired. But they sued, claiming the manager’s access of the forum was illegal under the federal Stored Communications Act and a violation of their privacy under New Jersey law.

Were the comments really private

The company failed to get the suit thrown out. Now the case will go to a jury, which will decide:

• Is insulting the company online grounds for termination? Can employers create policies to limit what employees say online? (This will vary by state — some protect employees’ legal, outside-of-work activities, others don’t.)
• Did the employees have an expectation of privacy because the forum was password-protected?
• Was it illegal for the manager to get a password from his employee?

In today’s environment, with employees fearing for their jobs and working harder than ever, more situations like this are likely to crop up.

Right now, the law isn’t clear on what can be done. While it’s well-established that employees can be punished for publicly damaging the company’s reputation, this is the first case involving a private online forum that was only meant to be seen by other employees.

What do you think? Did the company do the right thing? Was the manager wrong in accessing the group in the first place? Tell us your opinion in the comments section below.

We’ll keep you posted on how the case is decided.

Cite: Pietrylo v. Hillstone Restaurant Group

A recent survey suggests it’s the latter.

Twitter is a site that allows users to post short “micro-blogs” to be read either by a group of contacts or the general public. While largely used for people to keep tabs on what friends are up to, many organizations have signed up for the free service to spread news about products or job openings.

Savvy recruiters and HR pros are also searching through the site’s user profiles to actively locate potential employees.

The strategy is catching on, if this recent survey of businesses in the U.K. is any indication:

About 17% of small employers are using Twitter to recruit and market, says British wireless provider O2.

And 62% of them say it’s helping save money. More than 15% estimate they’ve saved up to $7,000 since signing up for Twitter. A third said they’ve saved about $1,500.

Has your company tried using Twitter to recruit? Had any success? Share your experiences in the comments section below.