Only 9% of HR pros frequently use those sites to recruit, according to a recent survey by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). But that’s a big jump from the 2% that did so in 2006.

Also, 56% said they never go to the sites. In 2006, more than three quarters of the respondents gave the same answer.

With so few employers using the sites regularly, it could give your HR department a chance to get a leg up on the competition.

The pros

What are the benefits of recruiting through Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites? The most common reasons HR pros gave for using them were the abilities to:

• reach candidates who aren’t actively looking for a job (69%)
• target a specific level of experience (40%)
• find someone with specific skills (38%), and
• increase employer brand recognition (35%).

The cons

The biggest reason employers have for avoiding those sites: concerns about legality.

By looking at a candidate’s online profile, hiring managers may inadvertently learn about someone’s membership in a protected class. Therefore, making a decision based on online information could leave the company open to bias claims.

Other reasons employers have for not using social networking sites to recruit:

• don’t have enough HR staff to try new recruiting methods (49%)
• not sure everything users post about themselves is true (42%), and
• most information on the sites is not work-related or useful (36%).

What about your company? Have you tried recruiting candidates on Facebook, MySpace or related sites? Has it been successful?

Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The fastest growing population on Facebook: professional adults, according to O’Reilly Media.

Since September 2008, the number of Facebook users between the ages of 35 and 44 went up by 51%. Users age 45-54 increased by 47%, and by 26% for those 26-34.

Many of those users are logging on specifically for job-seeking purposes. As the site begins to attract huge numbers of people from all generations, it could be a great resource for HR and recruiting pros.

Crystal Bell, of British Columbia, Canada, worked at a spa for two weeks — until she woke up one morning to find a message from her boss sent via Facebook.

The news: She was fired for missing a staff meeting during her day off.

Bell thought the boss was joking, so she got dressed and went to work anyway. But it turned out the manager was dead serious.

Why fire someone through a social networking site? The manager explained she tried to call Bell, but couldn’t get a hold of her. And she didn’t want to have to fire her in person, “when other people were around.”

Have you ever heard of a manager firing an employee through an electronic pink slip? Is it ever appropriate to do something like that? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

At the end of last month, Virgin Atlantic fired 13 cabin crew employees for posting derogatory comments to a Facebook message board.

Among other things, the employees joked about allegedly lax security standards, claimed that some of the company’s planes were infested with cockroaches and referred to passengers as “chavs” (a British term similar to the American phrase “white trash.”)

A few days later, British Airways began investigating a group of employees who used Facebook to call BA’s passengers “smelly and annoying.”

Virgin officials said the company has a policy against writing about the company online without authorization. But it looks like they weren’t able to make sure employees followed the rule — the company only learned what had happened after some angry customers complained.

Only 9% of HR pros frequently use those sites to recruit, according to a recent survey by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). That’s up from 2% in 2006.

Also, 56% said they never go to the sites. In 2006, more than three quarters of the respondents gave the same answer.

What are the benefits of Faceboo, MySpace and Linkedin? The most common reasons people gave for using them were the abilities to:

• reach passive candidates (69%)
• target a specific level of experience (40%)
• find someone with specific skills (38%), and
• increase employer brand recognition (35%).

Motivations for staying away from social networking pages included lack of HR staff to try new recruiting methods (49%) and doubts about the truth of what users post about themselves (42%).

About 22% of hiring managers say they look for job candidates’ profiles on social networking sites, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder. That’s up from 11% who said they did so in 2006.

Also, 9% said they’re probably going to start using the Web to help in hiring decisions.

How are they using the information candidates post? Of the managers who check the sites, 34% said they’d found cause to remove an applicant from consideration. Most of the time, it was because the candidate talked about drinking or using drugs, posted inappropriate pictures or had noticeably poor communication skills.

On the other hand, roughly one quarter of those managers found info that solidified their decision to hire someone, such as background supporting their qualification for the job, creativity, diverse interests and a general professional appearance.

Any problems?

Of course, the big question on HR’s mind: Are there any legal dangers or other problems to worry about?

There is the possibility of a manager learning about a candidate being in protected class, which could result in a bias claim if the person isn’t hired.

Beyond legal concerns, there’s also the danger of mistaken identity, especially if the candidate has a common name. Also, some argue that what someone posts online won’t necessarily have anything to do with their job performance (even if they were dumb enough to put questionable items online in the first place).

What do you think? Have your managers ever checked out applicants on the Web? Do you think it’s a good idea, or a terrible one? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Take the recent example of a Canadian grocery store chain. Two of its employees were fired recently for talking about how they stole from the company on a social networking site.

Termination seems like a natural reaction when an employee admits to theft. But in this case, the employees had a defense: The posts were jokes. They never actually stole anything, and no one could prove they did.

The company didn’t buy it and stuck with its decision.

Fact vs. fiction

The story raises an interesting point: How can employers separate fact from fiction when they snoop online? If a worker or applicant brags about illegal or just plain stupid activity on Facebook, does it matter if it’s a joke — or is the fact that they were boneheaded enough to post it in the first enough to warrant discipline or rejection?

What about cases of mistaken identity? If someone has a common name, could it be possible you’re looking at someone else’s profile?

We’d like to hear from you: Do you go online to find information about your employees and applicants? If so, do you verify that info? And how do you use what you find? Let us know by dropping us a comment.

Wink is basically a search engine that compiles results from different social networking sites and other places where you can profiles of people (like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, etc.).

It gives you the basic search functions you’d expect from personal profiles, like name, location and interests. Most importantly for recruiting, there’s also a “Careers” search field. You can enter the type of job you’re trying to fill and your location, and it should come up with plenty of results.

It’s much more general than doing a resume search, where you can search for years of experience and specific skills, but you do get a lot of names. From the results page, you get linked to the person’s full profile where you can get more information.