Breakfast Topic: Would you list WoW experience on your resume?
by Jasmine Abreu 
Sep 14th 2010 at 8:00AM
I was updating my resumé recently, and when it came to including my volunteer experience, I instantly thought about the time and effort I put into playing WoW. I'm a relatively new WoW gamer, having only played for less than a year. (I have played other mostly free RPGs for a few years and numerous console games.) I have three level 80 characters who have played each aspect of a raid group, DPS, tank and heals.
I wish I could include my WoW accomplishments in my skill set on my resume. No, I don't mean listing Champion of the Frozen Wastes on my work titles, but I mean naming the skills I've gained by playing RPGs. Leading a raid, assembling a PUG, organizing an arena team, even tanking a random heroic require strong leadership skills that are beneficial when applied in the real world.
Think about the financial savvy it takes to play the auction house and to successfully navigate the economy. What about being a good guild master? The GM sets the tone of the guild and leads members either to implosive destruction or to Lich-King-downing success (or somewhere in between). GMs are confidantes, mediators, presidents, friends, leaders -- or they can be ineffective, stale and stoic dictators. It may be an unspoken observation, but if a guild has a poor GM or a raid has a bad leader, it will fail.
Playing a game with live people on the other end of the avatars can enhance your communication and interpersonal skills. These traits are ones that employers would readily seek in qualified applicants. Can these be learned and developed in game? Too bad we can't actually list those achievements on a real-life resumé ... or can we? What traits and qualifications have you gained playing WoW that you'd list on a real-life resumé?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Malon Sep 14th 2010 8:03AM
I already do; I say it's improved my hand-eye co-ordination, teamwork, and keyboard skills. Also it makes you stand out from the crowd a bit.
lolikitty Sep 14th 2010 8:10AM
Telling your potential employer that you're a gamer will make you stand out all right ... thinking that playing a video game will impress even a gamer boss sounds delusional to me (at best).
orlochavez Sep 14th 2010 8:50AM
Sadly, for about 98% of employment opportunities, lolikitty is right. Unless your job is one where experience with video gaming would be viewed as an asset or even a pre-requisite (if you were applying to work at Penny Arcade, perhaps), it will be viewed negatively, or - at best - with indifference.
The reason for this is not that WoW (or other video games) are "unworthy" hobbies. First, your hobbies don't often belong on a resume unless your potential employer specifically asks for them. Second, video games still have a social stigma associated with them for the majority of people age 35 and older. Right or wrong, that stigma exists and the people doing the hiring are 35+ about 9 times out of 10.
This won't change until the generation that grew up with games like EQ & WoW comes into more positions of power within business. Even then, video games are still just a hobby and have no bearing (positive or negative) on your ability to, say, write a presentation, balance a budget, or put the right cover sheet on your TPS report.
Fizzl Sep 14th 2010 8:54AM
It's worked for me in the past, it's one sentence near the end of my CV in a section called Interests and Activities. I also talk about my pub quiz team, going to games festivals, skiing, cycling, climbing and sailing.
'I am a member of an extensive global games group; I support other members and help organise a 25 man team who regularly play together and act as a mentor to new users.'
Just be prepared to summarise it in a few sentences in the interview and make sure there is more to you than just playing games, don't use games for more than one of the competency based questions.
Malon Sep 14th 2010 8:58AM
Right, Fizzl; that's exactly what I do on my CV - it's a small section at the end under the heading 'Interests'. More and more these days employers are looking for people with life experience - it's the same reason someone would list, say, a year travelling and helping build houses. It gives experience in an area that, while not immediately relevant, broadens you as a person. Employers, no matter what some people might think, aren't JUST looking for experience in that trade.
Jay Sep 14th 2010 9:03AM
I recently interviewed a guy for a position at my company. During the interview he told us that he plays WoW, and I started to ask about it. It turns out that he is an active officer in a quite serious guild. And those skills he showed from managing his guild is what made him stand out from the other applicants. And now he work here and things couldn't be better.
lolikitty Sep 14th 2010 9:13AM
Fizzl is clever about it, I have to admit, but what stands out is the fact that Fizzl is a smart dude and knows how to introduce himself, not that WoW has any relevancy in real life.
Firestyle Sep 14th 2010 9:59AM
In no way would I conceive of putting video gaming on my resume as I would neither put that I coached a men's league football team nor that I played in a pool league, etc. While you can argue that these activities also foster positive skill sets akin to what the poster describes, it's just not appropriate for a resume unless, as other have stated, you work in gaming.
I've had interviews, been employed with, or had as a client in a former position, at least three of the five biggest US banks. While such a topic might go unnoticied or "ok" in interview 1 with a lower level manager, it won't go so well in interviews 5-7 with a managing director and you are going to appear immature compared to a candidate who did not list "World of Warcraft Guild Leader 2007-2009" on their resume.
Jay Sep 14th 2010 10:12AM
To all above who say it's inappropriate to list video games as a valid intreset/hobby and a skill that might very well be useful in a company - I say it's time to say goodbye to the dark ages and say hello to a new generation of managers that WILL see this as a proper skill.
Jorges Sep 14th 2010 10:13AM
I agree with Fizzl, and this is exactluy what I do.
