“Stop playing video games and start doing something productive!” is a phrase you surely heard in your adolescence, but what if it were actually something productive? Playing video games allows you to acquire skills and perfect certain abilities that are useful for the workplace.
These are a series of soft skills: social, communication, and emotional intelligence skills that allow better performance in tasks and are highly valued by Human Resources departments. In this article, we tell you what are 7 skills acquired in video games that will help you in your job.
1. Communication tools
When we think of what a gamer looks like, we usually imagine them with a microphone and a pair of headphones. In other words, with elements whose main purpose is to communicate with other people. When playing video games, the need to talk and listen to other online gamers, be they friends or complete strangers, makes us exercise our communication skills.
This can be seen in the statistics: a survey conducted by YouTube and Censuswide showed that, out of 1500 gamers surveyed, 50% considered that interacting with other players gave them more confidence when communicating.
2. Working under pressure
When we perform our tasks at work under complex conditions, we are working under pressure. This involves an overload of activities, a very tight time frame, difficult customers, or an adverse context for whatever reason. Although the ideal for maintaining good productivity is to work in a healthy and organized environment, there are times when it is impossible to escape from a pressure situation. For example, an online fruit machine can simulate the pressure of decision-making, adding an element of excitement to the gaming experience.
3. Teamwork
Another of the most important skills acquired in video games is teamwork. Remember Among Us? This video game was a hit a few years ago, and it had a very interesting premise: to investigate who was the impostor on board a spaceship. Players had to agree to choose the suspect and kick him out of the game.
Among Us is an example of how video games can help you work as a team based on communication, sharing, and exposing opinions.
4. Creativity and inventiveness
The expression “think outside the box” is heard a lot these days in the workplace. This metaphor refers to thinking from a creative perspective to find novel solutions to problems that arise, and more and more organizations are looking to have people with these skills acquired in video games in their ranks.
Many video games include challenges that require players to modify their thinking approach, such as strategy games. StarCraft or Civilization, for example, require you to adopt very clever approaches to complete the steps that take you to the next level.
5. Leadership
Leadership is a set of skills that allow a person to lead a group: to be its voice, to act as an intermediary, and to make important decisions. Many people have a tendency towards leadership more or less innately, although others can use certain tools, such as video games, to stimulate this ability.
At this point, the best alternatives are role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Eve Online, or EverQuest. With these video games, you will be able to train in the management of crisis situations, quick decision-making, and strategy design.
6. Resource management
If you’re applying for a job related to organizational management or economics, city-building video games like SimCity or Cities Skylines can really help you boost your administrative skills. You will have to create your own urbanization, applying a great sense of organization and financial management, and you will also have to develop skills in politics and negotiation.
Another video game that we could include in this category is Age of Empires, which, although it is a strategy video game, will also make you practice your resource management skills.
7. Perseverance
In general, the most popular video games on the market last an average of 30 or 40 hours, although there are a few that exceed a hundred hours. Last year, for example, Elden Ring won the award for the longest game of the year, with 107 hours of duration! These video games are proof that the saying “persevere and you will succeed” makes sense: after all, the key is to stay focused on the process in order to make the leap to the next level.
What about hard skills?
Recruiters will positively value skills acquired in video games, known as soft skills. However, just as important are the hard skills; that is, the technical competencies that come from experience and education.
Video games are also excellent for improving these skills. For example, you can practice math with Minecraft, you can learn to program with SQL Murder Mystery, or you can learn English with any video game.
Undoubtedly, video games are a great way to stimulate our brains and bring out our full potential. What other video games do you think could help you in your work? We read you!
