'I'm in search of a lifestyle that does not require my presence'

When I read the sentence above in a Washington Post Style section interview with Kinky Friedman many, many years ago, something clicked.

That's precisely what I wanted, embedded as I was back then in my job as an anesthesiology professor at the University of Virginia Medical School, a lifestyle which required all too much of my presence.

But in fact not having to be there was what I'd been searching for ever since elementary school, watching the nearly paralyzed clock on the wall tick off the minutes of each slowly passing, boring school day.

So I was encouraged by Amy Joyce's interesting article in today's Washington Post Business section about Sodexho's new virtual job application feature.

Long story short: Their avatar interviews yours and if you pass the virtual screening, you'll be invited to a follow-up, face-to-face interview.

Here's the story.

A Virtual Approach to Job Interviews: Have Your Avatar Talk to My Avatar

Last week, Sodexho decided to skip the phone-screening process for potential job candidates. Instead, the Gaithersburg food and facilities management company took to the computer-based virtual world, where job-seekers were invited to create avatars (animated graphic characters) of themselves to be interviewed online by avatars of Sodexho recruiters.

Applicants got to design any kind of avatars they wanted, choosing hair color, clothing and general appearance. They sent their characters to Sodexho's virtual office, where they shook hands with avatar recruiters and were taken to a private, digital conference room. Then they discussed -- via instant messages -- jobs such as chef or administrator.

Other companies were part of the same avatar job fair, including eBay, Verizon Communications and Microsoft.

"There were lots of positives," said Arie Ball, vice president of sourcing and talent acquisition at Sodexho. "It was not as much stress for the candidate in doing this. It was a lot more engaging than a phone interview would be." It was also cost effective: no need to lug booths and brochures on planes to job fairs around the country.

About 70 avatars applied this way, and several will be called for a face-to-face, non-avatar interview, said company spokesman Anthony Owens. He doesn't expect the live candidates to look like the avatars they created. ("I'm sure we all would want to take off 20 pounds or years," he said.)

Although the recruiters expected mostly college students or recent graduates to be interested in this tech-centric type of job interview, it turned out that an older crowd was willing to play. Most of the candidates said they had five to 15 years of experience in the industry.

Candidates got a little more leeway as avatars than they would have in person. For one, they didn't get demerits for poor spelling during the IM conversation, Ball said. And she won't hold anything against the casual avatar who showed up without a jacket. The poor guy told her he couldn't figure out how to put it on.

....................

Now if I can somehow figure out how to get an avatar to keep a nice, neat anesthesia record, I'll be on to something.

Sweet.

The picture up top accompanies the Post article; its caption is, "Sodexho avatars screen job candidates, some of whom will be invited for follow-up, non-digital (read: face-to-face) interviews."