Manpower (MAN) is taking their job matching business to another level, as they've created a home in Second Life to help job seekers understand what the growing virtualization of the workplace will mean to them, and help them learn how to use virtual worlds like Second Life to learn the new ways of using these tools for their benefit.
The virtual home of the company will be called Manpower Island, and offers a number of virtual work resources to help people using Second Life to prepare r
esumes for real-life and virtual employment. They use workshops and orientation as ways to help people learn in the world.
"The virtualization of the labor market is a key issue for all of these groups and our presence in Second Life will enable us to further define the next stages of virtual work, which are emerging in 3-D worlds," said Tammy Johns, senior vice president of workforce strategy with Manpower.
Manpower says it's the first to offer job postings that focus on jobs outside of physical work spaces; jobs that are outsourced or involve telecommuting, which the company says Second Life can help with.
On the Manpower website they say "Manpower Island is a place where job seekers, employers and entrepreneurs can come together in an interactive forum to learn about and explore the World of Virtual Work, share ideas and identify new opportunities in traditional and non-traditional meeting spaces ranging from an amphitheater to a relaxing spot on the virtual beach."
The company adds that Manpower Island is created to be a learning community, and will include a number of resources to those new to the Second Life world navigate around in it; and other places where visitors can learn how to create a virtual resume, find a job in Second Life, how to prepare for virtual or real life interviews and getting the right type of clothing for the task.
A lot of large companies that have entered Second Life, seem to have done so without much thinking on why they're doing it and the best way to go about it. This Manpower inititiative actually makes sense to me, specifically the strong focus Manpower is making on the virtual and outside-the-office type of work.
I like the emphasis they also make on finding jobs and how to prepare your resume for employment within the world itself. That actually has some value to the user other than just having a few fun things to interact with that many other businesses in the virtual world offer.
Comment Preview