The last time I was in Second Life I found myself flying to the top of some kind of makeshift art warehouse, wondering why the sky was purple and where in the heck I could find my flying car. Who would have thought that I was merely a stones throw away from finding gainful employment.

Career Hunting

As it turns out, more and more companies are using Second Life has a recruiting tool. More interestingly, many companies are actually conducting interviews within the confines of this virtual world.

One might expect that companies like Google or Microsoft who are perched at the bleeding edge of innovation would be the only ones trying for this new model, but even older, more traditional firms like Bain are learning to leverage the power of virtual landscapes. Recently, Bain held an event involving graduate business students that had been accepted into their internship program inside of a virtual auditorium.

Growing Pains

This push towards using services like Second Life is not without its problems. The Wall Street Journal points out that many executives have a difficult time creating their avatars, and many others l have a hard time using those avatars in the virtual world. Some find it difficult to dress themselves, and more still have hard times using the virtual furniture.

All of these flaws are outweighed by the buzz that companies generate by being at the cutting edge of technology. Not only that, but interviews in SL are much cheaper than a traditional interview, and it allows employers to reach out in a way that geography might other have limited.

Web 2.0 Roundup

So you want to take a virtual interview? Take these tips.

Tailor your avatar to the position that you are interviewing for. You don’t have to where a suit, but if you are applying to a conservative company don’ show up as a troll or mermaid.

You don’t need to type as formally as you would in an email, but be certain to use instant messaging protocol (i.e. don’t type in ALL CAPS!)

Be sure that your computer is sufficiently powerful to run the Second Life software before the interview. The last thing you want is to end up buried in lag.