JOBSVILLE
HOW AMERICA CAN LEVEL-UP SKILLS AND LAND GOOD JOBS.
Article and Video Interview by Brooke Allen
I’ve often wondered what can be done to make it fun to learn new skills and hunt for a job. Surely if FarmVille can make farming fun, and Call of Duty can make war fun, isn’t it possible for the people who produce those games to apply what they know to making the process of finding and qualifying for a job just a little bit more effective and enjoyable?
As it turns out, the answer is: ABSOLUTELY.
Recently I discussed this very question with Gabe Zichermann, an expert in “gamification,” author of Game Based Marketing, and creator of the Gamification Blog.
Gabe explained that the job search is usually a long process that has many moving parts including the concept of career mastery. He says this is the kind of thing that is well suited to modern multi-player social games.
In order to take someone through the “player’s journey,” game designers break complex processes into their component pieces and by providing guidance and rewards along the way. As missions are completed and skills are “leveled-up,” the player can look back later to see that they have accomplished something amazing – and had fun along the way.
After hearing his fascinating advice on how you can make your own job search more fun for you and for those who are helping you, I asked Gabe if this idea has ever been commercialized.
After all, Zynga has figured out how to get 1% of the world’s population to play Farmville, growing crops that nobody can eat. You join for free through Facebook and begin building your farm. Then you invite friends to start neighboring farms, and you interact daily, by visiting each other and complete specialized tasks in order to receive rewards and “farm coins” which you can use to buy gifts for your friends.
Gabe has famously highlighted Farmville’s social aspect by calling it “poke with cows.”
Wouldn’t it be great if Zynga created a “JobsVille” as “poke with resumes” – a place where you and your friends can help each other level-up your real-world connections and skills, land good jobs, and put real food on the table? What’s in it for Zynga? After all, if Zynga goes public, they will have shareholders to feed. As Gabe suggested in the interview, if people help you with editing a resume, making an introduction, or practicing an interview, it is entirely appropriate you reward them, perhaps with a real (or virtual) gifts bought through the game platform.
Better yet, why not help a charity in the name of the person who helped you?
Zynga has already thought of this; they handle the distribution of charitable contributions from their users through their non-profit Zynga.org.
Gabe told me he has not heard of a single person who has made a massively multi-player on-line social game out of the job hunt, but that it is ripe for development.
What a fantastic idea! As a therapist, career coach and consultant I have never heard of such a great idea! I think there is really something to this idea!!
Nice!
Farmville isn’t farming or anything like it and Call of Duty isn’t war or anything like it. Farming and war are both perfectly awful, and so is job hunting. Game software might help you survive it but fun is not a reasonable objective.
Steve,
This is a valid point. War games are not war, and Farmville is not farming.
But I know professional soldiers who are in it for the fight, not for the paycheck, and every farmer I know doesn’t think farming is “perfectly awful” but would never consider doing anything else.
And job hunting need not be awful either. My periods of unemployment have been wonderful; I’ve had more time to pursue learning new things and meeting new people. By concentrating on having fun while exploring I’ve been much more employable than those who wake up each morning to another “perfectly awful” day.
Jane McGonigal describes in her book Reality is Broken how, after a traumatic brain injury, she elicited the help of friends in her recovery by making a game out of it. She describes it here: SuperBetter. There are even games to help make chores fun. (ChoreWars)
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who has studied flow extensively, talks about how an assembly-line worker made his days pass quickly by making a game out of it. Have you seen Life is Beautiful?
So, I disagree with your conclusion. Fun IS a reasonable objective in everything you do, and in the job hunt YOU make the rules, you have plenty of time to play, and there can be a great prize at the end. I believe for most people it is “perfectly awful” because they make it so, and because they don’t know how to make it otherwise. Hamlet said, “…for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Regards,
Brooke
I would have to agree with Brooke. I believe we make things worse for ourselves. I’m not saying looking for work is the most enjoyable thing one can do, but we can make it more enjoyable and less of a tedious chore. And if creating a game can do this then why not! And if people can learn some skills along the way that actually might help them then so much the better!
Howard:
More than a therapist, career coach, and consultant, I’ve discovered you’re one of the brains behind the game Family Matters.
