Out of the Dungeon
Aaron Shurtleff | June 16, 2015
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235053
This kind of thing isn't entirely unheard of, although maybe online gaming is maybe not the same. I agree that maybe there is still a stigma to gaming, such that it's not the best thing to list on your resume. But I think a lot of the skills that one builds up and uses in these kinds of situations do translate well into skills that one could need in certain fields.
Heck, I would give her kudos for having the chutzpah to put it on her resume. If nothing else, it seems to have gotten her some attention, and sometimes just differentiating yourself from the cookie-cutter, "best" resume template that everyone else is using can give you an edge.
But it could entirely be me being sympathetic to a fellow gamer.
Scott Hardie | July 11, 2015
Agreed completely, though of course, differentiation from other candidates isn't always good.
Good article about video game skills helping on the job. It makes sense that (albeit few) certain game skills really are applicable to the professional world. As a programmer, I'd be curious to know whether a candidate played games involving a variety of logical puzzles, or played games involving efficiency gains. Two board games come to mind as being good for programmers: Robo Rally, which is all about passing a series of instructions and anticipating disruptions to your "code" in advance, and Pandemic, a super-difficult game where victory comes in razor-thin efficiency gains such as figuring out how to accomplish something in three steps instead of four steps. Programmers live for ths stuff.
When I was a kid in the '80s, video games were often criticized as being unhealthy and unwholesome and the like, and one of the few positive things said about them was that they improved hand-eye coordination. I loved my Nintendo games, so when I had to pick something to test for a science fair project, I decided to test my friends' hand-eye coordination with catching a ball before and after playing an hour of video games. (It was easy to get volunteers.) I don't remember much more than that, but I do think back on those days and how flimsy of a defense that was for the hobby. A few real-world jobs do require hand-eye coordination -- surgeon, drone pilot -- but most do not, and surely any benefit to hand-eye coordination given by video games would be negligible anyway. These days, games like World of Warcraft are far more elaborate and skill-building than the Super Mario Bros. that we had at the time, and citing real-world benefits from playing games is a lot easier to justify.
Want to participate? Please create an account a new account or log in.
Scott Hardie | June 15, 2015
Sharing this was intended as mockery, and that's what it received from her friends. I agree that the phrase "Dungeons & Dragons" does not belong on a professional resumé, but as a nerd who plays tabletop RPGs, I sting a little at the kneejerk impulse to mock. The skills offered by the candidate really would help on the job, and just need to be phrased better ("organized meetups weekly" "collaborated with others on evolving narrative" "met weekly writing deadlines" etc). I also feel bad for a candidate who is trying to land their first job and make the most of severely limited experience. Is there no sympathy for an underdog here?A friend of mine is hiring an intern for an editorial department, and she shared this from a resumé:
Am I wrong? Perhaps I identify too much with this candidate.