“So Jaredpower, what’s your burger-flipping experience?”

By Mark O’Neill

What is it with all the Second Life stories appearing in the mainstream media at the moment? Papers such as the Washington Post and the New York Times are suddenly going all Linden Labs crazy.

It seems that as well as the virtual reality world being used by terrorists and spies, it is also being used by employers to conduct virtual job interviews. The big employers are buying up virtual islands where they can hold company meetings and interviews.   A New York Times reporter undertook a dummy interview with Linden Labs to see how it was all done.

I guess it would be a big advantage if the job applicant was in another part of the country or even another country altogether.   Holding virtual interviews like this would also be beneficial if the job vacancy was in the area of computers, programming and virtual reality.   If the applicant demonstrated proficiency in getting into Second Life for the interview then they have already partly proved they are comfortable in that area.

But to be honest, if I was an employer and the job applicant’s name was Jaredpower Afarensis then I would be putting the local psych hospital on my phone speed-dial.