Recruiter told not to hire WoW players

[Lantyssa]

The stupidity is Epic.  At least it's bringing me some holiday cheer.

[HaemishM]

Jesus Fucking Christ on a stick. People are still linking to this thread with the wrong idea about what it said? Fuck, I barely skimmed the OP and realized he wasn't looking for a job. Schild, you got it right in editing the OP. That is truly epic lulz.

[Fabricated]

Look at what you've done Tale. You've trolled the world.

[Pennilenko]

I've recieved emails from my mother and some ex coworkers (Not one of them surfs the net). All of them forwarding this "WoW players can't get jobs!" email they got from other coworkers.


 

[Fabricated]

As one commenter put it rather bluntly, “It’s like telling them you’re into BDSM or something…once they know they’ll always look at you differently.”

WoW is BDSM.

I've recieved emails from my mother and some ex coworkers (Not one of them surfs the net). All of them forwarding this "WoW players can't get jobs!" email they got from other coworkers.

 

Ahahahahah

[Slayerik]

World of Warcraft Players Need Not Apply
By Jenna Wortham
CLARIFICATION 12:50 PM — This post has been clarified to include information about the original conversation involving World of Warcraft. It was not an interview, just a casual conversation.

Hah!

Still, most of the readers in the F13 comment section shared a similar sentiment: When in doubt about the job compatibility of your gaming alter ego, the best policy might be to stay mum.

As one commenter put it rather bluntly, “It’s like telling them you’re into BDSM or something…once they know they’ll always look at you differently.”

[Slyfeind]

Oh dang, let's see how many times we can get them to correct themselves. Next let's say they're from Iceland and it was SWG they were talking about!

[Pezzle]

Her next entry should be about the repeated failures of online 'journalism' to get stories correct.  We have a perfect case, nearly two dozen agencies, including high profile groups like the New York Times.  Failure to read the source, failure to read the discussion.  Do these people need to fill space so badly they will blindly scrawl out anything that includes WoW?

We could make up stories for more comedy.

[Merusk]

I'm going to smugly assume my comment on P2 of her blog lead her to actually read the damn post here.  Based solely on the fact that she was also quoting one of her other commentators with the BSDM thing.

[IainC]

I'm going to smugly assume my comment on P2 of her blog lead her to actually read the damn post here.  Based solely on the fact that she was also quoting one of her other commentators with the BSDM thing.

I left a comment with the same general theme as yours. Mine didn't get past the moderation queue though.

[Merusk]

It may depend on when you left it.  I wrote it at 11:30 last night and it wasn't approved until mid-morning today.   I figure any comments after 9:30 est or so won't get modded until Monday thanks to the holiday.

[HaemishM]

Do these people need to fill space so badly they will blindly scrawl out anything that includes WoW?

Yes. Some of these fuckers exist solely because larger corporate entities needed "something on this interweb thingy that the damn kids like."

[sam, an eggplant]

To be fair, that was a blog hosted by the nytimes, not the newspaper itself. It's not exactly surprising that blogs aren't held to high journalistic standards.

[HaemishM]

Unless, of course, you're a blog run by one of the largest and most well-known newspapers in existence. Then you are kind of obligated to maintain some basic level of journalistic integrity, even if it's nothing more than reading comprehension slightly above the level of a dried turnip.

[Slyfeind]

I left a comment too, mentioning that someone might want to actually read the thread. I was surprised it was posted, just because the very first post makes the NYTimes look bad.

Heh. And the correction still got it wrong. Well...technically it's correct, the same way it's technically correct to say I'm personally orbitting the sun.

[Yoru]

This thread truly has the spirit of Christmas in it. It never, ever stops giving.

[Samprimary]

Do these people need to fill space so badly they will blindly scrawl out anything that includes WoW?

Yes. Some of these fuckers exist solely because larger corporate entities needed "something on this interweb thingy that the damn kids like."

whoa, whoa, whoa. you lost me, frank. Internet?

[kERRA]

You saw it - I was the first one to ask for boob signage!

Just don't tattoo it in like a friend of mine did to Elijah Wood's autograph.

[shiznitz]

I'd probably hire a heroin addict over a gamer, if the government gave him free heroin. Everybody have their evils.

