Many people would shy away from even listing gaming as a hobby on their CV, let alone openly talking about it in an interview. I understand there are stereotypes concerning the identity tag of ‘gamer’ however talking about the games I play, why I love them and the skill sets they have allowed me to hone has gotten me the job on several occasions.

The majority of games require the player to exercise the following skills (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Creativity and problem-solving
• Decision making
• Dealing with ambiguity
• Learning from failure
• Priority setting
• Teamwork (obviously this is not applicable to single player games)

As well as showcasing what a brilliant and well-trained mind you have talking about gaming will allow you to change your interviewer’s mindset, in the majority of cases, as it puts you in driving seat and gives you an opportunity teach them something (not just answer questions they are not really interested in hearing the answers to), as long as you are passionate and clear they will listen more closely to you, be far more engaged in the conversation and you can bet they will remember you!

Creativity and problem-solving:

Games are a set of rules that define a creative space within which you are able to operate and use provided resources to overcome problems you are presented with. Becoming good at a game requires the player to create increasingly creative solutions to the problems they are presented with

In the world of work, there are problems and challenges that face any business. A creative mind that understands how to quickly create innovative solutions to multi-dimensional and evolving problems is a strong asset.

Decision making:

In games, no decision is almost always the worst choice that can be made, so you quickly learn to make choices and assess situations quickly. What do you give up for what? What can you afford to lose and still win in the end? What level of risk is acceptable to achieve an objective?

Gaming teaches you how to frame your decision-making process and to quickly assess what the important variables to factor in are. This fame of reference helps to increase your decision making quality.

Dealing with ambiguity:

Many people can be paralysed by ambiguity and unable to operate effectively without knowing absolutely everything that is going on. In the vast majority of games, particularly competitive ones, this is simply not an option. You have to be able to make decisions, plans and take action by assessing the likely scenarios based on the information that is available to you.

Learning from failure:

Games are the ultimate in iterative learning because when you fail you can jump right back in and try something else. For you to become a better gamer you must become proficient at assessing a failed attempt, to understand what variable impacted the outcome and to be able to adjust accordingly.

Great gamers learn huge amounts from failing and are never afraid to try again.

Priority setting:

In a game, you will often be presented with multiple options or challenges that require your attention, to succeed you need to be able to prioritise effectively and quickly to make sure that you choose the optimal line from your current situation to the desired outcome.

Teamwork:

In online games such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike or Heroes of the storm a player is thrown into a team of complete strangers (in the majority of cases) and must find a way to work together to effectively achieve a good outcome. When you examine it this is an incredible test of a persons ability to work with a team as you must create a plan and execute on it, all within a pressurised time window, a multitude of complex choices needed to be made and people you have never spoken to before.

Conclusion:

If you are a gamer, do not be ashamed of it. Take a close look at what games you play and what they have taught you and how you have grown by playing them and then do not be afraid to talk about it! Just make sure that it is not all you talk about!

About the Author: My gaming tag is Arena and I am a high-level Heroes of the Storm player. In my professional life, I have worked in a variety of industries at well-known companies and have been the founder of several companies.