Claim to Game: Could Gaming Land You Your Next Job?

Tim Ovenden has not once experienced a job interview. Nor is he a particularly proficient gamer. He soon might need to be: delving into the world of gaming in recruitment, Tim finds it has serious potential.

As anyone applying for internships or graduate careers will know, the job market is pretty competitive. Well, very competitive. A few years ago, the average job vacancy received 120 applications, with only 2% of applicants progressing to the interview stage. Perhaps these statistics don’t quite ring true anymore, a postBrexit, post-Covid Britain is rife with vacancies, we’re told. Yet the fact remains: employers need a way to sift through large quantities of candidates swiftly and effectively.

Many commonly used sorting methods utilise algorithms to scan CVs for keywords and phrases typically used by an ‘ideal employee’. However, a potentially perfect candidate would be rejected by this model for missing out on only one or two of these ‘ideal’ words in their resume. At the interview stage, unconscious biases can result in a lack of diversity, whereas sweet talkers and ‘yes-men’ that say exactly what high-ups want to hear often obtain roles regardless of ability. Many people can talk the talk, but it’s undoubtedly better to hire someone who walks the walk.

This is where video games come in. Candidates are screened based on their performance in games specifically developed to demonstrate certain skills. With data collection tailored to each job, these games aim to assess cognitive ability, work ethic and problem-solving skills – crucial information a CV will not provide. So no, you won’t have to beat Elden Ring for a job, but at least you can game guilt-free as it can now be considered interview practice!

One of the specialised games I have taken a peep at is Wasabi Waiter, a knock-off speedy chef game akin to the Overcooked series. It claims to test qualities like “how creative, cautious, adept at multitasking or easily distracted… potential job applicants are”. Another game is Firefly Freedom , involving flinging fruit at fireflies in a jar. It is essentially a rip-off of Angry Birds, but with a twist. One of the ten slingshots will smash the jar, leaving a score of zero, so the game has a risk / reward element. Each participant’s final points tally is fundamentally pointless, with employers instead studying play to deduce each person’s “risk appetite, mental agility and persistence”. To me, it’s all just corporate mumbo jumbo, but if companies think this will help them find the next best venture capitalist, who am I to argue?

What have we learnt today? Well, for starters, I think I may have been a bit generous with the term ‘video game.’ These are glorified mobile games at best. Nevertheless, corporate-speak aside, I believe there is something in whittling down applicants based on their responses to games rather than CVs. It is nondiscriminatory and can give a fair judgement of a candidate’s applied skillset and management of stressful situations. Still, anyone with a basic understanding of mobile gaming and decent reaction times has nothing to worry about when job seeking. As for the future, one day we could see the CEO of Nintendo chosen by a game of Mario Kart Wii. Anyone who picks automatic over manual is instantly out of the running for me.

By Tim Ovenden

Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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