Second Life Interviews

I find it absolutely crazy that companies are actually starting to do interviews in Second Life. I really don't feel like you can get a good interview with a potential employee by conducting the interview in a virtual world. There are many problems with technology that may cause a perfectly good candidate to lose the job, and because of the uncertainty that is involved with the Internet, there may also be some unworthy candidates that get a job. For example, the Second Life program takes up a lot of space on the computer. There are problems with the program freezing. Even with the little experience I have had in SL, my computer has frozen several times. This can create bad situations in interviews. The example of the guy handing over a beer instead of his resume is another good example. I don't believe that anyone would ever make that mistake in person. When you have little experience with the program, it is easy to make these kinds of mistakes. Mistakes such as these give a bad impression of the person, when in reality, such mistakes in a SL program are not an indicator of someone's qualification's for a job. On the other hand, it would be easy for someone to make themselves appear better than they are. There is no way of knowing who is physically sitting at the computer and typing during the interview. Someone who may not be good at answering interview questions could be having someone else participate in the interview. These examples show why it is important that SL interviews have to be supplemented with live interviews; however, even with a live interview, I don't think SL interviews are a good idea. SL interviews are most likely used to create first impressions, and once those first impressions are made, they are going to be difficult to break. I don't feel like SL gives people a fair opportunity to show who they really are in an interview.

The article mentioned that it's better than live interviews because you can always hit the backspace button. If I were being interviewed, it might be nice to have the option to change what I say, but from an employer's standpoint, I think the main purpose of an interview is to see how a person reacts on the spot. I feel that SL does not give a candidate a fair chance to show their interest in the job or to show their true character when all they are doing is typing responses. I also do not think that employers get a fair idea of what the candidate is actually like.

It seems like companies may like the idea of conducting interviews through SL because it's cheaper and easier. The person conducting the interview can be anywhere they want to be, and they don't have to pay for travel expenses. Interviews over the Internet are convenient and easy. While it may seem like a better option, I think it is worth the price and hassle to get a real interview with a person. By putting forth the extra effort in the interviewing process, companies can save themselves time and money later when they are not facing problems due to bad hiring decisions.

In some situations, I can see where companies feel that SL is a good interviewing technique. In the case with the police force needing people to help regulate crime on the Internet, an interview over the Internet may be appropriate. It would show that the job applicant has knowledge and experience in SL. Some companies that heavily rely on computer software may also be the type of company that considers a SL interview. If a technologically based company wants to see that a job applicant has basic experience with programs like SL, the interview in SL could work. I think there are very few companies that are looking for people who have the skills to navigate SL, and overall I do not think that SL interviews would be effective.