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  1. #1
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    Your MMO Experience Could Land You a Job

    Stephen Gillett, now with Symantec, added his WoW experience to his resumes and this has proved successful in landing him jobs
    Symantec's chief operating officer, Stephen Gillett, has an impressive resume that includes executive stints at Starbucks, CNET and Best Buy. He's also a level 70 paladin and priest with a particular focus on healing abilities.

    If it isn't clear already, we're talking about the online video game World of Warcraft.

    "I put my qualifications on my resume when I apply for jobs," Gillett said. "Here's my guild. Here's my ranking. Here's my biggest online achievement. Some people look at it and say, 'What the hell is this?' And others will be like, 'That's exactly what I'm looking for.'"

    It paid off. It helped him land a job at Corbis, and eventually Starbucks. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz hired Gillett to be the company's chief information officer when the company was in a rut in 2008.

    Gillett said he includes his World of Warcraft achievements on his resume, because it's not just about role-playing games. It shows he exercises leadership in both the physical and virtual realms. Plus, he understands the current societal fascination with earning points and interactive entertainment.

    As a guild master, his current duties and responsibilities include organizing dungeon raids and managing the group's virtual bank. And he has a knack for recruiting key talent. Think mages and warlocks.

    Those skills transferred to his position as Starbucks' CIO, Gillett says. In that role, he was tasked with saving the company's suffering technology assets. Cash registers were outdated. Computers were scarce. Customer sales were down.
    Gillett's answer: Take Starbucks executives on a field trip to the Irvine, Calif., headquarters of World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzard. The goal was to expose them to a business model that capitalizes on gaming.

    Gillett got approval to start a new business unit, Digital Ventures. The cross between IT and marketing focused solely on improving Starbucks' interaction with customers' devices, like smartphones and laptops.

    The result: The company "gamified" the Starbucks experience. Customers can now whip out their smartphones and use a rewards program to rack up points, level up and unlock special abilities -- err, deals. Sound familiar?

    The coffee shop chain now considers its "My Starbucks Rewards" program, which boosted sales and customer loyalty, a success.

    Gillett now plans to take that approach at cybersecurity and antivirus firm Symantec. He thinks it will start internally -- using games and simulators in the hiring process -- and eventually make its way out to customers. Maybe users will gain points for reporting back software bugs and avoiding bad links.

    "I think gamification and the way of thinking about it is applicable to any industry," Gillett said. "Right now we get really good information on malware -- what it does, how it acts. But we have no telemetry on the human part of it -- what people were doing, thinking and believing when they encountered that particular threat."
    http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/19/tech...rcraft-resume/
    https://twitter.com/stephengillett

    Linkedin also has more on this subject - http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/a...economic-value

  2. #2
    E. Body
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    I never got sea I don't think anyone would hire me

  3. #3
    Black Guy from Predator.
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    aaand, we're done here

  4. #4

    Quote Originally Posted by Galkaeater View Post
    I never got sea I don't think anyone would hire me
    i laughed so hard at this, holy shit. i love you

  5. #5
    Pandemonium
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    Not only have I specifically created MMO-related supplementary resumes, but I have helped others do the same. This is absolutely valid advice. If the skills transfer, the experience is relevant.

  6. #6
    I pullout to go pee.
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    that's almost like saying masturbating is a relevant experience for any job that requires good hand-eye coordination

  7. #7
    The Shitlord
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    yeah i put it on my linked in page. if i ever apply for a position where managerial experience is valued i'll put it on my resume, too. I've FC'd in EVE, run dynamis groups, etc. people are people, leading them is the same no matter what.

