Your MMO Experience Could Land You a Job

[Meresgi]

Guy interviewing you asks for your name in the MMO because he plays it too, you find out you ninja looted on him/called him out for being terrible, get escorted out by security.

I know CoP taught me how to sneak by things without being seen, so I guess if i'm applying for Solid Snake or Ninja Assassin?

[Enedin]

I know CoP taught me how to sneak by things without being seen, so I guess if i'm applying for Solid Snake or Ninja Assassin?

Hippogryph avoidance skill: very high
Zdei aggro avoidance skill: extremely high

I remember I once ran around a spinning Zdei to show off before I returned to my non-aggro spot, was surprised that it actually worked.

[Rhyis.]

I knew my Naxx experience would pay off eventually.

[Rhyis.]

In all seriousness. As a person who interviews people, I would laugh at whoever brought up gaming as experience for anything outside of gaming.

[arus2001]

Back in '07 I had a coworker tell me his cousin put that he was a max level Warlock in WoW. Now, while my XI bias over WoW may be a thing, I just remember looking at him and saying, "I really don't think that's going to do him any good..." in part because I feel gamers still get a bad rap if you come out about it, and especially so if your interest isn't FPS or Sports games. More relative to my own experience, however, it's so fucking easy for people to lie about their accomplishments and skills like this because it's doubtful an employer might check a possible guild site, nevermind having no real access to info about that time one allegedly did their thing.

So, while I'm probably one of the first people who will pipe up and say herding cats as a leader is probably one of the hardest aspects of MMOs, what "skills" they do offer are often oversold in value. In the end, I wouldn't hold it against someone, but I very much doubt it would be a deal breaker.

[Bregor]

This all sounds like the vidya equivalent of, "I can manage your annual budget, I won my auction fantasy football league last year."

[The Stig]

In all seriousness. As a person who interviews people, I would laugh at whoever brought up gaming as experience for anything outside of gaming.

With that logic, is it fair to say anyone who mentions that they organise/direct charity (this seems to be a popular CV builder) events or worked in a team to build shelters in some 3rd world country would get the same treatment?

(in the context of "what do you do outside work" only ... if gaming experience is brought in during a serious question which is mainly not relevant then yes, laughter is allowed; as you didn't bring up the context I thought I'd question it)

edit: also from all my replies in this thread, i specifically will only bring up gaming and other things once we've moved past the formal stage and into the "so... about you, what do you in your spare time" phase; at no other point would i bring it up unless relevant, and even then it would be a light level reference rather than specifics

[Aksannyi]

I wouldn't put any of my gaming experience on a resume, certainly not in favor of other experience I have. I might list it as a hobby, if I have space, but that's it.

When it comes to leadership, I'm pretty sure the military gave me more in that arena than any linkshell or guild event (although I greatly prefer to follow in those situations rather than lead). The things that MMOs taught me can be valuable, but they're all skills that I've used in other parts of my professional life already, so I would choose those anecdotes over gaming related ones.

[Enedin]

With that logic, is it fair to say anyone who mentions that they organise/direct charity (this seems to be a popular CV builder) events or worked in a team to build shelters in some 3rd world country would get the same treatment?

I see your point but there's a major difference here: even my grandma knows and fully understands what charity is, or what the boyscouts are. Gaming, however, is considered a relaxing activity to 90% of the people and not something you actively put effort in, which means that those people don't even understand how you can put so much effort in a game.

And thus you just put more distance between yourself and the interviewer.

[Rhyis.]

I guess I'm thinking more about myself than in other situations. I'm the front of house manager at a convention centre/banquet hall. I deal with people that move shit, serve shit, and clean shit. None of those skills are picked up from vidya.

[The Stig]

I see your point but there's a major difference here: even my grandma knows and fully understands what charity is, or what the boyscouts are. Gaming, however, is considered a relaxing activity to 90% of the people and not something you actively put effort in, which means that those people don't even understand how you can put so much effort in a game.

And thus you just put more distance between yourself and the interviewer.

I see your point exactly and my question has been excellently rebuked. I have no other answer come back for this.

There's still people who consider WoW an unacceptable game to play whereas playing Candy Crush plus spending a shit ton of money on lives on it is acceptable.
The same people whom I always bitch about (and actually didn't factor in when I was replying to the topic) about who think GTA, Battlefield/CoD, Fifa are "games" and anything else makes you an instant loser/basement dweller/no friends/cybering

blehhhh. Still won't stop me though. However, I won't take kindly (unless there's a lot at stake) to people trying to pretend they know and then dragging all sorts of games from their reference pool into the conversation because I'll pick it up instantly and get annoyed.