So, perhaps you would appreciated the following story – and then help create a JobVille.
Back when I was beginning No Shortage of Work I attended a few career fairs and had variants of the following conversation with nearly everyone there:
Brooke: What do you look for in a job candidate?
Them: We need them to be self-motivated, personable, presentable, fearless, well-connected and capable of handling rejection.
Brooke: In short, you need them to be good at finding a job?
Them: Precisely.
Brooke: But as an employer, finding a job is absolutely the last thing I want a good employee to be good at because I want to keep them. I want employees without a personal mission who will let me motivate them. None of us are able to face the complexities and risks of the world alone, and it is my job to put together a team that can weather fearful storms together. If I need someone to be good at sales, or programming, or writing, or just being kind-hearted, I create an enjoyable activity where candidates can demonstrate what they are capable of and can learn new things. And then I see who has fun learning and doing what I need done.
Them: I never thought of it that way.
Howard, people who can’t find work aren’t broken, the system is.
Even those on the autistic spectrum who might interact beautifully on-line but can’t look you in the eyes might make wonderful programmers and on-line support reps. Why should they have to wait for Psychologists do discover a “cure” for what ails them when they are capable of things many of us don’t have the patience for? Perhaps the Human Resources profession could become more human, drop the “Resources” from their title, and treat people more like people than commodities.
The motto for Zynga (creators of FarmVille) is “connecting the world through games.” They know how to keep people in the flow channel helping each other leveling-up their skills and circumstances; all while having fun. And they thrive on a revenue model that brings in less per “client” in a year than therapists and coaches charge for a single 50-minute session.
Isn’t it time to change the world?
Care to help?
Brooke
Hi Brooke,
I find the idea/concept Jobville very interesting, and I am certain it could work. Still I believe it needs to be carefully concretized. The recruitment process consists of many phases, and each phase could be gamified in a number of ways.
I am today working and conceptualizing a new website, that aims to gamify the recruitment process, mainly focusing on the recruitment interviews. I believe both recruiters and job seekers have a lot to learn, and can easily turn the interview session to to a learning session, with help of gamification.
It would be interesting to hear what the readers opinion are in this matter. What phase, or what need in the recruitment process do they find is most needable to be gamified?
Thanks,
/Peter
Brooke! That sounds like a challenge! You know how I love challenges!! Sure, I would be happy to help! I believe there are some similarities between what I created in Family Matters and what we could do here!
Good Luck and don’t forget to think globally!
I like the idea and think that it could evolve into a very useful tool.
Idea for Jobvile sounds very intriguing. I would definetly be part of the process that helps the community help themselves with locating and generating jobs. Good Luck in your endeavor and keep me up on your progress..
Sign me up! A game to make jobhunting even more fun than it is?! (I like a challenges) This sounds like a novel and thrilling new idea.
I teach IT, and ran this idea past a few students.. Their eyes lit up as if ‘this might get me to do it’… They agreed that they lack motivation to apply for jobs as they get no ‘feedback’ and it is like submitting your resume into the big black void..
go for it.. and I can maybe help you with this as I plan to have a lot of free time in January…!!!
Pat
I agree with Peter and many others’ comments above. This is an interesting idea and it seems that it could be a great tool while also a game. It may be a better tool than a game, but at least using the tool would not be complete drudgery but rather somewhat fun. Terrific!! Maybe for others it would be a timely game. How wonderful to have someones game being others’ tool and playing could help those others to find jobs. Terrific!!
Jobville sounds great. One persons timely game is another persons job finding tool. Gaming with a social conscience or a personal purpose – brilliant (it’s about time!). Go Brooke!! Go Jobville!!
Hi Brooke,
My “marketer-sense” (as opposed to spider sense) is telling me you’re on to something that’s poised to be the Next Big Thing. That’s smart thinking man!
Keep safe,
Patrick Bishop
New jobs require workers, new work spaces, and the catalyst to get them together. I think Jobsville is a great idea for a catalyst. It will get workers thinking in new ways about their skill sets and get workspace organizers (aka employers) to think in new ways about their organizations.
