Saturday, August 14, 2010

Transferable WoW Skills (and Knowledge)

You've probably heard of transferable skills before; they're those things interviewers want to hear about when you go for a new job. "Doing ______ at my last job will really help me do ______ at this job! Transferable skills, yeah!" And WoW experience being used for real world situations has been touched upon before (not talking about the boy and the moose), but I think it deserves another look.

How much of what we do in the game becomes a learning experience for real life? Probably a lot more than you think. This idea goes beyond just skills, but also into understanding.

Tonight at work I was training a new clerk. At one point I explained why we did a certain task, that it was for people on another shift. I realized if he'd had that other shift before, he'd better understand the connection going on. Knowing the responsibilities of others helps us with our own jobs. And I thought, that sounds familiar....

Because this happens all the time in WoW! The game allows us to switch roles as often as we please; playing the game from multiple perspectives definitely gives a better understanding of how to play each role. Tanks often say they're good tanks because they used to be healers, and vice versa. I know it worked that way for me.

What skills and knowledge from WoW do you think are transferable into other aspects of life? How can we apply our experience from WoW into real life situations?