Virtual reality recruitment
How would you reimagine in person recruitment events? How about creating a virtual world with everything from lecture theatres and briefing rooms to sports fields and even a beach. That’s what the PwC Student Recruitment team dreamt up and delivered when Covid hit and disrupted its traditional approach to interacting with students.
Setting the scene
Last summer the recruitment season was looking a little different given the pandemic. That’s when the Student Recruitment team knew they needed an alternative way for students to meet our people that was more engaging than just another video meeting.
The team wanted to leverage technology to do something different and which would appeal to the digital native student population. Working closely with our PwC Extended Reality (XR) team, PwC’s ‘Virtual Park’ was built in just 12 weeks and went live for the first time in September 2020.
How we helped
The platform meant that students from schools, colleges and universities all across the UK and overseas could get an insight into what PwC is like and learn about our values, culture and opportunities in an interactive and Covid-safe way.
Attending an event in our Virtual Park requires you to simply visit the PwC website, download the software and build a profile. Students are then able to create an avatar of themselves to ‘walk’ around the park and interact with PwC representatives and each other.
The team designed the space to include a variety of areas each with a unique purpose: an ‘auditorium’ where you can attend talks with speakers who work in our different Lines of Service; skills session areas for group interaction; and designated zones in our ‘expo hall’ to host careers fairs for those who want a one-to-one chat with someone from PwC. With a variety of areas to explore, individuals are empowered to use their time in the park to find out more about our firm.
Replicating presentations, seminars, panel events and Q&A sessions in this type of environment means that students can interact and network in a way that’s the next best thing to real life.
“The Virtual Park has been a really exciting development. Allowing us to connect with students and bring the PwC experience to them, wherever they are based. We’d been keen to come up with more accessible and efficient ways to run our recruitment events, and the pandemic accelerated our plans. We’re pleased to have already met so many brilliant people through the platform and will continue to use this type of technology to recruit exceptional talent to complement our face-to-face activities.”
Making a difference
The Virtual Park provides much more than just an engaging and ‘futuristic’ way of meeting prospective joiners avatar-to-avatar. It also presents a more accessible solution, removing barriers whether logistical, financial or other in attending our events.
For PwC it means we have the chance to attract a wider range of individuals which is beneficial from a diversity and inclusion standpoint. It also gives the team increased flexibility to run more events on a year-round basis, without the confines of the traditional recruitment season.
Within the last six months the park hosted just over 12,400 unique users across 56 recruitment events, with students registering from 155 UK universities. Despite the disruption the pandemic presented, the Student Recruitment team reacted with speed and creativity to bring a virtual version of PwC to life.
Contact us
