They witness
- Lionel Azran, Talent Acquisition Manager at the Céline ready-to-wear group,
- Léo Bernard, recruitment trainer and co-founder of Blendy (ex-bootcamp T-Shaped Recruiter)
- Ambre Meyer, Talent Acquisition Specialist for game development studio Quantic Dream,
- Léo Fichet, CEO of the video game assessment solution publisher Yuzu.
Gaming improves cognitive performance
If, for a long time, video games had a bad reputation, in particular that of promoting aggressive behavior, they are now the subject of research to demonstrate the opposite.
An American study published in October 2022, for example, notes an improvement in the cognitive performance of gamers. Concretely, the latter would develop better capacities concerning memory, organization, conflict management… than non-gamers.
During the game, the gamer develops very specific perceptions and attention: among other things, he must follow several objects at the same time, be able to quickly change his attention or have peripheral vision.
Leo Bernard
In reality, the panel of games available on the market being wide, the skills developed are just as wide. ” A gamer will not develop the same skills if he plays alone or with others, if he chooses games with progression margins or not “recalls Léo Bernard, co-founder of the Blendy bootcamp (ex-T-Shaped Recruiter).
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Their way of playing also has an impact. ” On the same game, for example “The Legend of Zelda”, some players do speed running and try to finish it as quickly as possible while others are complete and want to discover everything », illustrates Lionel Azran, Talent Acquisition Manager within the Céline group. But overall, gamers show creativity, adaptability and appetite for solving complex problems. More specifically, strategy games improve the perseverance and the decision making players while team games boost their collaborative spirit and their communication.
Useful “game skills” for certain positions?
The qualities developed by gaming are particularly relevant for certain positions, according to Lionel Azan: “ A sales manager who is adept at a game as repetitive as “Call of Duty” will show a certain form of patience and tenacity if he has to call his customers every day in his position. »
For executive positions in marketing, data management, being a gamer can also be an asset. ” Some players watch their games a posteriori, in replay, to understand their mistakes and be able to progress. However, analytical thinking is a sought-after skill. », Illustrates Léo Bernard.
However, a gamer’s appetite for a game is information to be taken with a grain of salt. A “World of Warcraft” player who knows how to create a large number of troops will not necessarily be a good manager.
Moreover, the skills that gamers develop are not so easily transferable. ” Throughout a game, players receive mini-rewards that boost their secretion of endorphins. In the world of work, reward circuits are virtually absent. This discrepancy can be confusing “, tempers Lionel Azran.
The “game skills” seen by recruiters-gamers
Follower of exploration games like “Uncharted” and adventure games like “The Last of Us”, Lionel Azran thinks he has developed a height of view over his games. ” In my professional world, my practice of gaming brings me a lot: it allows me to think “out of the box” and gain height. She pushes me to take a problem from another end to try to solve it, like when I’m stuck in a game “, he testifies.
In addition to having learned written English through “League of Legends” and “Guild Wars”, Léo Bernard has, for his part, developed his critical thinking.
Video games feed my imagination, my creativity. When I work, I now come across things that, on paper, are not consistent. By dint of solving puzzles in “The Legend of Zelda”, I have an ease in finding disruptive solutions, in getting out of the nails, in thinking outside the box”, he confides. At the same time, his practice of the game allowed him to learn to put things into perspective better. “Being used to making difficult games, for example the rogue-lite “Hades”, I know how to analyze my failures and bounce back quickly.
Léo Bernard, recruitment trainer and co-founder of Blendy (ex-bootcamp T-Shaped Recruiter)Amber Meyer
For Ambre Meyer, Talent Acquisition Specialist for Quantic Dream, the practice of gaming has boosted her creativity. ” Since I have been playing, I have been confronted with different scenarios, which sometimes take place outside of reality. Over the years, this has allowed me to boost my creativity. Today, I am constantly looking for new recruitment methods. Recently, for example, I used ChatGPT to find competing companies likely to employ the profiles I’m looking for. »
Should you mention it in your CV and in the interview?
Candidate gamers can completely address their gaming performance in their CV or during their job interview. Provided, however, that the latter are really worthy of interest. ” A candidate who would be a “casual gamer”, that is to say who would play Mario Kart from time to time, has no great interest in specifying it. It would have the same impact as indicating a love of travel in the “hobbies” section of your CV. On the other hand, a candidate who would play video games in competition must talk about it because it says a lot about his personality. says Leo Bernard.
Leo Fichet
An opinion shared by Léo Fichet, CEO of the publisher Yuzu. ” A candidate who specifies having completed the game “Assassin’s Creed” in 7:32 will definitely stand out “, he assures.
Léo Bernard remembers a young candidate who had dared to talk about it during his interview. ” He had no project management experience other than managing an esports club. His role was to find sponsors, finance competitions, supervise players, find the right strategies… He was right to broach the subject because the skills he had developed were close to those of entrepreneurs. », he says.
Be careful, gaming is not unanimous among all recruiters
Let’s be realistic, even if 53% of French people regularly play video games according to Edtech Skilleo, only passionate recruiters will be truly sensitive to candidates referring to their prowess in the world of gaming. ” Others may perceive this activity as childish “, concedes Lionel Azran.
Before tackling the subject in an interview, it is better to first “gauge” your interlocutor and adapt to the universe in which he evolves, at the risk of coming across as a “geek”. Without making any shortcuts, executives targeting sectors where formalism is essential, such as accounting, finance, the public sector, etc. must therefore play it smart.
Léo Fichet, who markets a video game assessment solution, sees every day that clichés die hard. ” Even if mentalities are changing, it is difficult to get financial profiles to accept being recruited via video games, often for a matter of ego. Despite the number of players which is clearly increasing, gaming is still sometimes the victim of the offense of dirty mouth “, he regrets.