I liked Joe Nocera’s NYT column today. A large number of companies sitting on cash are not hiring. He thinks no company wants to be the first to take the hiring plunge. If that’s correct, his idea from Marc Groz, the “contingent commitment facility” whereby companies in a locale or industry agree to take on short-term hires contingent on other companies doing likewise, is an interesting approach. A strategic application of this approach would provide jobs and markets. Question: Can a game like Jobsville be elastic enough to reward this kind of creativity in jobs approaches?
This sounds like a great idea, Brooke. As someone mired in a soul-crushing and seemingly fruitless job hunt, I almost feel like you’ve read my mind. I’ll be excited to see how this progresses. And if you need any writers on board…
Hi Brooke,
I’m not a game person but this sounds like an interesting idea. I like the concept of playing a game that has real world applications.
I would definitely play this game.
Mairi
Dear Brook,
This is brilliant – a wise, pragmatic application of social networks and behavioral economics.
I’m sure you’ll be including a reputation module to it, enabling friends, co-workers and past employers to not only “recommend” but to vouch for the job seeker.
Best of luck in San Francisco!
Good idea. If people can play farmville with no utility to them or the world why not a similar thing that does some good.
As time goes on, I suspect we will see less and less jobs that are traditional employment positions and more 1099 contract positions. Thus, I’d like to see components of Jobsville include people helping each other to do all sorts of things in addition to finding work. People could help each other to navigate through all the things you need to learn to be a contractor. Coworking groups are already designed to have members help each other in various ways. Studying what coworking groups are doing, looking for commonalities to abstract out into general principles and then applying gamification might be a good path to explore.
I thoroughly agree, Brooke! Great idea! I’ve done something I RARELY do and that’s to post a link to this on my Facebook page and encourage my friends to see what your idea has to offer. I hope and pray that we can conquer unemployment in our lifetime. Jobs are the key to saving our nation. 73,
GJ
Even if I didn’t think this would help me with my job search, I would certainly use it for my DREAM JOB search. That way, I’d have a better map for success!
Concern: Can a game like JobsVille be elastic enough to adapt to opportunities as they come up?
c.l.
Is the NY Times article: What is Business Waiting For?
I have a 25-year-old friend I met through CouchSurfing.org who has been a vagabond for 7 years, doing odd jobs and learning Mandarin in China, Portuguese in Portugal, Turkish in Istanbul, etc. However a few months ago she had everything stolen in the Canary Islands and she and her boyfriend had to sleep in their clothes on the beach. She wrote that, although she has been without a home for 7 years, for the first time she felt homeless. My wife and I were touched and bought them Ryan Air tickets to England (which cost us less than dinner for 2 at a fancy restaurant.)
After they got situated I asked her to tell me about that feeling of homelessness.
She discovered that homelessness is a spiritual thing, not a physical thing, for she did not become homeless until her spirit was broke – and that can happen kicking around a mansion. After I read this on my laptop I was so moved I told the person sitting next to me who happened to have been an arcitect who spent over a decade designing housing for the poor. Then he quit because it was a hopeless cause. He told me, “homelessness is not a matter of housing.”
Likewise, unemployment is not a lack of an income, and unemployment insurance doesn’t address the real problem. As my uncle said after he retired from the Foreign Service at the age of 50, “The worst thing is feeling like you are no use to anyone.” It can become a viscous cycle for nobody wants to hire someone whose spirit is broken.
Business people aren’t stupid (corrupt, selfish, perhaps, but generally not stupid.) The reason they don’t hire, even if they have the money, is because the benefits of putting someone on the payroll outweigh the costs and the risks. Rather than underwriting a long hiatus during which a person can slip into depression, unemployment insurance could be a great source of risk capital, available to those who have an unproven idea for how they could profitably hire someone. (But if the idea has already proven itself profitable, then you don’t need a subsidy to hire more people.)
Now, to your question: Can a game like JobsVille be elastic enough to adapt to opportunities as they come up?
The answer is “Yes” – because it must.
Modern social networking games are interesting creatures – they are microcosmic worlds. They don’t have rule-books; you learn the rules as you go along, and the rules can change and you just have to figure that out. They are really Participatory Democracy Platforms, and by that I mean, you don’t get a vote just because you exist and you can’t buy votes with money. You change the world by doing the work (and you can’t even pay others to do the work for you – you can only convince them to help you without pay).
