Do you admit to being a gamer?

[KidCthulhu]

PirateCat was reading me an article in the paper this morning all about one of those hyperactive families where the children's activities are regimented every moment, and they only do things that will look good on the kid's university applications.

I jokingly said that they should take up gaming, because that looks so good on a resume...

And then it struck me. I don't list gaming on my resume, and haven't since I actually worked as a game designer. In most industries it's not considered a plus.

Has anyone actually listed their secret shame (gaming that is, I don't want to know about your other secret shames) on an official document like a resume, job application or university application?

Did you get asked about it, and what was your experience?

 

[billd91]

Has anyone actually listed their secret shame (gaming that is, I don't want to know about your other secret shames) on an official document like a resume, job application or university application?

Did you get asked about it, and what was your experience?

I've never put it on anything official. I try to keep those to no-nonsense minimum.
I do admit it in casual conversation, especially considering the Dork Tower t-shirts I own.

 

[sircaren]

I talk about it in interviews when asked about stress relief. I also list it on my resume as a 'hobby/pastime'. Gaming itself (unfortunately) has nothing to do with my area of expertise. (Computers)

 

[Maraxle]

I don't list it because it's not relevant to what I do for a living. I tend not to have a hobbies section, because I've been out of college for a few years and have packed a lot of industry experience into that relatively short period of time.

 

[der_kluge]

My resume has, at the bottom:

"I am a published, freelance writer for a role-playing game company"

I left it at that. No, I'm not sure I would write "I write D&D books" on it. That would be quite absurd.

 

[Breakstone]

When I first started playing D&D in 7th grade, I kept it pretty secret from my friends.

That continued until 10th grade, when I was worried that my friends would find out and I'd become double plus noncool (we were reading 1984 at the time).

But then I taught one of those friends how to play D&D, and the whole thing got blown out into the open, and it made me more of a recognizable character at school, not to mention saving my gaming career.

In the future, if I have to talk about stress relief at an interview, I'll probably mention "playing games with my friends," and, if they further pry, I'll tell them I play D&D, but it's just not something I bring up in daily conversations with non-gamers.

 

[Argent Silvermage]

During an interview a few years ago I mentioned I play D&D and the guy hired me on the spot.

Hated the job anmd left after 6 months of the boss telling me about his 30th level monk wizard assassin.

May he burn in heck!

 

[Maggan]

I get work from it

I work as a general writer (comics, rpg:s, translation, e-learning, copywriting, scriptwriting).

So I actually place quite a lot of emphasis on my hobby, even when I'm looking for non-gaming assignments.

People ask me about it, and they are often politely interested. I guess that those who aren't interested don't ask.

But I never walk into a room full of strangers proclaiming to be a Gamer, but if someone asks, I tell them what I do for fun.

I treat it just as any other hobby I have... or would have, if I had time for one.

And yeah, sometimes I might get a bad reaction from someone, but then I just think to myself that I wouldn't have wanted to work with or talk to someone like that anyway, so it's good they show their colors early on. And then I just talk to someone else. Or apply for another job.

Cheers!

Maggan

 

[Ravellion]

I talk about it in interviews when asked about stress relief. I also list it on my resume as a 'hobby/pastime'. Gaming itself (unfortunately) has nothing to do with my area of expertise. (Computers)

Same here. Less of a stigma on this side of the pond though.

Rav

 

[Ravellion]

During an interview a few years ago I mentioned I play D&D and the guy hired me on the spot.

Hated the job anmd left after 6 months of the boss telling me about his 30th level monk wizard assassin.

Oh my God! That guy in my game store was your boss?

Rav