With all the information they house, social-networking Web sites are a potential gold mine for employers looking for the skinny on their employees and job applicants. And some businesses are asking for access to those resources.

"We feel very strongly that online social networks should be part of the background-checking process," said Anthony Diina of MetroData Services Inc. The background-check and investigation company, he said, works with more than 100 agencies, businesses and nonprofits.

So when someone applies for a job with one of his clients, he asks the applicant to become a "friend" of MetroData's Facebook page.

While Diina is aware that some information on online-social-networking (OSN) pages and other sites isn't authored by the person in question or can be misleading, for companies hiring new employees or evaluating existing ones, he said, the sites can be particularly useful.

"Once an employee is hired, something may happen six months down the road, and the Web site allows for continued access," Diina said.

Project the right image

Stephanie Argentine is senior human-resources director at Bureau Veritas, which conducts consumer-product testing. She said there's a general philosophy that anything posted online means it's available to be looked at, but there are ways people can control the image they project.

"When you are connected to LinkedIn, Facebook or MySpace, consider different privacy levels based on your audiences," she said, adding that her company doesn't use social-networking Web sites in conducting background checks.

She and her staff do, however, scour them for potential job candidates.

As for MetroData's approach, Argentine said, "As a job candidate, your Facebook presence should be in such a state that it doesn't present problems for you."

On the other hand, she said, asking job candidates to allow an employer or potential employer access to their social-networking pages might give them pause."What might that tell you about that company," she asked, "and might you still want to work for them?"

Stephanie Cole, general counsel at Niagara University, said she feels it's unfair for a company to demand access to an applicant's social-networking pages.

"But for certain types of work, I can see the need, and for private companies, so as long as the access is honestly obtained, it isn't illegal," Cole said.

Argentine said she could see examples of wanting to see someone's Facebook page if, for example, the position is for a teacher who may eventually be interacting with preteens there, or if the site is used by the applicant who will be managing the company's Facebook presence. This way, she said, the person's page could serve as an example of his or her body of work.

LinkedIn connections as references

Like Argentine, Patti Kinz, director of talent assessments at Performance Management Partners Inc., and Christopher Beckage, vice president of Superior Technical Resources Inc., said their companies don't use the online-networking sites to conduct background checks, but do visit LinkedIn to find potential candidates for clients.

Beckage said Superior sometimes looks to see whom a person may be connected to. These connections, he said, sometimes may then be contacted for references.

Added Kinz, "These sites aren't as valid and reliable as interview questions, or our extensive database of candidates we can go to when a position arises."

Diina said the way information is used can be sensitive in terms of the employer-applicant relationship, and discrimination is obviously something he wants to prevent against. At the same time, making the best decision about whom to hire is the end game.

How, then, might he or an employer respond to a person who refuses to friend MetroData on Facebook? Perhaps that person has something to hide.

"Sometimes, an unwillingness to answer a question actually gives you an answer," he said.

Networking sites may put IP at risk