Recruitment hits Second Life

An article that really starts the head spinning from VNUnet.com, I am not unaware of Second Life, and I am more than aware of the growth and hype surrounding it's online community. But the blending of your real life (first life) and the escapism of your virtual life (second life) feels like a stretch, if not defeatist. With a globally aging demographic it is getting harder and harder to attract, hire and retain the talented people that will help companies achieve their goals. On that basis I have to applaud the creativity of taking the career fair concept to the virtual world.

The Career fair is being run by TMP and those interested in attending need to pre-register at the following site http://www.i-jobsforreal.co.uk/. By this point I was turned off already, but I am going to persist and see if I can report on the event and give you my feedback.

Year in and year out, I have read about the mythical passive candidate that job boards are supposedly bringing to the attention of recruiters! I am sorry, but I have yet to see someone passively, accidentally, as if by magic, end up on a job board and apply for a job! A career fair in a virtual world is going to be attracting the same kind of people that would be looking for work in a real world career fair in their real life. The hype and PR that goes with this is one thing, what I want to hear about is the time to hire, quality of hire and cost per hire from such activity before we give it too much credence.

For the majority of us the fact remains whether we are interacting in the real world or in a virtual world, we leave a trail of activity that creates a perception of who we are. Educate yourself on the best way to promote and represent your personal brand online and ensure your information is consistent. No matter where you decide to work or play online, your business partners, colleagues and potential future employer or clients are online too.