Second Life and real world Resumes

I have a question for all those who operate businesses in SL. Would you use SL has a reference in a Real World resume? I'm writing up a new resume for a potential job to get out of working the crap jobs I'm stuck with right now. Its for an entry level position as a computer troubleshooter, but its a foot in the door for what I originally wanted to do and its what I'm good at. Now I help manage the day to day activities of Serenity Woods, operate the rental units, handle the funds & payments, and help with public relations & customer support. I feel it would help greatly for a possible employer to see I have experience operating a server on a commercial system that generates real world revenue and dealing with the public. Unfortunately I also feel it might work against me with the employer not taking it seriously or considering me overqualified for the job. Even though this is probly the worst place to ask what do you guys think?

Actually there was a thread last year about the use of SL references on a RL resume and how it helped people get a job,
i think that if it is a computer or tech telated job it cannot hurt to put it down under other skills or something, also, i guess it would depend on who i was sending it to, a young tech company, yes...US Steel ...not so much....

Dunno.

If I saw something like, "Runs a successful server on Second Life that generates significant RL income" I would quietly file the resume into the no-hire bin.

Because then I'd know they had no room for their first life...

I guess that depends upon the job you seek. If you were to walk into my law office and presented me with a resume listing gaming as a credential you would not be hired for any position. If you were to walk into Linden Lab then perhaps experience playing a game would take you further, but I understand even working at LL requires a college degree!

actually seems it is something alot of people do.. i would do it, it can't hurt..

really.. but what kind of job would you be hiring for?

i would think someone putting their sl expeirence down would be a graphic designer, yes?

*nods* Certainly here in the UK, pretty much any job with prospects requires a *minimum* of a first degree. With the country now swimming with graduates, many companies are asking for much more.

If the stuff done in SL was directly relevant, then yes. If not, I would leave it out.

I wouldn't list your sl business on a resume. It would take too much time to explain if the interviewer starts asking questions. I suppose it would make a good conversation piece and perhaps make you somewhat memorable to them but it really depends on the job and the people hiring you and their perception of what second-life is. I assume most people would just think you are playing a game like World of Warcraft.

Troubleshooter is basicly Tech support, there's a problem on a work station we try to find a fix. I've done Tech Support/Trouble Shooting before with a small business, but it helps to have more then one tech reference especially when that one reference went out of business. Doing techsupport side jobs also don't really help as a business reference so I really need something. I have enough experience to deal with the general public and troubleshooting computer problems. But I'm not too confident in my current references.

Well, let's just assume you 'want' to use your experience in SL 'because' after looking over all the suggestions (which are relevant). Hmmm, let's see how we can tweak the phraseology:

Virtual 3D environment & virtual customer service manager; in charge of consolidation of funds and payments translating into real world revenue, managing customer database with in-depth knowledge of -insert program/s-, experience with troubleshooting technical issues for inworld clients and handling customer relations.

Some tips:
1. Don't use the word - Game- in your resume. It technically is so. But you need your foot in the doorstep for an interview. Go for the interview, impress them with your persona and possible potential. If they ask for details you can explain to them in detail - who knows possibly impress them with the complexity of handling the multitude of customers in a complex advanced virtual world where -insert amount of $$$ money generated by SL - every day/week/month/year.
2. If you want your company to take you seriously, do your research on the company, that way you can better inform your potential employers how You can benefit them like SL benefited from having someone like you.
3. Numbers crunching: Let your company know that SL is to be taken seriously (yes give solid stats on how much $$$ SK generates- companies love hearing about money - it's all about the bottom line).

Hope this helps

That depends entirely on the business and relevance to the real job applied for.

Personally, I do. Second Life has enabled me to put "Award Winning Game" and "98-99th percentile Sourceforge Project (Prim.Blender)" on my resume, despite the first one being utterly broken by a change in the system. It's a nice perk that just enabled me to get a rather nice offer from a company, in fact.

I used Second Life as a freelance job experience on my resume when I was doing a job search last fall. It really sparked a lot of interest from potential employers.

I agree with the other posters - it really does depend on the type of work you're seeking. I am a graphic artist (with a two year degree), and the "work" I do in SL is directly related to what I'd be doing in the field - from logo design, typographic design, layouts, collage, and visual merchandising to customer service, product design and development, marketing & advertising, etc. etc. etc.


