All the career lessons Ive learnt from playing video games

All the career lessons Ive learnt from playing video games Like most born in the age of technology, I spent a significant chunk of my childhood playing video games. From Super Mario 64 to The Sims to The Simpsons Hit and Run, I wasted many an hour plugged into a games console. But were those hours really a waste of time? Recent research has shown that video games actually boost employability skills by improving communication, adaptability and resourcefulness. I mean, this was something that anyone who had played video games for any period of time could have told you, but its taken a while for society as a whole to cotton on. Now were even starting to see employers introduce gamification to their recruitment processes. Heck, students have won everything from Apple watches to internships by playing games on the Debut app. But video games actually teach you so much about the world if you think about it, and from playing them you gain a whole bunch of career lessons you can apply to life. You cant take your anger out on others Im not a driver, but if my reactions to video games are anything to go by, I will have some serious road rage. The thing is, at some point during your expletive-ridden tirade against Mario for just missing that jump, you have to stop and realise what an idiot youre being. Getting angry isnt going to solve anything. In fact its just going to make your game playing worse and youll likely lose a couple of lives in the process. So whether your colleague at work hasnt done what you asked or your favourite Sim keeps running back towards the fire (why!?), take a deep breath, stay calm and realise that anger isnt going to solve anything. Team work makes the dream work People often think playing video games is a solitary activity. But nowadays there are plenty of video games which involve real life team work and communication. Whether its Call of Duty or Halo battleground, plenty of games require you to connect with friends and users to work collectively towards a goal. This teaches you to delegate, work to your strengths, communicate effectively and (try) to stay calm when under pressure. Because at the end of the day, as much as you might like to work on your own on a project, it can be a lot more fun and effective to work with others. And when it comes to work or university youll often be forced to work in group projects, so being able to hold your own in team is essential. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you Im notorious for overthinking things in games. Ill be faced with a challenge and spend ages coming up with all these complicated ideas for how to solve it, only to realise it was something super simple, that would have taken me five minutes. You dont always have to collect six keys, defeat a boss and navigate your way through 10 mini games just to unlock the chest sometimes you can literally just unlock it. This is often true in work life as well. There are many times Ive been faced with a problem, and have spent considerable time brainstroming a range of complex solutions to it, only to realise that a really simple solution is actually way more effective. Never underestimate the power of simplicity, and always stop to consider the most obvious solution before you move on. But sometimes you have to be creative That being said, sometimes a video game will ask you to back-flip over flaming piranha-infested waters on a quest to find the elixir of moonlight and the blood of a zebra-striped unicorn just to open a door to the next room. And its not always clear thats exactly what you have to do; half the time youre just trying stuff out and hoping for the best. Were all just muddling through life and just hoping for the best. Sometimes the answer isnt right in front of you, and sometimes you do have to be a bit more creative and try things out. Sometimes youll fail, but thankfully, unlike video games, you wont actually die. Pick yourself up and head to the next level. Even your boss has weak spots I remember as kid first coming face-to-face with Bowser for the first time and I was absolutely petrified. I made Mario jump into the abyss just to avoid the impending fireball. When youre a bit older, Bowser can take many shapes and forms. He can be your actual boss, or your landlord, or something more abstract like public speaking, networking or exams. Whatever your Bowser is, just remember that every boss has their weak spots and they can all be defeated in one way or another. When little 6-year-old me finally headed for that Bowser battle, it probably took me at least 50 attempts to succeed, but I got there in the end. And no matter what it is youre up against at work or university, whether its that dissertation or promotion, stay tenacious, stay resilient and youll succeed. Remember youre just on level one How rubbish would video games be if you just raced through all the levels to the final boss battle and the end of the game? If all the hidden side quests and collectable items had big red flags above them? The fun of video games is the hard parts, slowly making your way through the levels, the thrill of satisfaction after you defeat each enemy or figure out a difficult puzzle. So youre stuck on level one; its not very exciting and youre keen to move on to the juicy bits. It will happen eventually, but you have to work for it, and probably overcome a few hurdles en route. Even if things get harder as they go along (as all good video games do) just remember all the skills youve learned along the way, theyll get you through. 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