Following the recent success of TMP Worldwide's US careers fair in the online universe, Second Life, similar events are planned for the UK and French markets.

Companies attending the US event, which took place on the recruitment communications agency's own Second Life island, included eBay, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Sodexho and T-Mobile.

Some 800 people registered for the invitation-only event and TMP custom-built virtual offices for each of the organisations which took part. Second Life residents, who take the form of computer-generated avatars, dropped into the offices and were interviewed by recruiters via instant messaging. Because of pre- registration, the recruiters could also be informed of the resident's real name as well as their Second Life identity.

"Early feedback about the experience is positive," said TMP's UK head of digital, Dave Coombs, who added that a new island was likely to be built for the UK event and that it would take place before September.

One of the biggest surprises of the first event was the age bracket. "We expected a young audience but it was a much older demographic. We were surprised at the level of work experience of many of those who attended," said Coombs, who added that the online world has "suddenly made the careers fair more accessible".

TMP coached recruiters in how to sit down, move around and conduct themselves in the virtual world. Coombs admits that instant messaging is limited as a communications medium, but with Second Life creators Linden Lab looking into the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), he said "this will have a huge impact on using the platform for recruitment".

www.tmpw.co.uk
www.secondlife.com