Why playing MMORPGs could improve your job chances

There is an interesting article up at Wired dealing with the idea that, for instance, being a guild master in a game like WoW can positively affect one’s leadership skills in real life. By solving quests with other people, organizing attacks and thinking socially, people playing MMORPGs might achieve a considerable sense of responsibility.

The difference to learning these skills in a strictly educational environment? Instead of building experience based on theoretical knowledge, guild leaders are faced with concrete problems every day. But where real life often brutally punishes you for mistakes, a virtual world is a harmless platform for learning your lessons. The article calls this the “learning to be” instead of “learning about”.

Sounds far fetched, yes – but it seems to work, as the authors base their arguments on the example of Stephen Gillett, whose position as a WoW guild master may have given him the edge over his competitors. He is now employed as a senior director of engineering operations at Yahoo!.

“I used to worry about not having what I needed to get a job done,” he says. “Now I think of it like a quest; by being willing to improvise, I can usually find the people and resources I need to accomplish the task.”

 

Just a fluke then, or – as the article humorously suggests: “The day may not be far off when companies receive résumés that include a line reading “level 60 tauren shaman in World of Warcraft.”

 

Either way, it’s certainly worth the read.

There is an interesting article up at Wired dealing with the idea that, for instance, being a guild master in a game like WoW can positively affect one’s leadership skills in real life. By solving quests with other people, organizing attacks and thinking socially, people playing MMORPGs might achieve a considerable sense of responsibility.

The difference to learning these skills in a strictly educational environment? Instead of building experience based on theoretical knowledge, guild leaders are faced with concrete problems every day. But where real life often brutally punishes you for mistakes, a virtual world is a harmless platform for learning your lessons. The article calls this the “learning to be” instead of “learning about”.

Sounds far fetched, yes – but it seems to work, as the authors base their arguments on the example of Stephen Gillett, whose position as a WoW guild master may have given him the edge over his competitors. He is now employed as a senior director of engineering operations at Yahoo!.

“I used to worry about not having what I needed to get a job done,” he says. “Now I think of it like a quest; by being willing to improvise, I can usually find the people and resources I need to accomplish the task.”

 

Just a fluke then, or – as the article humorously suggests: “The day may not be far off when companies receive résumés that include a line reading “level 60 tauren shaman in World of Warcraft.”

 

Either way, it’s certainly worth the read.