By Adam Rubenfire
Warlock or druid?
A handful of job seekers are listing achievements in videogames
such as the role-playing platform "World of Warcraft" on their
résumés or LinkedIn profiles, betting that virtual-world
accomplishments will impress hiring managers in real life.
"World of Warcraft" players complete quests as warlocks, druids
or other class of soldier and battle monsters in a fantasy world,
recruiting other soldiers, training team members and developing
strategies for missions. Prominent fans include Stephen Gillett,
chief operating officer of Symantec Corp. and a former chief
information officer at Starbucks Corp.
Some players say the game's tasks aren't that different from the
duties of the modern office job.
That was the view of Heather Newman, who included her Warcraft
experience on the résumé that helped land her current job as
director of marketing and communications for the University of
Michigan's School of Information.
In the "Leisure/Volunteer Activities" section of her résumé, Ms.
Newman noted that she has managed guilds of as many as 500 people
and organized large-scale raids of 25 to 40 players to complete
tasks for several hours four to five days a week. These tasks, she
said, "directly apply to the kind of job I hold."
Ms. Newman, 43 years old, said she knew some people wouldn't be
familiar with the game, but she wanted to highlight how her
experience leading volunteers online showed her abilities as an
effective communicator and manager in the workplace. Plus, she
believed that administrators who make hiring decisions at the
technology-focused school would view her game expertise as a sign
she would fit with the culture.
"I knew that Heather could 'talk geek' and that she would get
where many of our students were coming from," said Jeffrey K.
MacKie-Mason, dean of the U-M School of Information.
John Reed, senior executive director of Robert Half Technology,
an information-technology staffing division of the Robert Half
recruiting firm, said he has seen few résumés that mention game
skills. He added that his clients haven't sought hires with game
experience.
Nevertheless, Mr. Reed said videogame experience could be a
conversation-starter in an interview, although a hiring manager may
wonder whether the candidate will be playing games in the office
all day. He cautioned gamers to broach the topic "very subtly."
Gamers' ability to accomplish complex tasks across virtual teams
could be seen as a plus for some companies.
Françoise LeGoues, the former vice president of innovation at
International Business Machines Corp., said gamers can thrive at
firms like IBM, where employees must collaborate with colleagues
anywhere in the world, often without having met in person.
"This capability to engage in strategy-building, team-building,
knowledge-sharing and problem-solving remotely is really
important," said, Ms. LeGoues, currently vice president of
transformation at the YAI Network of nonprofits.
As he searches for a full-time work, Don Spafford, a 30-year-old
electronics engineer from San Antonio, lists his class and guild
rank on his résumé along with his role leading raids in "World of
Warcraft." That experience, combined with his past job at Norwegian
Cruise Lines and six years in the U.S. Navy, proves his abilities
as a leader and communicator, he said.
"It's a chance to stretch your leadership ability," said Mr.
Spafford, pointing to his experience heading teams of easily
distracted virtual soldiers on raids. "Sometimes it's like herding
cats."
Still, hiring managers haven't shown much interest in his game
experience, and he acknowledged that the videogame details may be
landing his résumé in the reject pile.
In online forums, game players worry that touting their hobby
will lead others to perceive them as lazy or socially awkward.
Peter Morris, a 50-year-old regional sales executive at New
York-based analytics software provider Information Builders, is an
avid player of "World of Warcraft." But as a former hiring manager,
he has warned fellow gamers against putting their game achievements
on their résumés.
"At the end of the day, it's all make-believe," said Mr. Morris,
adding that few recruiters understand how a leader in a fantasy
game can be a valuable employee.
Mr. Spafford's fiancée, Mary Brenner, a freelance broadcast
technician, includes her experience coordinating "World of
Warcraft" meet-ups and other events, on some versions of her
résumé, but keeps it off for jobs that don't involve event
planning.
"I would feel uncomfortable with the judgment in a setting where
it wouldn't make sense," she said.
Dmitri Williams, an associate professor of communications at the
University of Southern California, said accomplished players of
massively multiplayer online games such as "Dungeons and Dragons
Online" and "League of Legends," demonstrate exceptional skills in
strategy and team-building.
Most gamers use those traits both in and outside the game
environment, according to Prof. Williams's research, which focuses
on the social and economic impacts of videogames. Many of the
prominent gamers he has interviewed are leaders in virtual and real
life, such as a young player whose raid-leading experience helped
him understand how to succeed in college and the workplace and
another gamer who led a guild and went on to manage a game-design
studio, later founding one of his own.
"There's this misconception that when someone goes in the game
that they act like someone else," he said. "The research shows that
the game world tends to magnify what's there already."
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