The Cisco Virtual Career Fair for European Engineers

Today's event, listed here, had me curious for a variety of reasons. On one side, I could see how a virtual career fair in Second Life could be of worth. On the other, I wasn't sure. Then again, Cisco Systems does have a pretty good track record in Second Life - so I decided to glance at it at around 11 a.m. SLT - and on the map I saw lots of green dots. I decided to go check it out.

Isabella Bogdanovich, amongst other Cisco System representatives greeted me. We chatted briefly, and while chatting I panned around with my camera - the place was pretty busy. There were a few people away from their keyboards, but that is par for the course with Second Life. I was told that Cisco was very happy with the turnout which they had received. For myself - I was impressed. I didn't expect that the European Job Fair would have been as big of a hit.

I wandered around for a bit, getting some compliments on the outfit Sarah Nerd got me for my RL birthday - and was even mistaken for [w:Darth Vader] by a newer addition to Second Life. It all seemed very laid back and relaxed. I even got two instant messages asking me if I was looking for work, but I had to explain I was in the wrong part of the world.

There were some foreign languages being batted around that I glanced at and couldn't make much sense of. I heard something about Denmark, saw a pirate and chatted with a few people.

All in all, it seemed to go very well - and I came away understanding a bit better why it worked well.

It isn't often that companies approach virtual worlds in as open and constructive a manner - and engage people while doing so. The event was a niche event for European engineers - and perhaps that, too, was why it was successful. The combination of technology oriented individuals, a virtual world setting and a chance to shop for employers and employees at the same time seems to have been a fitting use of Second Life. Perhaps some other businesses will learn from this example.