RBS host a ‘career fair’ in Second Life

After successfully bidding for and winning the ABN AMRO game, with the consortia gaining 86% support on Monday, as mentioned here last Thursday before Barclays withdrew last Friday (confused already?) ... Royal Bank of Scotland are now following BNP Paribas'
example and hiring staff in Second Life.  But this is not just hiring
staff, but a whole recruitment fair with Yell and KPMG, organised by
TMP. 

The fair takes place in Second Life next week, and so I
thought I would post the press release here, as you guys seem to be
interested in Second Life stories (I'm still trying to get a real life ;)

Before you get the story though, I thought I'd let you know that I will be hosting Wells Fargo at BAI's Retail Delivery in Las Vegas next month on this very subject.  They will be looking at StageCoach Island,
Blogging and the latest craze: Boliao (I could tell you what that is
but need my palm crossed with silver first!).  Other guests include
WaMu (Washington Mutual), New England Credit Union, TowerGroup, Senteo
and New Ground.  More info here. 

I'll also be hosting ING's Director of Innovation, Wichert van Engelen, in Vienna in March next year at the European Retail Banking Forum.  Wichert is responsible for 'Our Virtual Holland'.
He'll be joined by innovators from PayPal, Nordea, Lloyds TSB,
alongside Financial Insights and the chap who led online fraud
investigations for the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Steve
Edwards MBE.

These events are open to all retail bankers so just let me know if you wanna come along. Meantime, here's the RBS news:

Finding real talent through a virtual world

Imagine
a world where you can interview a multitude of job seekers from around
the world without having to ‘go’ anywhere; they’ll be teleported to
you.

Imagine a world where you can have private
conversations with forward-thinking and creative prospective employees
in a lush, sophisticated and futuristic environment.

Imagine a world where you can be ‘present’ at a job fair and enjoy
fantastic brand exposure without having to worry about logistics such
as setting up or packing away stands and collateral.

Well there is no need to imagine anymore. That world is here now thanks to virtual reality!

The
UK’s first ever ‘virtual world’ careers fair will be held in Second
Life from 16 to 18 October 2007. The event, hosted by recruitment and
communications specialists TMP Worldwide, will allow leading employers
to tap into new talent from around the world without anyone having to
leave the comfort of their own office or home.

KPMG, The Royal
Bank of Scotland Group and Yell will use this innovative new channel to
connect with job seekers in a relaxed and neutral environment. While
both recruiters and job seekers alike can be anywhere in the world,
their avatars (computer generated images of themselves) will be
attending an online interview.

Candidates will be requested to register for the companies they are interested in at the event website.

Each company will carry out some initial screening of candidates and then invite them to an interview in Second Life.

The
3-day ‘virtual world’ job fair will take place from 4-8pm on the 16-18
October 2007. Once candidates enter the 3-D online virtual world, they
will be greeted by virtual concierges and escorted to a virtual office
where they will be given basic training on how to interact inside
Second Life. They will then be teleported to the employer’s offices on
the island where avatar recruiters will greet them and discussions can
begin via live chat and instant messaging.

Phil Owers, deputy
managing director at TMP Worldwide who are organising the event,
comments: “By hosting the job fair on Second Life we dissolve all
geographical boundaries enabling job seekers from around the UK and the
world to connect easily and cost-effectively in a friendly and
impartial environment. The targeted marketing approach is consistent
with more traditional routes but the experience for the candidate and
customer is enhanced”

Nigel Bastow, head of resourcing from
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group adds:“The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
is firmly committed to innovation. We believe in exploring all channels
through which we can attract the best quality candidates to the group.”