Hiring Gamers Soon

A great entry to the workplace is having a diverse set of soft skills. This impresses employers and ensures longevity in the business. From my observations, both gamers and employers do not see the soft skills that are generated from playing video games. I think in the near future we will start to see gamers and employers starting to realize this and start recruiting more game players.

 

This strength discovery can only be discovered through action and people speaking about this. Typically, most new discoveries are only learned after being spread through the words of another person, and this is no different than that. Gamers pick up a ton of soft skills just through playing games and some of them don’t even know it.

 

Some of these soft skills include efficiency, communication, and problem solving. Efficiency can be taught through MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games like World of Warcraft. Hardcore MMO players grind to be the first to clear a dungeon, level the fastest, gain gold, etc. In order to achieve these they have to be crafty and think of the most efficient way to achieve them. This also ties into the problem-solving portion. Not only do WoW players have to dedicate time and resources to finding the most efficient route, but it also shows their creativity in order to achieve those goals.

 

The MMO genre isn’t the only game genre to help teach people these skills. The Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) genre teaches the same thing on a much accelerated and confined level. In MOBAs players play 5 versus 5 in an arena, gain resources and power through different objectives and by killing the enemy team. MOBA players have to be creative when they approach these games – no game will be the same so your approach to winning will always be different.

 

Of course, in these games communication is key. Being able to communicate with your team and work together can also be the deciding factor of the outcome of the game. This is why players have become good and teamwork and communicating exactly what should be done to achieve their goals.

 

I think the sooner that gamers and employers start to realize this, the more gamers we will see in the workplace. I think in the upcoming years these soft skills will start to be talked about and employers will see “played on a video game club” on a resume and will be more inclined to hire.