I guess I'm thinking more about myself than in other situations. I'm the front of house manager at a convention centre/banquet hall. I deal with people that move shit, serve shit, and clean shit. None of those skills are picked up from vidya.

Haha I read this and the first thing that came out of my head was "what if these people, in video games, claim to be good at farming without botting?" (they're good at repetitive tasks!!!)

[Enedin]

I see your point exactly and my question has been excellently rebuked. I have no other answer come back for this.

/bow

There's still people who consider WoW an unacceptable game to play whereas playing Candy Crush plus spending a shit ton of money on lives on it is acceptable. The same people whom I always bitch about (and actually didn't factor in when I was replying to the topic) about who think GTA, Battlefield/CoD, Fifa are "games" and anything else makes you can instant loser/basement dweller/no friends/cybering

You're more likely to meet an interviewer who plays GTA/Fifa/CoD than any MMORPG. Those games are also widely known and more generally accepted so if you want to bring up games during an interview, I'd say that your best bet would be the likes of GTA/Fifa/CoD. Of course, you wouldn't boast about the skills you gained while playing those, but just as a bonding attempt if your interviewer looks like a regular gamer.

[Acevalefor]

As a hiring manager at my company I would consider gaming experience in context as a small part of the interview. There are many transferable skills connected to MMORPGs. Attention to detail, communication(a big one here), leadership, organization, task orientation, and many others. However, if I ask about hobbies and relevant skills and they go geek+1 on me, it is a strike against them. I am looking more at how they respond to my questions, body language, eye contact, confidence, honesty, etc. than what exactly they do in video games that is relevant to their work. I don't want you to tell me your dps gear setup or talk about stats in The Old Republic (This actually happened and we did end the interview when he got very awkward).

Another thing I would watch for is obsessive behavior. I have seen people with such a huge addiction to their game of choice that they could not hold a job. This is probably the most relevant part to any questions I may ask about hobbies in general. I do not want to hire someone who cannot go to bed on time and get enough sleep to be functional at work because they had to finish that 3am Dynamis run. Similarly, I would not want to hire someone who spends all their spare time at the bar or pool hall and misses work because of it. I had to terminate someone for that one. If I had asked the right questions in the interview, I may have identified that problem.

Suffice it to say, hobbies of all kinds build transferable skills and I would consider all of those hobbies, not just gaming, in an interview.

[Tyrath]

I never got sea I don't think anyone would hire me

I got it on 2 characters before the nerfs. Does this make me quadruple qualified?

[Wulfgang]

Depends on the industry. In most finance roles that I've held, right or wrong, you would be laughed out of the room. It's just how it is. In another 20 years when LoL/Dota/etc is as big as the lower tier physical professional sports (maybe bigger, maybe not, but at least in the conversation) I think you see a growing acceptance for this kind of leadership / skills experience. I'd imagine it would be more fairly evaluated in tech-centric industries currently, but have no experience there.

[BaneTheBrawler]

It's all about presentation. If you say shit like "well i got level 70 and ran naxx every night" it's not going to go over well. If you say "I organized groups of 30-40 people as we challenged extremely difficult tasks, and coordinated their movements and targets in a real-time "combat" scenario" it goes over a lot better.

Most people who played XI etc. learned interpersonal skills, organizational skills, planning, adaptability, and at least some leadership skills. For example, you know that if an organization's leadership is not pro-active and organizing things, that organization will fail. We all saw this happen with tons of linkshells where the leadership went AFK and the shell failed or splintered. People are people; these things are the same no matter what context.

[Bregor]

I'm not saying you don't learn anything from MMOs.

I'm saying there are very few professional managers who are going to consider those skills when hiring people.

If you put leadership skills on your resume' and you don't have any leadership positions under your employment history, you're going to have to explain that you were basically an online nerd wrangler in an interview, which could go any number of ways.

[Arvin]

Or you could go to college, join intramural sports and clubs, learn to be a human being the old fashioned way instead of needing to desperately put your video game resume on a real one

[Meresgi]

I knew my Naxx experience would pay off eventually.

Totally, especially if the rival company is headed by a Lich and you have to fight bosses(supervisors) in order to take down their entire operation.

If you put leadership skills on your resume' and you don't have any leadership positions under your employment history, you're going to have to explain that you were basically an online nerd wrangler in an interview, which could go any number of ways.

lol this, having played MMOs for so long, being able to get people to do things usually isn't that hard. Most just want rewards, some have no backbone and will roll over, and the rest don't get raid invites.

[Plow]

So, while I'm probably one of the first people who will pipe up and say herding cats as a leader is probably one of the hardest aspects of MMOs, what "skills" they do offer are often oversold in value.

I dunno, don't underestimate what it takes to keep people in line when the only repercussion you can really execute is that they no longer get to play under your leadership.