Employers to recruiters: Don't send us WoW players

December 17, 10:55 AMPC Game ExaminerBryan Edge-Salois

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Sure, she's a little sleep deprived, but she has
at least two outstanding talents... hire her!

An article courtesy of GameIndustry.biz reports that some recruiters -- in Europe, anyway -- may be instructed to screen out World of Warcraft players for employment opportunities because they are "too sleep-deprived and distracted to be effective in the workplace."

Here's the original forum post:

I met with a recruiter recently (online media industry) and in conversation I happened to mention I'd spent way too much time in the early 2000s playing online games, which I described as "the ones before World of Warcraft" (I went nuts for EQ1, SWG and the start of WoW, but since 2006 I have only put a handful of days into MMOG playing - as opposed to discussing them - I've obsessed over bicycles and cycling instead).

He replied that employers specifically instruct him not to send them World of Warcraft players. He said there is a belief that WoW players cannot give 100% because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns are often not great, etc. I mentioned that some people have written about MMOG leadership experience as a career positive or a way to learn project management skills, and he shook his head. He has been specifically asked to avoid WoW players.

While I can agree that some folks take MMO gaming to a level where it will negatively impact thier work (to say nothing of their health, sex-life, and general well-being), I think what people do in their free time is their own business.

As long as they get their job done and done well, who cares if they play WoW (or any other MMO/video game) for 8 hours per day? For that matter, you might as replace with the MMO with virtually any hobby (fly fishing, cow-tipping, football, etc.)

And I find it strange that folks in my demographic (over 35) still often regard video games as (at best) a curious hobby for an adult, or (at worst) something contemptable.

According to this article, most of us are gamers in some fashion -- and gaming is far more mainstream (and looks to continue growing into the mainstream) than many folks are aware of.

Me to employers: Quit being idiots.
 

Read the full article at Gameindustry.biz

Read the original Forum discussion at F13.net