Futurists believe that the Internet is evolving. Soon we will work, play and collaborate with one another in virtual worlds that mimic our own as we enter the Metaverse. Many corporations have already moved vital functions to virtualized platforms, including team-building events, meetings, product launches - and even job fairs.
Forward-thinking brands like Hyundai and Samsung have already held recruitment drives and training events in the Metaverse, hoping to gain an edge over the competition by attracting innovative talent and early adopters. But what does recruiting in the Metaverse look like, and how will it work? In this article, we find out.
Requirements Recruiting In the Metaverse
There is no hard-and-fast rule or requirements for leveraging the Metaverse, but there are a few interesting use cases that companies can use as their inspiration. Most businesses start their Metaverse recruitment journey by establishing or leasing a space in a virtual world. This becomes a fully-fledged branch or offshoot of their real-world brand presence. They can exhibit and sell products and services there, promote their employer brand, deliver presentations, and hold regular meetings.
Mazars was one of the first brands to use the Metaverse to create an exciting, immersive Employer Brand Experience for new hires using virtual reality. Many other companies, including Havas, Nike, and AXA, have built entire headquarters in the Metaverse and are equipped to move their entire HR function to the space.
The real challenge, however, is creating a positive experience for candidates. Many virtual worlds require expensive or complex subscriptions or VR headgear for an optimal experience. There is also the issue of actually finding the right talent in the space. Currently, Metaverse participants skew to a younger demographic. The vast majority of users are under the age of eighteen. However, that means that millions of users will soon enter the job market, having grown up as native Metaverse users.
Brands that use the Metaverse for recruitment today will have a real edge over the competition tomorrow.
Benefits of Recruiting in the Metaverse
Recruiting the best talent is crucial for any company, but the global pandemic has brought unexpected changes to the labor market, making it more difficult to attract top candidates. Following the so-called Great Resignation, job seekers have become more selective about where they work. The Metaverse offers a great opportunity to meet changing employee expectations and create a more personalized employer branding experience and provide access to richer sources of information. Here are just a few of the benefits to consider:
Creating a Better Experience For Candidates
By leveraging the Metaverse, companies have the opportunity to create a fully immersive candidate journey in a virtual environment, which can bring their values, culture, mission, and products to life. This will allow them to provide a behind-the-scenes tour of their workplace and showcase the projects they are currently working on. This unique approach will help potential candidates to better assess whether they would be a good fit for the company's culture, resulting in employers attracting not only skilled but also culturally compatible talents.
The traditional job application process, although digitized, can still be lengthy, cumbersome, and impersonal, leading to a poor candidate experience. The Metaverse could revolutionize this process by providing a more immersive, personalized, and convenient experience for applicants. Companies could tailor the application process to each candidate's unique needs, allowing them to express their ideas and share information without restrictions.
Improved Talent Assessments
Assessments are an essential part of the recruitment process, but existing solutions can come with technical issues and limited tool functionalities, leading to inaccurate results. The Metaverse could offer a better solution by combining the best of real and virtual worlds. Through immersion and gamification, assessments can become more effective and enjoyable, contributing to increased job satisfaction and employee retention rates. Furthermore, immersive experiences during the onboarding process can help new hires feel fully equipped to deliver their best work from day one.
Cost Savings and Increased Efficiency
Adopting the Metaverse for recruitment and onboarding processes can lead to significant cost savings for companies. The technology eliminates the need for physical locations and travel expenses that come with traditional recruitment and onboarding methods. Virtual recruitment events, for example, can save companies thousands of dollars that would have been spent on venue rentals, catering, and travel expenses for recruiters and potential candidates.
In addition, the Metaverse enables companies to streamline their recruitment processes and speed up the time-to-hire for new employees. With personalized, interactive onboarding experiences, new hires can hit the ground running, contributing to the company's success from day one.
Preparing For the Future
The Metaverse is not just a passing trend - it's the next phase of the Internet. By incorporating metaverse technology into recruitment and onboarding processes, companies can future-proof their hiring practices and ensure they remain competitive in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
Moreover, as the Metaverse continues to evolve and grow, new opportunities for recruitment and onboarding will arise. Companies that are already familiar with the technology will be better equipped to take advantage of these opportunities, further increasing their competitive advantage.
Companies Hiring In the Metaverse
A few businesses have already taken the first tentative steps toward recruitment in the virtual world. Meta is currently testing its remote work app (Horizon Workrooms) to enable meetings with Oculus Quest 2 headsets, which will include future job interviews. Hyundai was one of the first brands to use the Metaverse for hiring and people management. They are currently using Zepeto to conduct new employee inductions. Samsung also staged a virtual recruitment fair via Gather in September.
As more companies move to a remote-first model, they need tools that have evolved beyond just Zoom and email - they need to tap into all of the elements of human communication and connection. Siemens recently used the Journee platform to stage a meet and greet on a virtual beach, complete with fireworks and group selfies.
Best Platforms For Recruitment in the Metaverse
While many companies may eventually build their own Metaverse space for recruitment and virtual interactions, most will rely on existing platforms, including:
Decentraland Jobs
Decentraland is a job board specifically for the Decentraland metaverse, where users can post and apply for a variety of roles, from 3D modeling to community management. It is a great place to hire employees with metaverse skills.