  8. #8
    You wouldn't know that though because you've demonstrably never picked up a book nor educated yourself on the matter. Let me guess, overweight housewife?
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    Quote Originally Posted by Galkaeater View Post
    I never got sea I don't think anyone would hire me
    Ten internets

  9. #9

    While I learned a lot about managing groups of people and managing people seperately, I'm not inclined to put it on my resume unless the job I'm applying for specifically asks for those skills. (also my English and my fast typing skills improved dramatically but they don't need to know where that came from)

    Quote Originally Posted by BaneTheBrawler View Post
    yeah i put it on my linked in page. if i ever apply for a position where managerial experience is valued i'll put it on my resume, too. I've FC'd in EVE, run dynamis groups, etc. people are people, leading them is the same no matter what.
    True that.

  10. #10
    Renegade Philosopher
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    I feel like this could backfire if the interviewer views MMOs / video games as time-wasters. That said, if you can get beyond any preconceptions people have, it's no different than any other social activity that requires dealing with people.

  11. #11
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    In the WoW subforums user Izzy has posted about this before, so here are his posts/excerpts:

    Many times I've tried thinking of ways to link Guild Leader work to RL stuff/interviews/etc. I can't think of a non-nerdy way to do it... so I don't even try.

    Interviewer: So, why do you think you're qualified for this leadership position at our company?
    Me: I've spent 8 years running a guild in both FFXI and WoW, which are MMORPG. In that time, I've balanced bank budgets, organized 50+ people into working together toward a common goal, 6 nights a week, for at least 5 hours a day. In this time, I've learned how to deal with troublesome members, rewarding effort, and making hard decisions that effect the gaming experiences for many people under me. I feel these events and responsibilities have groomed me for a leadership role in your company.
    Interviewer: Get out.
    Me: ok
    Then he posted a challenge to his work colleagues with the question:

    There is literally no way to do this without sounding like a complete retard. Is there even a way to do this without sounding like a complete shut-off?
    With the following responses:

    • Coordinated large scale competition events through internet and social media.
    • Remotely managed team members.
    • Devised cost analyses, spending budgets and implementation strategies for online campaigns.
    • Killed a fuck ton of orcs and mages (pussies).
    And then more:

    • Managed a group of investor in the multimedia industry
    • Did on the job training for all new members
    • Weekly meetings with a group of 10 to 25 investors
    • Ran statics on the groups progression and weekly goals
    • Counseled team members to reach a group goal and “achievements”
    • Distributed work as needed
    Bonus points if you verbally spell out the first letter of those acronyms when you say them (EmEmOhArrPeeGee)



    • Achieved 95% accuracy with Railgun on Q2DM1.
    • Aggressively defended strategic devices.

    I remember getting a laugh out of those responses. Quite clever!



    edit: on a serious note, I actually put something quite light about this type of stuff on my CV/resume in the "interests/hobbies" section, and list relevant skills in a light manner, so if anyone ever asks about it in the interview I'll go over it briefly but not in a boring manner.

  12. #12

    Me: I've spent 8 years running a guild in both FFXI and WoW, which are MMORPG. In that time, I've balanced bank budgets, organized 50+ people into working together toward a common goal, 6 nights a week, for at least 5 hours a day. In this time, I've learned how to deal with troublesome members, rewarding effort, and making hard decisions that effect the gaming experiences for many people under me. I feel these events and responsibilities have groomed me for a leadership role in your company.
    While I think it can be valuable to point out that you have these skills and how you acquired them, I feel it is a bad idea to tell them you did this 6 nights a week for at least 5 hours every day. I mean, we've all been there, but I'm not telling people that may hire me that I played a game for 6+ hours, every day, for a few years - that just gives the wrong impression.

    I think that, as soon as you mention "game" that you'll not be taken seriously unless the interviewer's played an MMORPG before (preferably hardcore).

  13. #13
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    Ah that initial post Izzy made was an exaggeration, but you get the gist lol

    I mean, we've all been there, but I'm not telling people that may hire me that I played a game for 6+ hours, every day, for a few years - that just gives the wrong impression.
    I understand what you mean, however I'd explore the option. If this person is well socialised in the interview and confident, yet does all this as a hobby for that long, it shows commitment and dedication, no? Dinosaur people might not understand, but with technology/tablets being so widespread these days I'd go for that it's a very relevant skill.



