Play These Games To Develop The Best Skills For Job Applications

If you’re applying for jobs, then you know they’ll ask for certain skills in every application. While a lot of these skills relate to the job itself, there are still lots of common skills employers look for in almost every role out there. These tend to be categorized as “soft” skills - and The Balance outlines these as the most sought-after ones you need: 

• Communication

• Critical Thinking

• Leadership

• Teamwork

• Problem-Solving

• Time Management

Those of you with a lot of confidence in these skills will go on to have solid job applications - and may even land a lot of interviews. The question is, how do you develop these skills if you don’t currently have a job? It’s an issue facing a lot of students and young people as they apply for jobs, but did you know the answer could lie in gaming?

Playing games will help you develop some incredible skills to put on your resume and bolster your confidence. It does depend on the games you play - but here are some examples and the skills they boost: 

Tactical FPS Games

This might sound absurd, but tactical shooter games are genuinely excellent for developing most of the essential skills listed above. There’s an extremely common misconception that tactical FPS games are all about running around shooting enemies with guns. Sure, that’s the premise of the genre - but titles like Counter-Strike, Valorant, and Rainbow Six: Siege prove there’s way more depth to them. 

You see, these games are only fun when you play them correctly, which means you need to take a tactical approach. This will involve working with teammates to come up with strategies on the fly. You’ll need to react to what your opponents throw at you and constantly solve new problems within a set time limit. 

It’s way more advanced than it seems from an outside perspective - and it’s also one of the best ways to develop communication and leadership skills. Someone needs to take the mantle of the in-game leader and decide what your team will do every round. You’re literally leading them into battle - if you can get a few random people you’ve never met to follow your instructions, then that bodes very well for your general leadership skills in the working world. 

Survival Games

Survival games encompass a whole range of different games that share similar elements. Some of the best survival games of this generation include Minecraft, Rust, Valheim, and Subnautica. These games all look and feel incredibly different - but the main concept is that you have to survive in the world. 

This will involve finding food and water so you don’t die, crafting bases and armor to protect yourself from enemies, and maybe even mining for key resources. You normally play these games alone, but they still help you develop the following: 

• Problem-solving skills

• Critical thinking skills

• Time management skills

You need to work out the best ways to survive - and you’re constantly watching the clock to be sure you’re not running out of time. This is especially important in survival games because bad things tend to happen at night. If you’re caught away from your base when night strikes, you’ll end up with mobs and baddies trying to get you. 

To be good at these games, you need to develop the three main skills shown above. You can also play these games with other people, which then brings in elements of communication and teamwork - with a smidge of leadership thrown in for good measure. 

Card Games

Never underestimate the value of classic card games for skill development. You can pick almost any game involving a deck of cards, and they’ll all help you improve the soft skills mentioned in the introduction. 

If you have to pick just one game, then Spades is the one to choose. Like all card games, Spades involves a massive deal of problem-solving and critical thinking. You’re always trying to think two or three turns ahead to win as many points as possible. It’s also a game with limited time because you need to make your moves before all the cards run out and you don’t get the points. 

The same can be said for other card games - like Solitaire or Hearts - but the difference with Spades is that you’re in a partnership with another player. Both of you need to play off one another to secure as many points as you can. There’s loads of teamwork involved, as well as some subtle communication. You need to find ways of communicating with one another without the other players knowing what you’re doing. 

It’s super tactical, and that teamwork element is what sets it apart from other card games out there. Nevertheless, don’t be afraid to play any time of classic card game - either in person or online - as they’ll 100% help you improve your core job application skills. 

Puzzle Games

Of all the games on this list, puzzle games are probably the most obviously beneficial for developing skills. The very nature of a puzzle will challenge your problem-solving abilities - but certain games take this to new levels. 

Look at the best online puzzle games, and you’ll find titles like Portal 2 or Split Fiction. Both are co-op games that force two players to work together to solve a series of puzzles at every level. That’s where you develop loads of amazing communication and teamwork skills alongside your problem-solving and critical-thinking ones. There’s even an element of time management because most of these puzzle games force you to solve things either against the clock or before something bad happens and your players “die.”

There’s also nothing wrong with playing single-player puzzle games on your phone - like Candy Crush and stuff like that. These games look whimsical and simple, but they secretly get you to think strategically and solve loads of little problems. You’ll be stunned by how quickly you transfer skills like this to your working life. 

Simulation Games 

Two main types of simulation games exist: ones where you’re thrown into a simulated world and have full control over it and ones where you simulate a specific job or action. You should mainly be interested in the first type of game, which involves titles like The Sims or the Civilization series. 

These games give you the freedom to build houses or cities; you’re basically like a town planner, and every decision comes down to you. This makes you think about everything you do to ensure that your simulation runs smoothly. Make the wrong call when setting up roads, and you end up with loads of traffic. Place energy storage solutions in the wrong place, and half the city deals with blackouts. 

You’re playing these games alone, so teamwork, communication, and leadership are out of the question. However, they’re some of the best games for developing problem-solving, critical thinking, and time management skills. When you think about it, certain simulation games basically force you to do the job of high-ranking city planning officials! They’re also really good for helping you act and react under pressure, which translates very well in the working world. 

The biggest point of this guide is to find games that help you develop the best skills for job applications. You’ll feel more confident listing these skills on your resume - and you genuinely have better soft skills because of your gaming experience. This will rub off in interviews or when you’re doing little job application tasks. Employers will be amazed when you solve their little “simulations” in record time, and you’ll set yourself up well for when you get a job. 

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