For example, CouchSurfing does for travel what JobsVille will do for work. CouchSurfing is not a relief organization, but it supports “special interest groups” and minutes after the Japanese earthquake there was a group for it, and within hours there were hundreds of offers of places to stay. Although CS is not a relief organization, there is no rule that says members can’t make it so. In fact, the only rule I can find is the unwritten one, “Be decent.”
Cool, eh?
As someone currently recruiting and totally disheartened by the number of graduates desperately looking for ages and working in fields where they are totally overqualified because they can’t find jobs to match their skills, i would say there is definitely a market for this..I have had several entirely inappropriate applications as well so this game would be a useful tool for those that need a bit of help.
Brooke – this is a great idea, and I think it has the potential to take off if it’s well-executed. Gamers already understand and enjoy the process of building skills and accumulating value, and the challenges in Jobville would be more stimulating, the rewards higher. Of course, it takes longer for real work to pay off, but I think some creative designing could give the player positive feedback even at the early stages, just for getting started. But that’s a more specific challenge to be addressed by the game designer; overall, I think the idea is a winner.
I wonder if it would also be possible to convince employers of the value of hiring successful Jobsville players. Just getting some statements to that effect from serious employers could be a huge draw for a game. Even if most of the rewards end up coming from the experience gained and the goodwill accumulated from playing the game, the idea that employers would be watching could be a source of excitement and could help establish legitimacy.
Employers who read this blog – would a record of achievement at such a game make you more interested in hiring that person?
This sounds like a fantastic idea to help people get into job finding mode. I am a recruiter with over 20 years of experience and this truly sounds like a unique idea that could help many in the job market.I believe the target audience should would be younger people teens to late 30′s.
Learning made fun what a great concept!
Ron Kesselman
This is a really fascinating and promising idea. I feel like it could
be something really great and useful for many people. Are you
planning to make it working internationally?
Please keep me informed about the progresses and next
steps. And if there is something I can do to support you – maybe in
marketing matters, in usability or just in the German point of view –
please let me know. I will be most pleased to do so.
Good luck for your meetings in SFO!
Regards from Germany,
Christa
This is a brilliant idea. I hope your are successful in bringing Jobsville to fruition. I would play every day and I’m sure many of my fellow unemployed would too. Best of luck.
Gabe is a genius. He totally got the concept and applied his game theory to it in seconds!
Brooke,
I see that you’re follwoing up on what you learned from Jesse Schell and his lenses.
I fully endorse any and all networking tools for helping people match their real interests and skills to valuable work.
Good idea. Continue to bounce your thoughts off of Gabe throughout the development process as he seems to have fantastic insight on the topic.
this game doesnt sound very fun.
Concern: JobsVille doesn’t sound very fun.
The question is not how do we make it SOUND like fun, but how do we make it ACTUALLY fun. If it is actually fun then it will spread by word of mouth, and if it isn’t, then to make it sound as if it is is dishonest.
I’ve almost always gotten pleasure from what I’ve done (even what I’ve done when I’ve been unemployed). My kids would interrupt their video games or movies on the weekend and look at me working on No Shortage of Work and say, “Why are you working on the weekend; that’s no fun.”
But they are confusing fun with entertainment. So, what is “fun?”
Jesse Schell, who we interviewed here, defines fun as pleasure with surprises. Wiping a baby’s butt might not seem entertaining, but every so often they surprise you with a giggle or a smile and your heart melts. Perhaps learning how to find the fun in parenting is an essential part of good parenting.
Likewise, the person who is having fun on a job search will (all things equal) land the job before the person who hates it. And the person who has fun on the job will keep it longer than the person who doesn’t. (NOTE: the person who has fun goofing off at the office is not “on the job” and doesn’t count.)
The problem is that the job hunting process as it exists is dysfunctional – and it offers very few pleasurable surprises, even small ones, and lots of negative ones.
Anyone up for the job of trying to see if we can make things better? What’s the downside? How much should we worry about making things worse? With the early beta of our game, should we concentrate on those who can see how to make the process fun, or beat our heads against the wall trying to convince those who don’t?
Brooke
Great idea, Brooke. Also, check out thesixtyone.com a site dedicated to indie music promotion. It uses game ideas for a non-game site to increase stickiness. You might want to plunder it for ideas.