    Just something else I was thinking about:

    While not for a job, but it seems someone in my family does it a lot, his friends/family send him login info for Candy Crush and he clears levels for them.

    What if he turned it around into a service, and say you encrypt/store your client's info safely, and charge people to submit requests for help in Candy Crush, could that be a viable "hobby" that also makes money? If on a tiny scale lol. Just a thought

    In a similar vein, what if you post on your CV/resume that you run a gold farm? You manage accounts, personnel (on AND offshore; offshore being the selling word), a website, clients, research best ways to make money, lead or co-ordinate raids, sell primals/power levelling etc. Unless the interviewer (who may or may not have played MMOs) has some sort of negative view on RMT (the RMT hate seems to have died down as of late) would this be seen as a positive?

  14. #14
    Pens win! Pens Win!!! PENS WIN!!!!!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Enedin View Post
    I think that, as soon as you mention "game" that you'll not be taken seriously unless the interviewer's played an MMORPG before (preferably hardcore).
    I agree here. I think this strategy would only work with a very small demographic of people in charge of interviewing and hiring. If they get what you're talking about then they understand you have that skill, otherwise you have to create some lengthy way of describing it before hand and essentially make yourself sound like you have asperger's. Recently I was hired as a teacher and I couldn't imagine how ridiculous I would have sounded if I explained how I used to lead a dynamos and HNMLS in a virtual world. Although I feel like it applies rather nicely to a classroom environment I don't see the interviewers really seeing the value in my experience online. The only way that bridge is ever gaped is if the interviewer has said experience themselves with an MMO also. Sucks. Props to those who go with it though and find success through it. Badass.

  15. #15
    The Fucking Voice of Actually
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    Eve players have the obvious advantage in all this, because Excel.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cantih View Post
    Eve players have the obvious advantage in all this, because Excel.
    I would love to announce that I am a fleet commander on EvE haha, and then link them to that January 27th battle (from mainstream news sites)

  17. #17

    Quote Originally Posted by The Stig View Post
    I would love to announce that I am a fleet commander on EvE haha, and then link them to that January 27th battle (from mainstream news sites)
    I think that this strategy could work in about a year or 10, when more interviewers are familiar with MMORPGs. I'd love an applicant to tell me about their participation in that battle.

  18. #18
    Special at 11:30 or w/e
    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    Reminds me of a paper I did in Composition I in college eight years ago. It was a subjective piece about Jack Thompson and how video games are well garnered by many. The main focal point in the piece was how doctors find the hand eye coordination from a game to help them with their work and it was also a great relaxer for them. The instructor laughed at it and gave me the lowest passing grade.

    I personally would never bring up anything to do with video games in a job interview, unless it's relevant to the field you are applying for. I sell insurance so.....

    Interviewer: Why should we hire you at our agency?
    Me: I have excellent communication skills and have applied this for years while playing FFXI every night for....
    Interviewer: We're done here

  19. #19

    I will say that the skills you gain while playing online games can certainly transfer into the real world work environment.

    I have only ever worked in inside (telephone) sales doing webinars and sales presentations both verbally and visually. And having confidence on the phone (using a headset) and being able to illustrate with words what you want people to see and understand is an invaluable skill. Leading raids of 8-20+ people and explaining fight mechanics, sometimes while multi-tasking during a fight and being able to do so in a way that is clear, concise, and at the same time maintain mental focus on what you're trying to accomplish I can absolutely attribute to helping me be successful in what I do. There is no question in my mind about that.

    Now am I going to apply for a job and come out and say that, not likely. However, I think that we will see more openness to it as the world is becoming more and more virtualized and it will be the people that are resistant to it that fall behind.

  20. #20
    THIS IS BREGOR'S STORY
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    "Well sir, I believe that representing our client's interests in a complex, changing market can best be summarized by this anecdote about a particularly tricky ICC25 I ran a few years ago."

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