How Online Gaming Attracts and Guides Younger Job Candidates

Woman in front of screen

Attracting top talent, especially younger candidates, is an ongoing challenge for companies, in today’s fast-changing market. Employers are searching for the right fit, something that many are prioritizing over a specific set of hard skills[1] while first-time job hunters may not know how their skills apply.

One of the most effective ways for employers and candidates to learn more about each other is by gamifying recruitment. This enables employers to attract younger and more diverse candidates with a memorable recruitment experience while simultaneously allowing candidates to gain insight on how they might fit into a potential role.

Here are some ways that online assessments, like gaming, can attract new candidates and help guide them on their career path.

Evaluating for skills and fit

Gaming presents a creative way to showcase skills and knowledge to prospective employers through simple quizzes, thought-provoking scenarios, and unique forms of content. Simultaneously, organizations gain practical data that help them make informed hiring decisions within the framework of a unique experience that also boosts their brand – whether or not the candidate is hired. Companies who incorporate strong talent assessments up front, also have higher retention and increased productivity.[2]

ManpowerGroup recently developed a fun interactive assessment tool that enhances the overall candidate experience. Game-to-Work helps companies to engage with job seekers who may have a difficult job search due to lack of experience or who struggle to stand out in the applicant pool. The Shorty Award-winning campaign encourages candidates to emphasize gaming experience within their resumes and demonstrate vital workplace skills such as critical thinking and complex problem solving, which can be acquired through recreational gaming.[3] Gaming also cultivates competencies like creativity and emotional intelligence that are increasing in value as machines perform routine tasks. 43% of employers say it is more difficult to teach the soft skills they are seeking.[4]

Looking beyond age and experience

For job candidates previously overlooked due to youth and inexperience, online gaming can help them explore areas they thought they might not be qualified for.

Magyar Telekom in Hungary, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom (the parent company of T-Mobile USA) used gamification to attract millennials and candidates with limited work experience for sales roles. These candidates usually don’t have much experience so their resumes couldn’t showcase their abilities. By removing resumes as a screening factor using Benchmark Games, Telekom evaluated candidates’ competencies such as goal orientation, endurance and problem-solving skills.

The company noticed that some people who had been rejected because of their resumes were hired a year later because they scored really high on games – and then became high performers. Candidates hired through games reached 95% of the KPI levels of high performers just after three months.[5]

Game-to-Work similarly tapped into younger gamers with a Gaming Skills Translator that enables candidates to enter the specific games they play, their experience and skill level and the amount of time they spend gaming. It then translates the data into workplace skills that applicants can add to their resumes, helping them understand how their skills translate into real-world career paths.

Salvatore Cammarata, a 27-year-old sales professional from France and avid gamer since 6-years-old, used the Gaming Skills Translator by encoding three of his favorite games – World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy and League of Legend. Through a relatable and engaging experience, he discovered a variety of soft skills that helped him reimagine his career possibilities, ultimately leaving sales to train for a developer position. “This tool is a good springboard for young people looking for a job to help them become more aware of their abilities,” he said.[6]

Fostering continuous learning

An individual’s learning quotient (LQ) helps determine their workplace success over time[7] and gaming helps the brain create better cognitive models, making it easier to predict and react to new situations.[8]  Assessments like ManpowerGroup’s Learnability Quotient (LQ) help people identify their learning style and offer feedback on how to keep developing their skills and employability.

“Gaming fosters the skills of continuous learning and the ability to adapt one’s skill set is increasingly critical as people adjust to the ever-changing landscape of work,” said Luca Giovannini, V.P. Global Innovation and Analytics, ManpowerGroup.

Creating more engaging assessments

Google learned early with its famous billboard mathematical riddle, that using appealing gaming techniques to assess talent can reap major rewards. Assessments like ManpowerGroup’s Game to Work, not only attract candidates with creative content, they also offer quantifiable data to help employers identify talent who are well-suited to the organization. They also provide younger candidates with a personalized guide to understanding their own interests and work preferences.

SkillsInSight is another assessment tool that engages candidates with a 10-minute cognitive game that helps determine likeability, ability and drive.

It also provides immediate feedback that supports talent decisions, aligns capabilities and potential for filling a company’s gaps. These data-based insights can help provide workplace advice for talent and indicate a good match for employers.

Online tools like Game to Work and SkillsInSight offer a fun way to put individuals at ease which ultimately makes for a more accurate assessment of their potential fit for an employer. Enthusiastic and skilled gamers have developed a wide set of skills needed to thrive, including communication, reasoning, and collaboration. These soft skills are just as important as quantifiable skills that are typically learned in the classroom, such as math, literacy, and computer proficiencies.

Download a free whitepaper Game to Work: How Gamers Are Developing the Soft Skills Employers Need for more examples and insights. To learn more about ManpowerGroup’s data assessment capabilities for candidate recruiting, visit Talent Solutions.

[4] Humans Wanted: Robots Need You ManpowerGroup, 2019

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