I think the SL to RL resume works best if you are in a business field, computer related field, creative/design/media related field, advertising/marketing, public relations, communications, event planning, fashion design & marketing, um *thinks* possibly the education field if you are training/teaching classes in scripting/building/etc., and especially if you are teaching classes dealing with professional software such as Photoshop, and sales & retail possibly, if you're at your SL business quite regularly and perform quite a bit of customer service and visual merchandising, POS displays (point of sale), and the like.

I personally think anything you do that increases your knowledge and experience in a specific job related area is definitely worth mentioning. If you can give examples of how your SL experiences have helped to round out your real world knowledge of business operations, I certaintly think it's okay to bring it up. The company may not understand what SL is, but explain it as best as you can, and explain how you've gained some insight into whatever field you happen to be aiming for. I'm pretty sure quite a few companies will be glad to see your openness and willingness to learn about your chosen field, enough so that you spend your free time "playing" in said field.

One last piece of advice - make two resumes. One with your SL experience, one without. If you suspect a company of not being open to the concept of virtual business and don't want to take the risk, by all means, use your "safe" resume. If a company is a bit quirky and you think they may be open to your experience, by all means, give them your "SL Resume."

Good luck!!

Thanks for all your input, I may not be a graphical designer but I'm more of a computer technician always have been. I've actually learned alot from managing a sim: public relations/customer support, realistate, server performance troubleshooting, and still learning new things every day. Just wish I could get a college degree or a certification through SL, that would give a whole new meaning to E-Learning and make online classes more interesting.

You can always toss SL into your hobbies/interests section (if you have a resume with one of those) if your SL experience isn't entirely relevant to the job you're applying for. Then explain a bit more in detail on the actual interview.

If you manage a sim, I'd definitely put that experience in there. Go with the business angle - you're a computer technician with an understanding of daily business operations and management, with a willingness to learn more. While that might not sway things in a very large company where you will have one set role to perform, you *may* get lucky with a smaller company who would love to have a tech who could help out with other various tasks during the course of the day. In a place with less defined job roles, being skilled in various areas would definitely be to your benefit.

As far as online certification courses in SL (that idea is nuts and I like it), while that's not possible yet, you could always look into real online courses. I'm not entirely sure of the costs, but hunt around a bit. There're more and more fields out there supporting online learning.

From the quick search I just performed, I found several colleges with online courses in everything from Business & Accounting to IT to Education to Design. Combining actual courses with SL experience and learning would be a great step to improving your skills.

Hope this helps!

Yeah I do manage a sim wich is why I thought about putting that into my resume since it takes alot of various skills to do my part there. Its also given me alot of business and managerial experience I never had before so its tought me a great deal.

As for classes in SL, I've seen people holding courses inworld for foriegn languages like Japanese and LL has tried to rally real world teachers that play SL for one reason or another. Basicly it can be done with what we have now and what most online courses use. Some online courses use a private Usenet (newsgroup) server sometimes in conjunction with a VoIP or video confrencing software. So why can't SL be used as a similar medium? I'm pretty sure between video broadcasting and a teacher's aid in SL you could very easily operate a virtual classroom if you wanted to get things techinical or just old fashioned typing with the professor/teacher at the head of the virtual classroom to keep thing simple.

I originally went to a community college in hopes of majoring in computer science and minoring in business, but the college I went to apperantly had a low quality level of the schooling where I learned nothing. I'm hoping to get a quasi decent job so I can get back on track with a decent college and get my degree & certifications.

hell yeah!!!!



---EXPERIENCES---

Bar management
Stage management
Bar tending
Virtual Casino Operating
Virtual night club managing







why would you

Graphics designer, *maybe*. Depends really on what angle; If it was in the game biz, perhaps, if I did, say, advanced texturing such as clothing or animation.

Then again, I'm not hunting for jobs in the game biz, so I largely leave off details of my experience in that field other than a brief overview of what I've done. (Hired to write code for blah blah, made objects for blah, etc.)

As said, trying to explain what Second Life is and how I produce items in it would just bog down the interviews for the jobs I usually tend to want.