I think you are onto something with this. I’ve had no interest to date to use Farmville or any gaming program but I do believe whole-heartedly in creative and analogous thinking. I see this as a way to help people detach emotionally from a frustrating process and engage with others for mutual benefit. I’d take it further tho, maybe allow the game to be customized to the analogous situation that would be fun and empowering to the user. For instance, maybe use sports, crafting, love of star wars, whatever it is that means “fun” to them as the basis of the game (as farming is to farmville). The point is to allow the user to engage in a game where they are reminded of the disciplines and adaptations they have made successfully in an analogous situation that despite the work (and frustrations) involved, they still considered it to be fun. I think that through the combination of gaming, fun and collaboration, the AH HA moments will come and result in seeing employment options not seen before!
Brooke, You said the game is expansive enough to allow for creativity. There are no rules for the game. If the mantra for couch surfing is “Be decent,” what is the mantra for Jobsville? I seem to recall “No Shortage of Work” advocating “How can I help you?” Does that fit in a game?
Brooke – It is a great idea as we have discussed before. I hope you can get someone to launch it. I will be happy to do PR and promotions for it and I look forward to meeting you at the end of the month in Cali.
Wow. It’s the gamification of job-hunting. What a fresh and marvelous notion. It brings a way to add rewards, competition, teamwork to that dreary pursuit.
Wouldn’t it be cool if someone finally found a job and was a bit disappointed because s/he would no longer have time for the game?
Great idea!
c.l.
I think the JobsVille mantra should also be “How Can I Help You?” just like NSoW.
In the 2 years between returning from Japan in 1993 unemployed and landing my current job in 1995 I probably helped 1/2 dozen people land jobs before me. (I was not without work; I kept busy consulting.)
Most people have a problem asking for help because they know they haven’t done enough to deserve it. JobsVille could have a Karma Bank, where you don’t get to ask for any favors until you’ve performed many.
Much of what I see people do on-line is pose questions for discussion. And there is no end of discussion – blah blah blah.
“How can I help you?” is not a discussion question. It is a request for you to give me a call to action.
Ask people to do things and they do them, and it is by doing things that they actually improve skills and productivity. I meet so many people who’ve been unemployed for a year or more who have nothing to show for it other than finely honed theories about why it isn’t their fault. Even if they are right and it isn’t their fault, nobody cares. Then they develop a theory for why people should care, and are surprised to discover nobody cares about that either.
Had they been helping someone do something they’d have something to show for it. At a minimum, JobsVille could crowd source recruiting. But it could do so much more.
Brooke
Love this idea. I like an application for today’s college students, many of whom are quite baffled about their futures.
I think this is an inspired idea. Games are being used in so many different ways now, ways that can lead to real accomplishments, not just points and badges.
I can’t wait to play JobsVille
Suggestion: JobsVille could benefit employers.
David,
You asked if employers could see a benefit in hiring successful JobsVille players.
Absolutely.
In fact, they could submit challenges to the game.
We once wanted to hire a secretary. In our ad we said, “Rather than send a resume, please do the following.”
We listed 5 tasks and I remember 3 were:
- Write a cheerful but stern letter to SantaClaus thanking him for the Teddy Bear but putting him on notice that nothing less than a 10 speed bike will be acceptable next year.
- Find the cheapest airfare from NYC > London > Frankfurt > Milan > London > NYC.
- Create a spreadsheet valuing a portfolio of 4 long and 3 short stocks for two historical dates.
We ignored the people who wrote long essays on why they don’t have time to do this because they must look for a job, we didn’t care for the people who wrote humorless Santa letters, offered to introduce us to their travel agent, and berated us for not telling them how to evaluate a portfolio.
But some people we absolutely loved. These were the ones who thanked us and said they had so much fun learning new things about travel sites and portfolio valuation, or even what a “short stock” is.
Knowing how to learn on your own is priceless. Having fun doing it is worth twice as much. Double that again if it is done without a promise of a job.
Employers could post fun examples of work they need done and see who has fun learning how to do it.
Brooke
As always, Brooke is a master at thinking out of the box and coming up with ways to help people succeed. This is just one example — and an excellent business opportunity that may do a world of good to improve the liquidity in the labor markets. Please let me know when you have something ready for beta testing!