This is fucking stupid.  I hope you aren't in charge of hiring people in what you do. 

Yes, but think about it. Heroin addicts don't surf the web looking for strats and spend time on message boards in preparation for a hit when they get home.

[Tale]

Sorry to bring the thread back. Joystiq even had an attorney write about this.

It includes the sentence "I'm not aware of any religious groups that hold gaming as a tenant of their beliefs". If that's the attorney writing, rather than bad editing, I'd be suspicious of advice from someone who doesn't know the word is "tenet".

edit - As a journalist myself, the most disgraceful thing is that NOT ONE FUCKING JOURNALIST HAS TALKED TO A RECRUITER ABOUT THIS EXCEPT ME. You fucking pissants - how hard is it to ring one and get a grab?

[Phildo]

And how many of them have contacted you, Tale?

[waffel]

'Journalists' are getting PAID to butcher the shit out of stories like this?

Holy shit, I picked the wrong profession. What do you have to do to get a job as a journalist? Scribble your resume in crayon?

[Edenfall]

I'd probably hire a heroin addict over a gamer, if the government gave him free heroin. Everybody have their evils.

This is fucking stupid.  I hope you aren't in charge of hiring people in what you do. 

Yes, but think about it. Heroin addicts don't surf the web looking for strats and spend time on message boards in preparation for a hit when they get home.

Indeed! While the gamer is spamming the F5 button on 15 different browser-tabs in the hours after lunch, the heroin addict is joyful, increasing productivity and placing a smile on co-workers' faces, due to the thought of that a new hit is just a couple of hours away!

*WORK WORK WORK*

Oh joy. Let's all start doing heroin. Great thread, Tale!

[Ratman_tf]

Sorry to bring the thread back. Joystiq even had an attorney write about this.

It includes the sentence "I'm not aware of any religious groups that hold gaming as a tenant of their beliefs". If that's the attorney writing, rather than bad editing, I'd be suspicious of advice from someone who doesn't know the word is "tenet".

edit - As a journalist myself, the most disgraceful thing is that NOT ONE FUCKING JOURNALIST HAS TALKED TO A RECRUITER ABOUT THIS EXCEPT ME. You fucking pissants - how hard is it to ring one and get a grab?

He even made a bad photoshop to go with the "story".



 

[Jain Zar]

Today it was on Yahoo's front page as one of the mini story links to their shitty blog articles areas.

I was almost proud little old F13 had gotten some notice.  Then you see the linked front page bit.

And then its pride in more of a "Making fun of the ever more inept excuse for journalism" sort of way.

Man, I already knew you never trust anyone with an MBA, but now we need to add not to trust anyone with a Journalism degree?
(Not that half the YOU SUCK WEBSITE writers have anything resembling a degree mind you...)

[Furiously]

It's a good sensationalistic story. Tale has anyone contacted you to actually get ahold of the recruiter. Or are they really that shifty of journalists?

[Ratman_tf]

Hay guise, I red on teh intarnet thot teh NYT fired all of it's emploeeys who playd Everquest!

[Tale]

It's a good sensationalistic story. Tale has anyone contacted you to actually get ahold of the recruiter. Or are they really that shifty of journalists?

I've had three messages about this thread.

1. Steffen Kraft, German journalist, asking to phone me and the recruiter.
2. Steffen Kraft, German journalist, asking how the hell I can reply in German (I was an exchange student) and asking for phone details again (I said no, sorry).
3. Schild telling me he edited my original post.

I am not the story, so I wouldn't expect to be contacted except for the recruiter's details (I haven't even told him about all this, but I probably will). But if I were writing from an unsubstantiated message board post, my instinct would be to call a recruitment company and get their view. Even if they laughed and said "what's World of Warcraft?" it would be a useful addition to the story. If they said "no, we wouldn't discriminate" or "yes, WoW players are poison", it would also help. It's pathetic that nobody has added anything to the story.

Although somebody in Singapore might have: "Read the full report on employers attitude towards gamers by Chua Hian Hou, Level 72 Templar, in The Straits Times today."

[schild]

Although somebody in Singapore might have: "Read the full report on employers attitude towards gamers by Chua Hian Hou, Level 72 Templar, in The Straits Times today."

