Can playing video games get you a better job?

陈小将

对不少人来说，玩电子游戏是一种用来娱乐消遣的方式。但在打游戏的过程中能否学到实用的生活和职场技能？现在，一些公司意识到，游戏玩家们可以把他们在这方面的天分用到实际工作当中。玩电游能否帮助开发可转换到实际生活中的技能？“随身英语” 探讨从玩电子游戏中学习职场技能这件事究竟是现实还是纯粹的幻想。
Vocabulary: gaming skills 词汇: 游戏技能
Do you enjoy playing computer games? They can be thrilling, especially when you’re competing against others. They involve lots of skill, and offer a chance to switch off from the pressures of real life. But imagine if your gaming talents could actually be put to use in the real world? Well, now businesses are waking up to the skills gamers can bring to the workplace.
As an example, the BBC spoke to trainee surgeon Saied Froghi. He played video games like Age of Empires and Halo in his spare time when he was at medical school. But this relaxing pastime wasn’t distracting him from his studies - he thinks his time in front of a screen actually helped his surgery skills. He claims it helped him with his concentration, and he compares some of the skills used in keyhole surgery with using a games console. He says “Your hands know where the buttons are and how to rotate the instrument.”
Certainly, operating gaming controls help to develop good hand-eye coordination, but there are other abilities you can learn which can be applied to real-life work situations. Start-up company Game Academy told the BBC’s David Molloy that some games involve strategy and resource management, which are good skills for management. It analyses gamers' habits from their online gaming profile and offers courses in valuable skills that reflect their aptitudes. These are skills that can be developed, and if carefully reworded, can be added to CVs.
Employers might still need convincing that gamers are not just teenagers wasting their time in their bedrooms without thinking about their career prospects. But business consultant Mia Bennett told the BBC that gaming can help skills like "decision-making, the ability to anticipate and scenario planning… It also helps with meta-skills - learning how to learn, experimentation, and creative thinking."
You might think that the idea of gaming developing transferable skills is like the games themselves – pure fantasy – and a gamer doesn’t want to associate the fun and escapism it provides with work. It certainly doesn’t guarantee you a good job, and you need to be an accomplished gamer for your skills to shine. But if so much time is being spent gripped by the challenge of Portal or the strategy of Civilization, why not put those talents to good use?