Brooke:
I think this is an excellent idea! I could see it being especially useful for those of us who need help clarifying next steps in our careers. The age old question of What do I want to do with my life?
To me career decision making and seeking out employment opportunities is a very isolating experience. I think a gaming community would help to make it less so. Even make it fun! I am also a big believer in the “crowd source” thing and think having a broader interactive community available to help a person to clarify goals (right purpose, right tribe, right work environment…) can help people move their careers in a more rewarding direction.
Applying game mechanics (a la airline frequent flier programs) to the labor market is a great idea!
This is not just a game! Repeat, not merely a game, but also a great way to appeal to people’s fundamental social motivations and provide an incentive to help each other and themselves. Brilliant!
This is a wonderful idea, we can not only share job information but also get feedback on new business projects/ideas.
Great idea! More and more problems are already being approached through gaming and this is an important one that deserves attention and a GAME!
Good luck!
Dear Brooke and No Shortage of Work friends:
I do think collaboration is the key to most efforts, whether it be job hunting or writing or cooking or caregiving or developing or gaming. When you share ideas and let yourself be open to criticism and suggestions, you and your colleagues/friends can change. I have read a lot of articles recently on the collaborative spirit that online gaming can foster. Think about opening a box of parts and reading the assembly instructions – always easier with a friend. Anything to help job seekers practice their skills and see themselves within a community may be helpful. Regards,
I think this is a fantastic idea that will bolster the confidence of those unhappy in their current position and the unemployed. I know I would have appreciated such an opportunity when I was made redundant. I also love the idea of supporting and rewarding mentoring activites that often go unnoticed as they don’t fit neatly into a CV. Good luck in San Francisco!
Brooke,
I applaud your effort. Job hunting is difficult and often discouraging. Any new and novel idea to help those seeking work will be appreciated by those involved in the hunt for employment. Keep up the good work. I think you are making a difference.
Employers often have a set of criteria for their potential hires. These could be set up as ‘challenges’ for the player to accomplish. An example might be to ‘debug a Java Program’ and the result could be evaluated in real time, giving them credits or points toward their search. Each area of the business world could have random challenges available for the job seeker to earn credentials…
Pat
Sorry Brooke, great minds think alike..
Yes, excellent idea!!! In my case, someone could plan a mock event, etc…there could be a variety of options focused on job interests.
Brillant. Games can be fun,while finding yourself and a job that you love in today’s difficult ultracompetitive global marketplace is not always fun, testing even the most optimistic person. Great way to coach a job seeker and have positive feedback for the others involved in our “community” of helping and giving mentorship.
Games can be engaging to the point of excess. Will this be a virtual environment like WOW or Farmville? Will people keep their identities with real faces and backgrounds?
Susan
Perhaps LinkedIn can host this, as Facebook hosts Farmville.
Good luck Brooke. The idea has merit. And if you need a good kid mind as you program, my Bucky just began programming camp at ID Tech Camps, the best summer programs ever. Steal their programmers and run with your idea! Good luck in San Francisco.
Go ahead! The worst thing that can happen is that nothing happens.
At least the people directly involved will get some experience but if it gets to fly, lots of folks could benefit.
This is really a great idea. And it is interesting for people all over the world, not only in USA. So the value of one’s own competences could become something far more nice thing then something to sell. I wish you all the best for the project.
In real life many people stop looking for new things when they land a job. However, I realized job searching process is fun because a lot of learning and discovering are involved.(I have to admit it felt painfull at first) New jobs,new definitions,new places,new challenges,new people,new rules and even new office decorations… And after landing a job,I found myself saying ” Oh so fun is over? Too bad, I was enjoying my little journey.” Therefore, Jobsville could be my cure. Especially with all these global challenges.
Never played farmville but as an strategic adventure and puzzle gaming fan I think I can keep this fun going and I can explain what I’ve learnt from what I experienced to my newly grad. brother..And other people whom I’ve been talking on job searching.
I am very excited! Here comes new challenger!
When 3 year old children can learn all Pokemon names (around 500) by heart and their 3 levels of existence. Just imagine children would learn a foreign language with that fun and enthusiasm.
