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 are David 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-savvy Business 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 hire Ajaz Ahmed, Chairman at AKQA

Where does this fit with online recruitment? Monster.com MySpace LinkedIn World of Warcraft Second Life

Businesses doing business in SL BUSINESSES PRODUCING… Products Entertainment Consulting Hospitality Web IT Education SL-only ARE USING SECOND LIFE FOR… Marketing Retail sales Telepresence (collaboration, meetings, events) Recruitment

Businesses recruiting in SL COMPANIES IBM eBay Hewlett-Packard Microsoft Hyro Case Western University STAFFING AGENCIES Kelly Services TMP Semper HOW? Jobs Fairs Ongoing 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 guardians Clicking signs give you notecards about the company and its benefits Can 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 reported TMP May event, 150 interviewed Hyro 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 Life http://freshtakes.typepad.com/sl_communicators/ Get Ready to Recruit in Second Life http://www.ere.net/inside-recruiting/news/get-ready-to-recruit-in-second-180322.asp I got my job through Second Life http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/22/magazines/fortune/secondlife_recruit.fortune/ Sodexho Says Second Life Job Fair Caters Up Quality Candidates http://www.ere.net/inside-recruiting/news/sodexho-says-second-life-job-fair-180695.asp Hyro uses Second Life for real life recruiting http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/9525/50/ A Job Interview You Don't Have to Show Up For http://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 World http://networkinworld.jobs/default.aspx Help Wanted in Second Life http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/24/84/26.html Get a first life in the second one http://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 Schools http://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 Locations http://www.marketwire.com/2.0/release.do?id=731567&sourceType=1 AKQA Opens Recruiting Hub in Second Life http://www.lexdon.com/article/akqa_opens_recruiting_hub_in/72761.html

In-world Locations TMP Worldwide TMobile, Ebay, Sodexho, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and others are here http://slurl.com/secondlife/TMP%20Worldwide/190/81/24 Hyro World http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hyro%20World/199/197/40 Semper International http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jacqueland/85/52/22 IBM IBM 4, invite only Kelly Services http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kelly%20Services/79/129/24 Bain & Co Invite only