University Of Surrey Research Shows Gaming Can Help Career Prospects

To many gamers the words ‘playing games all day won't get you a job’ have become all too familiar. Well it turns out, this may not be the case.

'the skills gained from playing an online game can assist gamers in further strengthening valuable skills required in pursuing a specific career'

Recent research from the University of Surrey has shown how online gaming can actually boost career prospects. The study conducted by Dr Anna-Stiina Wallinheimo and Dr Anesa Hosein showed online gaming to be an aid for development of many ‘soft skills’.

Unlike a hard skill such as ‘fluency in a foreign language’ or ‘understanding of thermo-dynamics’, soft skills are traits or attributes an individual has. Due to their innate nature, they can be more difficult to learn or acquire than ‘hard skills’.

In the case of online gaming, the findings of the study showed that the soft skills developed are qualities such as organisation, strategic thinking and teamwork skills.

Dr Wallinheimo says the research could become a revolution in recruitment processes:

’We believe applicants’ online gaming experiences should be highlighted because these acquired soft skills can really help to develop their all-round strengths for the job at hand.’

Whilst hard skills can be easily quantified through exams and other grading systems, soft skills are much harder to assess and for a recruiter they can often be hard to detect.

Co-author of the research Dr Anesa Hosein hopes these finding could help evolve education for the better saying:

‘Places of learning, such as universities, could allow students to reflect and incorporate gaming as part of their career development and consider how gaming can be included in the curriculum to enhance alignment between students’ learning, career aspirations and extra-curricular gaming interests.'