Don’t ask people to e-mail you.

Apparently, spammers have been trolling Twitter to locate fresh e-mail addresses to add to their lists. The common strategy is to use a program that searches the site for phrases like “E-mail me at” or “Contact me at” and automatically copies the address that follows.

Experts recommend keeping e-mail addresses out of Twitter posts. In a post about an open position, for example, instead of giving an e-mail address to send resumes, give readers a link to a listing on a job board or your company’s site.

Most are spending more time on social networking sites and less money on job boards like CareerBuilder and Monster, according to a recent survey by Jobvite, a recruiting software provider.

Of the 440 HR pros who responded, 72% said their company will invest more in recruiting through social networks this year. Meanwhile, more than half expect to spend less on job boards.

What online tools are getting the most use? The most popular social networks for recruiters and HR pros:

• Linkedin (used by 80% of those who responded)
• Twitter (42%)
• Facebook (36%)
• Jobster (17%)
• Myspace (13%).

Other traditional, low-cost methods are getting more attention in this economy as well — for example, 68% of companies said they plan to increase the use of employee referrals.

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.

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.

Here are some examples of useful Twitter tools for recruiters, according to blogger Tawny Labrum:

• ConnectTweet — Lets users for the same company combine their posts into one collective feed — making it a good marketing tool for HR. Enlist employees to write about what it’s like to work at your company, giving potential candidates a view from the inside.
• TweetMyJobs — Employers can sign up for an account and list new open positions, and TweetMyJobs automatically spreads the word to job seekers on Twitter.
• Twitter Alerts — E-mails users a list of posts that match selected keywords. Companies could use it to locate people on Twitter in specific industries that are looking for work.
• Twellow — Also known as Twitter’s Yellow Pages, it lets you search through Twitter users based on various categories, including profession — good for locating passive job candidates.

That’s the kind of talk recently discovered on the Twitter page belonging to a CareerBuilder salesperson.

The page was deleted after several bloggers reported on the snafu. But while it existed, it contained a few noteworthy quotes, including:

• “People really annoy me… especially those i’m trying to get to buy stuff.”
• “OK seriously, this man needs to sign his contract. Whatever meeting he’s in right now better be about buying CareerBuilder products.”
• “I’m really sick of my clients right now.”

Sound like someone you would want to buy from?

There’s no word on what, if any, action CareerBuilder took. What would your company do if a manager found an employee publicly insulting customers? Let us know in the comments section below.

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.

There’s always been a difference between what some job candidates say and what they really mean. Except now it’s gotten easier for them to accidentally reveal the truth to managers and HR.

Take this confession by an applicant who was offered a job by tech firm Cisco:

Going by the Twitter screen name “theconnor,” the applicant posted an update to the site that read: “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.”

It didn’t take long for a member of Cisco’s upper management to find the post and respond: “Who is the hiring manager? I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the Web.”

The response and the the original post grabbed the attention of bloggers, and the story made the rounds online. Curious Web sleuths even managed to learn the would-be employee’s true identity, MSNBC reports.

Withdraw the offer?

It certainly isn’t the first time a candidate’s employment is in jeopardy because of a stupid online revelation. And it won’t be the last as long as hiring managers continue to check out applicants on the Web (22% of managers do, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey).

No word yet on whether Cisco has withdrawn the job offer. Do you think it should?

If you were the hiring manager in this case, would an admission about “hating the work” be enough to change your mind about the candidate? Or you would you dismiss the online rambling and stick to the decision you made based on the candidate’s resume and interview?

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

Take what happened recently at tech company Twitter. When the HR manager was responding to rejected job applicants, she e-mailed a standard message to a group of 186.

But instead of placing the e-mail address in the “blind carbon copy” (“bcc:”) field, she used a regular carbon copy. That means every recipient also saw the name and e-mail of everyone else in the group.

The company has since come under fire for revealing the private e-mail addresses of all 186 applicants — not to mention making the rejection letter appear even more impersonal.

If so, there’s a new service called Yammer that may help employees and managers collaborate without overloading each other’s in-boxes.

Yammer is a social networking site similar to Twitter, which allows users to post brief messages to update their friends about what they’re up to. Yammer is based on the same idea, but it’s kept secure so nothing can be viewed by anyone outside the company.

Users say it’s more useful than e-mail when getting in touch with a large group of people. For example, if an employee has a question but isn’t sure who’ll have the answer, instead of e-mailing everyone in the office, he can post it to Yammer, where they can see it.

The service is free, with optional administrative tools and security features available for $1 per employee per month.