Play games with your resume

There are so many jokes about World of Warcraft being akin to a second job that one wonders whether or not your better work-related WOW skills could legitimately be applied to a resume. That very idea is at the center of a recent PC World article by senior writer Darren Gladstone – could your management skills in a virtual world apply in real-world situations?

From the post:

“Klopfer points to Constance Steinkeuhler’s work at UW Wisconsin. She is “showing that people are developing and applying all kinds of useful skills in World of Warcraft–data collection and analysis, collaboration, planning, resource management and even team management.” Remove the “WoW” identification from the place of employment, and all of these accomplishments look fantastic on a résumé.”

He then goes on to explain the ways in which WoW could legitimately contribute to a person’s valuable life/work experiences. Surely, playing a huge, complex MMO and communicating effectively with so many other people will foster leadership and communication skills, and allow dedicated players to claim that they are “team players”, “problem-solvers” or “detail-oriented, analytical” workers. I, for one, am convinced.

Of course, Gladstone isn’t saying that you should waltz into a job interview bragging about your accomplishments in 1337speak. Nor should you necessarily go on and on about WoW in any non-game industry interview. But someday, folks, when games no longer have a “smelly 30-year-old manchild” stigma attached to them, we may just be able to put our virtual world accomplishments on real world resumes. Someday.

Read [PC World]