Somnium Space Jobs
Similar to Decentraland Jobs, this is a job board for Somnium Space. Companies and individuals can post job listings, and users can browse and apply for positions.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain job boards
Sometimes it's best to look outside of the Metaverse for candidates before steering them to your virtual job fair or brand experience. Job boards such as CryptoJobs, Blockew, and Blockchain Headhunter may be useful resources for finding candidates that are interested in the Metaverse. Similarly, many candidates interested in remote working and the virtual world use project-related platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, Reddit, or Discord. Traditional job boards like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor could also serve as entry points.
VRChat Talent Marketplace
VRChat is a popular social virtual reality platform, and its Talent Marketplace allows users to hire freelancers or find work themselves. The marketplace includes categories such as 3D modeling, animation, and sound design.
As the concept of the Metaverse gains popularity, it's likely that new platforms will emerge specifically for hiring within virtual worlds. For example, startups like NeosVR and Spatial are building virtual collaboration tools that could potentially include job boards or marketplaces. Keep an eye out for new platforms as they emerge. You may have the opportunity to become one of the first recruiters in the space.
The Limitations and Challenges of Recruiting In the Metaverse
While AI and virtual reality have been part of the tools used in HR and recruitment for many years (including role-playing, behavioral analysis, and talent management), the Metaverse offers new ways for companies to enhance their brand through discovery experiences, including virtual tours of their premises, job tests and more.
The Metaverse means that recruiters can go far beyond the framework of the standard video interview to give candidates access to a fully augmented experience with an avatar that can remove subconscious biases, gamified experiences designed to test soft skills, AI and multilingual experiences, role-playing exercises and opportunities for discovery.
That doesn't mean that it's all smooth sailing.
Simply moving to the Metaverse doesn't guarantee success. The development of the Metaverse has been slow, and the skills required to build a virtual space are limited and at a premium price. So far, only the largest companies have been able to build Metaverses of their own; others will have to rely on the skills and opportunities of existing platforms.
Access to the Metaverse is also quite constrained by technology, including 5G access and network coverage, not to mention the cost of a virtual reality headset and the latest computer equipment.
There is also still some reluctance from the general population regarding the Metaverse and the need to transfer reality to a virtual world, with concerns about social isolation and alienation (and its impacts on the mental health of users). Others are concerned about the digital/social divide in the Metaverse. Rural users are often excluded due to connectivity and network issues, and the current user demographic skews towards a younger audience.
Remuneration is another question that companies have to resolve. The Metaverse largely transacts using cryptocurrencies, which are not widely recognized by formal financial institutions and governments.
Luckily, innovative Metaverse companies are working hard to bridge the gap and overcome limitations. With the right tools and strategy, recruiters can make the most of the virtual space.
Best Practices For Recruitment In the Metaverse
While many of the recruitment strategies you may use in the Metaverse are the same as they would be in the "real world," some adjustments are required. Here are a few best practices to consider:
1. Establish Your Goals
Decide what type of talent you want to attract and the desired outcomes for each recruitment drive. The Metaverse might not be suitable for your needs if you want to target specific skill sets or roles.
2. Develop Your Virtual Brand
It's not enough to simply move your recruitment collateral to the universe. You have to make the most of the Metaverse by using immersive experiences that give candidates real insight into your culture, values, and mission.
3. Use gamification and simulations for assessments
Implement gamification and simulations to make the assessment process more engaging and effective. These tools can help you evaluate candidates' skills and fit in a fun and interactive way.
4. Use virtual events
Host virtual events such as job fairs, meet-and-greets, and networking events to engage with potential candidates and showcase your company culture. Remember, you have the opportunity to create far deeper connections and experiences in the Metaverse - use those opportunities!
5. Use virtual assistants to save time
Utilize virtual assistants whenever possible to automate parts of the recruitment process, such as pre-screening and scheduling interviews, to save time.
6. Prioritize access for all candidates
Ensure that your virtual recruitment process is accessible to as many people as possible. Some platforms require expensive VR headsets, a new computer, or a subscription to platforms like Meta or Microsoft Teams. These barriers may reduce your candidate pool.
7. Determine how to measure success
The only way to find out whether or not the Metaverse really works for you is to analyze the recruitment data you collect through virtual job fairs and events. Make sure that you follow up with surveys and use registration forms to track candidates and build your talent pipeline from start to finish.
Conclusion
The Metaverse offers nearly boundless opportunities to the recruitment industry. By building a digital ecosystem that successfully connects employers and candidates, businesses can host virtual career fairs, conduct interviews and assessments, and even onboard new hires in a new and improved way. While the technology is still evolving, one thing is certain: the Metaverse is here to stay and will soon transform the way we live, work - and even recruit. Fortunately, there are cutting-edge metaverse solutions that can help SMBs enter the space.
FAQs
What is recruitment in the Metaverse?
Recruitment in the Metaverse refers to the process of hiring employees using virtual environments, including virtual job fairs and job boards.
What types of virtual jobs are available in the Metaverse?
Recruitment in the Metaverse isn't limited to hiring staff with virtual reality skills, although some of the popular roles that are being recruited include virtual architects, marketers, and designers.
What skills are needed to recruit others in the Metaverse?
Recruiters will need to hone their virtual communication and collaboration skills and technical proficiency with virtual reality tools and platforms and remain adaptable as the technology evolves over time.
How can candidates find work in the Metaverse?
Candidates can search virtual job boards, attend virtual job fairs and events, network with virtual colleagues and recruiters, and leverage social media and other online platforms to showcase their skills and experience.
Where can companies find candidates in the Metaverse?
Two of the most popular platforms for recruitment in the Metaverse include Decentraland Jobs and Sominum Space Jobs. However, it's a good idea to use traditional job boards as entry points for bringing candidates to your metaverse space.