The Reason Videogame Skills Are Scoring With Employers

As technology determines success in ever-growing aspects of business, mastery of video games is seen as an indicator of other skills crucial to organizational competitiveness. JL


Sarah Needleman reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Employers across a range of industries are embracing résumés that include backgrounds in making or playing videogames, concluding the digital pastime can help employees with online collaboration, problem solving and other critical workplace skills. “What we used to think of as a weird thing some folks did in their basement is now part of everyday life. They tend to be problem solvers, organized and adaptable,” 24% of  chief information officers said they were attracted to entry-level job candidates who cited playing or developing videogames. “Gamers are the kind of people you give a set of instructions to and they’ll just figure out it.”
Work history, check. Education, check. Videogame experience ... check?
Employers across a range of industries are embracing résumés that include backgrounds in making or playing videogames, concluding the digital pastime can help employees with online collaboration, problem solving and other critical workplace skills.

Justin Foehner landed a job last year at General Electric Co. using virtual-reality technology to train robots that inspect oil rigs, nuclear power plants and other dangerous areas.
“VR came out of the gaming industry, so we realized we needed someone with a background in game development,” said Ratnadeep Paul, a lead engineer in GE’s research division who hired Mr. Foehner.
The 25-year-old recruit, a big fan of Final Fantasy role-playing games, had studied videogame design and development at Rochester Institute of Technology, but has no regrets about his career choice. “There’s a lot of satisfying work in other fields where there’s high demand,” he said.
Videogames are more popular than ever, blossoming as part of a wider acceptance of geek culture and as technology infiltrates all corners of daily life. Once associated with antisocial behavior or immaturity, gaming savvy now can tip the scales in a job candidate’s favor, much like how a stint as football team captain can suggest management potential, recruiters say.
“Gamers are the kind of people you give a set of instructions to and they’ll just figure out it,” Mike Hetisimer, manager of customer service at Truno, a Lubbock, Texas, maker of technology for grocery workers. “They’ve done that with thousands of games.”
Mr. Hetisimer, who enjoys playing the life simulator “The Sims,” hired three people last year who in the interview process described themselves as avid gamers. They were all able to quickly familiarize themselves with Truno’s software and help customers use it, he said. “You’re looking for trainability.”
In a 2017 survey by Robert Half Technology, 24% of more than 2,500 chief information officers said they were attracted to entry-level job candidates who cited playing or developing videogames as a hobby. The poll, the recruiting firm’s first to focus on extracurricular activities, aimed to get better sense of what sets recent tech graduates apart from one another, said John Reed, executive vice president of the Robert Half International unit.
He wasn’t surprised by the results. “There’s been a cultural shift over the last three or four years,” said Mr. Reed. “It’s been a progression. It didn’t switch over night.”
Recruiters understand that videogames are more complex than ever before. “Games have become a lot more like work” and many hiring professionals know that because “they go home at night and boot up an Xbox,” said Andrew Challenger, vice president of Chicago-based search firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
Some people retain negative views about gamers, such as the assumption that they are socially inept. Yet in recent years, online multiplayer games that encourage players to form teams and strategize through online text or voice communication have grown in popularity.
It isn’t enough for someone to simply list gaming on a résumé, said Cori Bernosky, vice president of human resources at the trade group World at Work. The onus is “on the candidate to provide context and evidence-based stories that can demonstrate why their gaming experience is valuable,” Mrs. Bernosky said.
Aylmer Wang, a devoted player of “Hearthstone,” noted in his résumé that he founded an online community for fans of the digital card game. The 24-year-old Montreal native also described organizing videogame competitions around his city and writing about esports.
While interviewers’ reactions ranged from skepticism to fascination, everyone asked about the experience, said Mr. Wang, who is studying law at the University of British Columbia. “I would always leverage the same skills—leadership, entrepreneurialism, dedication and organization,” he said.
It paid off. Mr. Wang is set to join the international law firm Bennett Jones LLP this summer, in Canada’s equivalent of a first-year-associate position.
Christopher S. McKenna, head of student recruiting at the firm, said he has noticed in recent years an uptick in résumés that highlight game-related accomplishments. While not a gamer himself, he said he was impressed by Mr. Wang’s commitment to his hobby.
“It tells me he’s got motivation, determination,” Mr. McKenna said.
Andrew Phelps, director of Rochester Institute of Technology’s game-degree program, said students are being recruited by companies outside the videogame industry, including GE, Forbes Media and the digital creative agency AKQA Inc., a unit of WPP PLC. Graduates have gone on to work in politics, education and areas within technology unrelated to videogames.
“What we used to stereotypically think of as a weird thing some folks did in their basement is now part of everyday life,” Mr. Phelps said. “Gaming has become a common touch point for people.”
Ashley Deese, who manages digital media at the Smithsonian Institution’s science-education center in Washington, D.C., said she appreciates programming know-how but also looks out for gamers’ soft skills. “They tend to be problem solvers, organized and adaptable,” she said.
One recent recruit, Ryan Seymour, came on board after earning a master’s in game design from American University. The 34-year-old, who grew up playing the historical game “Civilization,” had created a game while in school in which players manage a museum.
He included a description of it with his résumé.
“It was really incredible,” Ms. Deese said. “We absolutely knew he needed to be part of this team.”