Passwords, Please

By Brad

With more and more people participating in social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, employers have gradually started to take note. But now the city of Bozeman, Montana is taking things a step further by nipping social media problems in the bud during the interview process:

Applying for a job with the City of Bozeman? You may be asked to provide more personal information than you expected.

That was the case for one person who applied for employment with the City. The anonymous viewer emailed the news station recently to express concern with a component of the city’s background check policy, which states that to be considered for a job applicants must provide log-in information and passwords for social network sites in which they participate.

As people continue to participate online—sharing personal information in the process—expect more companies to start altering their hiring practices.