Given the article at the link and stuff like: "But it wasn’t all wasted time, and studies have shown that online games like these can teach skills from leadership to project management."

I highly doubt he added a damn thing.

First of all, studies like that really piss my shit off simply because, well, they're bullshit. Yea, they can teach leadership and project management. But going from zero to one doesn't make you a good leader or manager. In fact, I can tell you from first hand experience that herding cats is a laughably easy exercise (and now you're probably wondering why so many community managers suck - well, I don't know what to tell you, maybe they should play more MMOGs [HAHA]). Seriously though, studies on this sort of thing need to go the way of the dinosaur. Aside from that, his full report sounds like it's going to be some first-hand - This was my Problem, This is how I Solved it - type article. Meh. Journalists suck.

[Edenfall]

First of all, studies like that really piss my shit off simply because, well, they're bullshit. Yea, they can teach leadership and project management. But going from zero to one doesn't make you a good leader or manager. In fact, I can tell you from first hand experience that herding cats is a laughably easy exercise (and now you're probably wondering why so many community managers suck - well, I don't know what to tell you, maybe they should play more MMOGs [HAHA]). Seriously though, studies on this sort of thing need to go the way of the dinosaur. Aside from that, his full report sounds like it's going to be some first-hand - This was my Problem, This is how I Solved it - type article. Meh. Journalists suck.

Saying that whether people gain actual skills by playing games or not, is inconclusive. A thorough study would however be able to conclude that ...sometimes, yes, but not necessarily. Then again, there is no need to study that thorough to make such a conclusion.

Whether or not you have gained some skill in project management will always depend how far it was taken, and I'd say it's possible to become an experienced project manager through the MMO path, but an experience somewhere will only take one so far.

Living at home doesn't make you a traveler.

[UnSub]

As I said earlier, playing MMOs makes you better at playing MMOs first and foremost. Now, you might learn some people management skills in the process, particularly if you get into raiding and / or guild drama, but the 'reality' of MMOs is a lot different to the reality of planning people face-to-face. You can take away some skills, but you have to be receptive to them and build on them, especially as you move further and further away from the original activity.

As an example, my boss apparently learned his time management skills working in the kitchen of a pancake house, while I learned a lot of useful bits and pieces working in stationery supplies and stocking bars. However, it's straight out idiocy to think that everyone who ever flipped pancakes or cleaned beer lines learned vital life skills they could take with them anywhere.

I will be proved wrong when all of the WoW raiding-trained people out there become project management experts, leading to MMOs delivered on time and on budget.

[kildorn]

World of Warcraft Players Need Not Apply
By Jenna Wortham
CLARIFICATION 12:50 PM — This post has been clarified to include information about the original conversation involving World of Warcraft. It was not an interview, just a casual conversation.

Hah!

Still, most of the readers in the F13 comment section shared a similar sentiment: When in doubt about the job compatibility of your gaming alter ego, the best policy might be to stay mum.

As one commenter put it rather bluntly, “It’s like telling them you’re into BDSM or something…once they know they’ll always look at you differently.”

The f13 comment section? You all have a non comment section!?

[Venkman]

As an example, my boss apparently learned his time management skills working in the kitchen of a pancake house, while I learned a lot of useful bits and pieces working in stationery supplies and stocking bars. However, it's straight out idiocy to think that everyone who ever flipped pancakes or cleaned beer lines learned vital life skills they could take with them anywhere.

How many people do you know that can actually train the accumulated life skills from specific events? It's all connected. Flipping a pancake is not a skill you can use everywhere. But working in the kitchen of a pancake house absolutely is, because it's general enough to require a lot of different skills (people mgt, project mgt, time mgt, resource mgt, etc).

[Tarami]

I think you're glossing over the fact that it's a really tiny minority of MMO players that aim to learn or even want to learn anything from playing. Most are there to *escape* challenge and responsibility. The better they do not learn anything particularly useful, the happier they'll be.

[Azazel]

The f13 comment section? You all have a non comment section!?

That would be the frontpage, which, while it's not the place where stuff happens here, pretty much serves as the public front face of the site, especially to someone who's never been here before.