Stacy Surla | 6/25/07

Second Life and Web 3D Recruitment

Shared online virtual environment

What is Second Life?

Given tools and rules, make up your own goals

Products of your work belong to you

The characteristics of SL that make it popular as a game also make it conducive to social networking

Being used by businesses, universities, libraries, nonprofits, and others

What are people saying about recruitment in SL?

Recruiters need to be where their candidates areDavid Manaster, Electronic Recruiting Exchange

To reach a new generation of employees, successful recruiters will need to employ sophisticated, innovative technologies that extend their reach and demonstrate that they are smart and tech-savvyBusiness Communicators of Second Life

The Second Life community is full of early adopters, trend setters who are the first to embrace new ideas and that's the kind of people that we want to hireAjaz Ahmed, Chairman at AKQA

Where does this fit with online recruitment?

Monster.comMySpaceLinkedInWorld of WarcraftSecond Life

Businesses doing business in SL

BUSINESSES PRODUCING…

ProductsEntertainmentConsultingHospitalityWeb ITEducationSL-only

ARE USING SECOND LIFE FOR…

MarketingRetail salesTelepresence (collaboration, meetings, events)Recruitment

Businesses recruiting in SL

COMPANIES

IBMeBayHewlett-PackardMicrosoftHyroCase Western University

STAFFING AGENCIES

Kelly ServicesTMPSemper

HOW?

Jobs FairsOngoing recruitment presence

TMP Worldwide

The island hosts a number of company recruiting centers, including TMobile, Ebay, Sodexho, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft

Ebay

Building is complete with Pez dispenser guardiansClicking signs give you notecards about the company and its benefitsCan leave a resume

TMobile

Features a skydiving pod – with parachute provided

Hewlett-Packard

Real-world branding carried throughout

Hyro (creative digital services)

Nice signage, clear instructions, lots of interesting meeting rooms

IBM Germany

The main IBM recruitment areas are invite-only

Kelly Services

Goofy, yet actually rather neat. But not much obvious information about how to get a work through Kelly

Semper

Recruiting for Second Life jobs

Pros

Cheaper than RL job fair – "[W]e didn't have to ship things and load them up, or pack and unpack boxes" (Sodexho)

Higher-ups who wouldn't normally attend a recruitment event can make an appearance

First time Second Life users do participate

Relaxing and convenient for recruiters and candidates

Success has been reportedTMP May event, 150 interviewedHyro hired ~30 Jan-Feb this year

Cons

Limit to 50 or 100 simultaneous visitors

Requires time to download client, orient, practice, and dress for success (~6 hours)

Presence of recruiters is important (though can also design the space for recruitment interaction)

Recommendations

Explore as a supplement to regular recruiting practices

Have a plan (no brochureware or unmaintainable presence)

Citations

Business Communicators of Second Lifehttp://freshtakes.typepad.com/sl_communicators/

Get Ready to Recruit in Second Lifehttp://www.ere.net/inside-recruiting/news/get-ready-to-recruit-in-second-180322.asp

I got my job through Second Lifehttp://money.cnn.com/2007/01/22/magazines/fortune/secondlife_recruit.fortune/

Sodexho Says Second Life Job Fair Caters Up Quality Candidateshttp://www.ere.net/inside-recruiting/news/sodexho-says-second-life-job-fair-180695.asp

Hyro uses Second Life for real life recruitinghttp://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/9525/50/

A Job Interview You Don't Have to Show Up Forhttp://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118229876637841321-NkCuEAak8wFXmvmPVWkALxqNS3M_20070719.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

Recruiting in Second Life sounds good in a press release, but what does it really mean?http://www.ere.net/blogs/Hire_Calling/AB5F703F8CFC41A79B3DABD420AAA6DD.asp

Citations

TMP Network in Worldhttp://networkinworld.jobs/default.aspx

Help Wanted in Second Lifehttp://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/24/84/26.html

Get a first life in the second onehttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/graduate_management/article1671214.ece

Bain & Company Adds New Dimension to Recruiting from Top U.S. Business Schoolshttp://www.advfn.com/news_Bain-Company-Adds-New-Dimension-to-Recruiting-from-Top-U-S-Business-Schools_19892810.html

Kelly Services Adds 'Second Life' to Its List of Global Locationshttp://www.marketwire.com/2.0/release.do?id=731567&sourceType=1

AKQA Opens Recruiting Hub in Second Lifehttp://www.lexdon.com/article/akqa_opens_recruiting_hub_in/72761.html

In-world Locations

TMP WorldwideTMobile, Ebay, Sodexho, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and others are herehttp://slurl.com/secondlife/TMP%20Worldwide/190/81/24

Hyro Worldhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Hyro%20World/199/197/40

Semper Internationalhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Jacqueland/85/52/22

IBMIBM 4, invite only

Kelly Serviceshttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Kelly%20Services/79/129/24

Bain & CoInvite only