My resume have a section of "Interest and Hobbies". In this section I can mention whatever I want that is not necessarily profession-related, but can be an indicator of me being a good person, having certain skills or being inclined to cenrtain preferences. In this section I always mention that I was a Boy Scout for 13 years and got the max rank you can get here in Venezuela (Scout de Bolívar), I was leader of my troop for 4 years until I left to become a Rover. I also mention my interest in developing games, specially maps and worlds (I did some maps for Half-Life, Quake 3, and even a mod for Half-Life with some friends. One of them works at Valve now). And of course, I mention that I'm a gamer and part of probably the biggest social gaming community in the world. I belong to a successful social raiding guild, and being a class leader for almost 2 years now have helped me to develop a better understanding of people, how they approach certain situations, how you can influence their decisions by your answers to their questions and how to manage different types of persons.
All of these are just hobbies, nothing professional. But definetly, they are part of me and who I am.
Jorges Sep 14th 2010 10:22AM
Forgot to mention: if an employer have a problem with that, then I don't want to work for them to begin with. That's part of who I am and it will show up at work eventually. If I have to constantly hide who I am and what I like for fear of being fired, then I'm no more than a slave. Also, working in an environment where you can't feel ok with your boss is not healthy, and will also show up eventually.
Gladly, I have a good job as the manager of the RMA Department of a computer retailer and my boss don't mind if I play once in a while if I'm not busy.
Armill3 Sep 14th 2010 10:57AM
You know, it's all well and good to list the benefits and organization that comes with playing games like WoW, but you also have to consider what else disclosing a hobby like this says: that you might commit up to 4 nights a week raiding instead of getting well-rested or being available for work, that this hobby is a priority to you over your career, that you won't be as willing to put in the time for your job instead of your hobby.
As a prospective employer, I would be less likely to hire someone who I know devotes 16 to 20 hours a week+ to guild progression raiding than someone who doesn't have such a commitment. We are all entitled to our private lives, but they can also influence our professional ones as well.
clevin Sep 14th 2010 12:25PM
"... that this hobby is a priority to you over your career, that you won't be as willing to put in the time for your job instead of your hobby."
WTF are you on about? Millions of people play WoW and for very few is it the priority over their job, etc. Who SAYS a player won't be willing to put in time for the job because of the hobby? People like you are the problem - you jump to all kinds of unwarranted conclusions based on your own internal fantasies. As you spend 16-20 hours passively watching TV usually. Because, yeah, "So you think you can dance" is excellent prep for your job.
Newsflash: What I do outside of work is my business. The time in the evening? MINE. Not yours, MINE.
Eyhk Sep 14th 2010 1:39PM
In case you haven't read http://theguildcio.blogspot.com/
Izaach Sep 14th 2010 1:57PM
"I don't stand in fire" is a very important skill asset that should land you the job 90% of the time.
Snuzzle Sep 14th 2010 2:44PM
Quote by Fizzle: "I am a member of an extensive global games group; I support other members and help organise a 25 man team who regularly play together and act as a mentor to new users."
This. So much this. It's all about how you phrase it.
If you're applying to a job with a lot of typing, you might phrase it in that light and mention how you engage in a lot of activities on the computer that keep your 90 WPM skills well-honed.
If you're applying for a leadership position or one that manages a couple of people it might be helpful to phrase it like Fizzl did. Many hiring managers seem to understand that leading a local sports team has skills which translate well to leading at a job; leadership roles in WoW are not glaringly different.
And so on. Think about the skills you want to highlight and how you'd put a positive spin on them using language a hiring manager would understand. Saying "I lead raids in World of Warcraft so I can lead your team" will get your resume promptly binned.
dannyflorida Sep 14th 2010 3:03PM
Let's face it: For many, if not most, players, playing WoW or gaming in general has turned from a hobby to an obsession.
A hobby is typically something one engages in for a few hours on the weekend (or whatever one's days off work are) or a few hours here and there. In other words, it's something done for a few hours a week or month, not every day or nearly every day.
Think about it. Is gaming really a hobby for you, or is it closer to the truth to call it an obsession? I know there are some "normal" gamers who really do treat this as a hobby and play responsibly and healthily, only playing a few hours a week. But, they are the minority, and I think many employers realize that.
Jorges Sep 14th 2010 7:11PM
@Armill3:
It's Ironic how you say this while you are in the same boat. You're a gamer, are you not? You play WoW, don't you? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then I can safely assume (by your standards) that you yourself do all those things. You are willing to put off a potential employee for your own experience as a gamer. You're judging other people's capabilities and skills by your own prejudices, by reasons you yourself are probably doing. That's not only unfair, but totally unprofessional and unconstitutional (at least here, that goes against the constitution).
Clevin was downrated, but he actually had a point. Is because of people like you that us gamers, specially WoW players, carry the stigma of being losers and totally incapable of being responsible, mature and have a sense of commitment to our jobs. This madness has to stop. "Normal" people spend the same amount of time, and even more, watching TV, chatting, surfing aimlessly on the web or browsing Facebook for hours. But since those are activities that are considered acceptable, and most employers do them anyway, it's OK.
Like my boss said to me "if it doesn't affect ME and YOUR PERFORMANCE, then I don't mind at all". If one day I screw up at work because I let myself get immersed in whatever activity, being gaming or not, it will be my fault as a person and as a professional. NOT because I'm a gamer or because I play WoW. Even by knowing those things about me he gave me a chance. It's up to me if I'm going to keep up to task or screw up. There's a lot of people that screw up at work by a lot of things, but it seems like gaming is the worse in the eyes of some persons...
ANY activity can be addictive and hinder your overall performance if you are not capable of being reasonable about it.... EVEN WORK ITSELF.
/end of rant
Sondre Sep 14th 2010 8:03AM
English and social skills. You don't progress well without either. Also, some logistics.
lolikitty Sep 14th 2010 8:03AM
I've seen this question pop up before here and there, the common answer seems to be a resounding "oh lell naw"