Faced with a would-be employee who had visited its offices under an assumed identity, loaded company information on to their personal computer and picked the brains of staff, many recruiters would be tempted to call in security. Fortunately for Alexis Kingsbury, PA Consulting's response was to offer him a job.

The reaction of the UK-based management consultancy is explained by the fact that the covert encounters took place at its virtual offices in Second Life, the computer-generated world in which people interact through alter egos known as avatars. Mr Kingsbury, who graduated from Loughborough University this summer, says that his virtual visits made him more eager to become a consultant, and helped him come across as know-ledgeable and confident in his real-life interview.