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Employers in the US have been using the virtual online community, Second Life, to interview applicants, according to reports.

Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, the US communications giant, Verizon, as well as food facilities company, Sodexho Alliance SA, all used the technology last month at a virtual job fair hosted by TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications.

Users of Second Life were invited to create a computer generated image of themselves - known as an avatar - and then communicate with potential employers by means of instant messaging.

The new usage of Second Life was started by SMEs that already used the site to market their products, according to Colorado publication the Rocky Mountain News.

Its website site had 431,000 unique visitors in May, according to Web-tracking firm comScore Inc.

The site requires a certain processor speed and graphics card in order to download the necessary software; and the application is not compatible with satellite internet, dial-up internet or some wireless internet services.

Some employers have remained sceptical.

"I do not envision the day that we would hire somebody virtually," said Betty Smith, manager of university recruiting for the Americas region at H-P.

A number of employers in US and the UK are thought to have set up pages on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook so that they can view potential employees.

With students being all over social media at an ever increasing rate, it's a great time to develop a strategy to ensure that marketing spend is allocated to this arena so that the student jobs get the maximum exposure to the right sudience at the right time.