In an effort to prove they’re still hip nearly 50 years after the advent of Cap’n Crunch Crunch Berries, General Mills, Inc. has introduced a revolutionary way to recruit college students without ever asking them to leave campus: give them a virtual tour with the help of an Oculus Rift VR headset and a GoPro.
(Photo Credit: Maurizio Pesce/Flickr)
If you don’t know already, Oculus Rift isn’t just making a fancy headset, they’re changing the entire landscape of digital media. They’ve got big plans to incorporate their VR headsets into video games and even film. In a few years’ time, we’ll all be going on vacation from our couches — the tanning lamps will be our beaches.
A New Generation of Recruits
Through black magic and other modern technology, Oculus Rift headsets are able to give you a full 360° view, full immersion into your virtual environment.
For young job hunters with global ambition, this could absolutely change how you apply to jobs, and even at some point how you begin to work. By reaching out to young college students, General Mills has made a statement not simply about recruiting, but about the way that millennials want to be recruited.
As the generation of iChat, Skype, and Hinge, we millennials have absolutely zero problems with meeting and creating relationships online. For us, it’s a seamless extension of our daily lives — simply creating more convenience, i.e. less need to wear pants during job interviews.
For a millennial recruit, taking a VR interview or tour means that you can tour the company’s Hong Kong offices from your apartment in New York. All of a sudden, you’re not inhibited by the fact that you aren’t in town for the interview — you’re getting an immersive experience no matter what.
Opening Up the Job Market
This should give millennials a whole lot of hope not only for where you interview, but also for the kind of job that you want to take. Gone are the days where offices are a requirement. This kind of innovation points to a greater trend in job hunting — that if you work hard, and you have the right credentials, you don’t need to be limited by your current location in terms of employers. There’s a job out there in the world where you can find a fit.
Tell Us What You Think
Is this some kind of freaky apocalyptic stuff? Is the change destroying our values of proper presentation and hard work? Have you ever done one of these interviews? Let us know in the comments below or by joining the conversation on Twitter!
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