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1.  

   

   freakengine, Jun 20th, 2007 @ 5:38pm

   
   

   Is this a joke?

   Seriously. Would you want to work for a company who did this? I, for one, consider that the interview goes both ways and I'd never get a feel for a company thru Second Life.

    

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2.  

   

   Michael A. Banks, Jun 20th, 2007 @ 5:59pm

   
   

   Second Life job interviews

   A job interview in Second Life could be relevant in a situation interviewing candidates for a job as a Second Life avatar. Maybe hiring a guide ... or maybe hiring someone to live a Second Life for someone who's too busy in their real life.
   
   It seems to be another case of, "Let's do this because we CAN. Maybe someone will think it's cool, even though it's stupid."
   
   What's next? Second Life reality TV?
   --Mike

    

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3.  

   

   Joel Coehoorn, Jun 20th, 2007 @ 6:09pm

   
   

   I don't use 2nd Life at all; it just seems kind of juvenile. But I can see how this would be useful. Think of it not as the default way for interviews to take place, but as an option for people who would otherwise have difficulty interviewing in person. Let's say you're a new grad and you're not too picky about where that job is located- this could make it possible for you to do interviews that would otherwise be very difficult.

    

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4.  

   

   toritaiyo, Jun 20th, 2007 @ 6:59pm

   
   

   Re:

   I wonder in that case if an interview via webcam (or some other type of video conferencing might not be better?

    

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5.  

   

   ASDF, Jun 20th, 2007 @ 7:05pm

   
   

   It might be good...

   If the person you're interviewing lives across the country, and will only fly out to work there if they know that they have the job. Then it MIGHT be good. Of course, it would be better if you could actually here the employeer's and the maybe employee's voice.

    

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6.  

   

   fraffra, Jun 21st, 2007 @ 1:25am

   
   

   not so silly

   Virtual interviews could be useful to hire programmers and designer, PR or other that can demostrate their skills through the quality of their avatars, skills they can use in real world too. It's not so simple to be nice in SL, it could be not a so stupid idea for tech companies
   fra

    

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7.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Jun 21st, 2007 @ 4:55am

   
   

   i thought this was funny when I 1st saw this, but its starting to look like the next step.
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrAHBk4ZAeQ

    

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8.  

   

   2nd life is dumb, Jun 21st, 2007 @ 6:29am

   
   

   Re:

   Here's an idea. You could use video conferencing software (a cheap 29 dollar camera and some form of free IM chat that supports video) and "wallah!" you can have an interview face to face, without flying across the country or world.
   
   2nd life = very stupid.

    

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9.  

   

   TheLethologicalReader, Jun 22nd, 2007 @ 8:39am

   
   

   Re:

   I think that it's a very interesting concept, but so far not all that useful. It could very well turn into a more useful tool for companies, we'll have to see. Personally, I think that I'd rather deal with a Second Life first interview than have to go out and buy video conferencing equipment, load all the software and go through that hassle. Much better, in my opinion, to spend a little while fiddling around with a computer game. I put a long post about this on my blog:
   
   http://lethologicalreader.blogspot.com/2007/06/virtual-job-interviews.html

    

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10.  

    

    Semicharm, Jun 22nd, 2007 @ 8:54am

    
    

    Maybe or maybe not

    I agree that a second life interview would make sense for a position that requires working in the virtual world, but the "traditional" remote interview methods aren't what they are cracked up to be either. I once had a phone interview where the interviewer insisted on using a crappy speaker phone that picked up so much noise and echo that I could barely understand a word she said. Suffices to say that I didn't get the job.

     

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11.  

    

    anonymous, Apr 1st, 2008 @ 12:44pm

    
    

    I've gotten a job this way

    I just sent off the contract for a piece of software, admittedly SL related, after negotiating it and working out the spec with the client in SL.
    Of course both parties were experienced SL users.
    At one point using email to send a resume to a prospective employer would have been absurd, when the net was small. And for a while it only made sense when applying for a job related to tech.
    New technologies often have to wait for enough acceptance to be acceptable. Right now, I wouldn't be interviewing anyone for a position in SL unless that position was related to SL.
    Doing training in SL seems more appropriate at the moment.
    But the learning curve for SL is pretty shallow.
    More importantly, I'd not want to interview someone if I couldn't see their facial expressions and read their body language.
    But SL's not just a game. It's an interesting way to do networking, and to conduct business. That someone is trying to use it in a poor way is no condemnation of the tool.

     

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12.  

    

    video conferencing, Jun 16th, 2008 @ 2:21am

    
    

    Hey anonymous

    More importantly, I'd not want to interview someone if I couldn't see their facial expressions and read their body language.

     

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