Even a few years ago, the idea of using video game experience on a resume was considered by most (game developers being the exception) to be ludicrous. Today, however, that has changed. As video games have developed and expanded their audiences and fan bases, it is not uncommon to encounter a fellow gamer during the hiring process. Even if it weren’t, games have come a long way since the days of Donkey Kong and California Games.
Today, games really can teach you skills that you can use in the real world. Here are just a few of them and tips for how to list them on your resume.
Risk Management
Risk management is a fancy way of saying that you learned how to evaluate the potential rewards and pitfalls associated with your character in many of the games you played. For example, if you like to hang out in CasinoRoom, you learned not just gambling skills that will help you when you visit actual casinos, you learned how to figure out the odds of whether or not a bet will be successful. That’s math-speak for statistics, which in corporate lingo is called “risk management.”
Leadership Skills
As any World of Warcraft guild leader knows, wrangling your guild members and getting everybody online at the same time and coordinating your raids and boss fights is a lot of work. In addition to scheduling, the role also often involves deciding who gets what loot and who can be in charge of smaller missions within the game. Even if WoW wasn’t your jam, most MMORPGs have similar functionality. To do this job well, you have to know how to motivate employees, evaluate performances, recruit new members and manage multiple egos at once. If that doesn’t describe “leadership skills” then we don’t know what does!
IT/Systems Management
If you are a serious gamer you are likely not playing on a system you could buy already assembled at Best Buy. You more than likely built your own gaming computer from the parts up. Heck, you might have even soldered together the circuit boards. This, in resume speak, counts as computer and networking expertise (bonus points are awarded here if you’ve organized and set up a LAN Party). Even if your computer savviness isn’t enough to land you a job within an IT department, every business needs someone who “speaks geek” on hand. That could be you!
Problem Solving
This is a biggie. Even casual gamers can learn important problem solving skills from video games, especially if they spend their time playing games like The Witness or Talos Principle. Puzzle based/mystery themed games force you to work through problems in a variety of different ways. Even “silly” games like Two Dots or 1010! can help you with organization and task management. Listing problem solving skills on your resume shows potential employers that you’re able to approach tasks in whatever way will help them get done correctly (as opposed to insisting on doing things your own way even if your own way doesn’t yield results).
These are just some of the ways that video games can help make you more employable. Have you listed gaming skills on your resume? How did you do it? How was it received?