Resumes that showcase skills built through online gaming

[kristenlena]

Hi everyone,

I'm writing a magazine article on why included skills gained through online gaming will be a valid reference of experience in the future, and I would like to get the opinions of some current hiring managers, or gamers, on this topic.

If you received a resume that detailed leadership skills (building teams,delegating tasks, organizing team moves ex: attacks or takeovers),communication skills (working with different personalities, insuring your team is well-informed and motivated, writing and editing forums, provided feedback and training to new players), and dedication (time and money invested, the feeling of personal responsibility for success, leveling up fast or earning new stats) what would you think?

Is this acceptable to you? If not, please explain what is holding you back from accepting this as 'experience' or how it could be used in the future.

And gamers, if you have any other skills you think I should be aware of please let me know!

[AndreRet]

Welcome Lemoremi. I'm sure you will find what you need right here at Daniweb. You have unfortunately posted in the wrong forum, but thats all cool.

KristenLena, I would not easily employ someone that hands me a resume showing their skills and experience gained from gaming. I'm a huge gaming fan, and yes, true, in some cases I'm sure it develops some skill, but definitely not enough to apply within a working environment. Unless of course the job entails gaming related experience...

Only my opinion though.

[griswolf]

The issue is, I think, whether online gaming skills do actually translate into the work environment (and how well, and is the transfer useful). For instance, I can imagine some online leader whose persona is considerably rougher than I'd want a manager to have in a company where I worked. Sure, the gamer may have learned what works well in that online game, but the same exact behavior would be grounds for dismissal here. There may be (probably is) some useful skill transfer, but it isn't clear to me that the cross over is high, and I'd worry a little bit about whether some of the 'anti-skills' might transfer too.

[Capt. Fantastic]

Although perhaps you would learn some valuable skills from video games... it's not reality.. so if an employer was faced with a resume where some one has been in a previous work place and has experience... or someone who has played video games... ahh i think it would be an easy choice.. don't you?

[alc6379]

I think the big hurdle to citing "skills" gained from playing a game is that a game is trivial, compared to a workplace. In a game, there's always the option to say "screw you guys, I'm going home!". It's trivial to create a new account/persona, or just find a new guild to get into.

Sure, you can build leadership, and you can build interpersonal skills. But, you're not looking someone in the eye-- that's a big part of what you do when you're at work. I don't think those same "benefits" from online/coop gaming you cite translate over exactly to the real world. You can't simply kickban someone who you don't agree with-- you have to go through proper channels to deal with them, for instance. You might be a little more inclined to deal with despotism in your group, since you don't see these people face to face.

Personally, if I saw someone list game credentials on their resume, I'd trash it immediately. Or, if they got an interview, the first question I'd ask is, "Why did you spend so much time on video games when you could have been gaining legitimate job skills?"