HR and Recruiting

From Virtual Worlds

HR & Recruiting: Best Practices

• Second Life has became widespread enough to make it a cost-effective tool for recruiting and new-hire orientation. In a virtual world, organizations can find specialists in multiple, not necessarily technical, disciplines such as sales, marketing, finance, human resources, and professional services--in addition to engineering.
• Second Life provides an opportunity for a company to break out of the clutter and stand out from its competitors, communicating its brand as an employer in an attractive light.
• Companies can project their corporate culture in the content that they create in a virtual world, which in turn helps them to attract the right candidates for the job.
• Virtual worlds add energy, interest, and excitement to every interaction. The interaction between an interviewer and a candidate in a virtual world creates a feeling of familiarity and trust. People choose the color, shape, age, sexual orientation, and gender in which they wished to be seen. In terms of recruiting, it leads to frank discussions of both the prospect's qualifications and the company's opportunities, helping to match both sides of the equation.
• Using virtual worlds as a platform for recruiting and new-hire orientation can help companies realize significant cost avoidance. A one-time investment in building virtual world infrastructure is all that's required for an organization to use it for any number of future events, including career fairs, orientation sessions, team and leadership building activities, intra-company collaboration, and more, at no extra cost.
• Even if a candidate does not have a Second Life account or experience in a virtual world, an invitation to try it might work exceptionally well for a leader company that seeks individuals willing and able to learn new things. If your company requires prospective employees to be intellectually excited by learning and developing new skills, virtual world recruiting might be a great fit for you.
• Use a Web interface and Second Life tools to schedule interviews in Second Life.
• Use different technologies and modes of communication. Create private areas for interviews so that a candidate and a recruiter feel comfortable discussing confidential matters. Make sure different modes of communication--such as in-world voice, text, and instant messaging--are available. Instruct candidates and staffers to use the instant messaging tool to keep chat private.
• Prescreen candidates before a virtual career fair starts, and collect resumes using in-world and Web tools, or e-mail.
• Provide vital information about the company. Have branded features for candidates to explore, such as streaming videos about the company; clickable posters with detailed information on benefits, culture, locations, diversity info, and job listings; slide shows; and career site links. You do not need to create all of these features from scratch. Current HR and marketing materials can be converted into formats usable in Second Life.
• Provide links from the Web directly to your Second Life location. Make navigation as effortless as possible by creating teleport signs.
• A Second Life interview is not a replacement of a regular hiring process, but rather a way to prescreen candidates and select the right ones for the next step. If you feel the candidate is worth pursuing, set up a real-world meeting.
• Set up procedures for crisis management. If anyone displays inappropriate behavior, ask the offender to leave. If the person persists, eject him or her and ban the person from the island.
• Do not stop at recruiting. Create a secure access area for new hires to help them with orientation and onboarding. Encourage older colleagues to meet their new peers and offer support and mentoring.