I could imagine your idea working just like this!
Brooke, A good idea which could support people who are at a low point. Good luck.
Hugo
Sounds interesting. Of course, as an AUM guy, I’m ALSO interested in the business plan and growth and eyeballs. But let me know when we start looking for money.
While I am employed now and at a stage in my life where the next big move is retirement I have been unemployed, recognize how traumatic it was, and fear for my children. Anything positive that can help this largely ignored issue is most welcome. I am a big fan of Brooke and the world needs thinkers and leaders such as he. A big “like” for this idea.
I must admit that until recently I ignored online games totally: not only that I didn’t play them (I still don’t), I did not read about them either.
But then I learned about FarmVille and a couple of other very successful online games, and I also learned that some very large companies are now using a totally new approach in order to forecast how their projects are doing: they allow their staff to bet money (not real money, but anyway) on their own or others predictions.
It was implemented in a way that made it enjoyable, so many people participated (important of course) and as a result the ranking produced by the bets turned out to be a better indicator of that would happen than any other approach.
Yes, it sounds like a very good idea indeed.
Here is a twist — allow potential employers to post jobs along with payment, exactly as they do at oDesk, Elance, etc. Then make a game out of getting the job applicants to figure out which of them would be the best to perform the task.
That process of picking the right worker or new employee is very difficult. If you can figure out a way to crowd-source the choice, I think you’ll have a winner.
Go with this Brooke! I could not land a teaching or counseling position; however, I began helping people with significant barriers to employment find work. Gaining quite an education about today’s world. This will work
Some very good thoughts and ideas in this discussion. Good luck!!
Good luck with the idea. I’ve never played Farmville but I always feel that if you do, you should get outside more and engage with people instead. Maybe even cultivate a real garden or allotment. Healthier and more satisfying and you can save money on buying vegetables if you are unemployed!
Several things occur to me with the job game idea:
1) Job applications are increasingly like playing a game anyhow. You jump through various hoops. People choose those who can do this, rather than the best candidate for the job. However, as that is how it is done, tnen you need to be good at playing along so a game might help with this.
2) However, not sure how it is in the US but in Europe we are quite concerned about issues like identity theft and data protection. There have been questions raised about Facebook and what it does with personal data. So I would be reluctant to share even more data online. If I need help with a real job application, I personally would ask a friend or go to a jobseekers’ organisation or group but do it face to face.
Concern: Don’t games trivialize the serious?
There are pejorative definitions of “game” as in, “stop playing games with me,” and “it’s only a game.” Won’t JobsVille make something trivial out of something vital?
So, what exactly is a game? Answer: A game is something you play?
And play is something you do for fun.
But getting a job is not fun but serious work. Isn’t it?
Educator Brian Sutton-Smith said, “To play is to act out and be willful, exultant and committed.” and “The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression.”
In her book, Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal quotes Bernard Suits, “Playing a game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.”
I can hear you (and if not you, someone) say, “But I need the income and so finding a job is not optional. I don’t have a choice about overcoming obstacles in the way of a job. Work is called work because it is no fun and neither is finding it. If I’m depressed, what do you expect? I am forced to do something I hate to pursue something that won’t be fun when I get it.”
In my tumultuous teens I went through an I’m-stupid-nobody-loves-me-school-sucks-work-sucks-more-I’m-all-alone-I-might-as-well-kill-myself phase, just like all my peers. Then something went “thwonk” in my brain, “If killing myself is an option then choosing to live is an option too, and since life is everything, then everything I do is voluntary.” My depression lifted, and I decided to look for the fun in life, and I discovered fun was lurking everywhere.
My dad and I shared a chore we both hated; we had 7 acres of lawn and our weekends were spent on a lawnmower. One day he said, “There must be a better way.” That thought unlocked a box of creativity and soon our lawnmower was tethered to a rope winding itself around a post, and my dad and I were lying in lawn chairs sipping iced teas and talking philosophy.
The fact is, if we create JobsVille, you won’t catch me in it except as a play-tester because I already grok its message.
JobsVille will be for all those who don’t, and if after playing it well they still don’t get it, then we will have failed in our mission.
- Brooke
Best wishes Brooke. I really hope this idea helps someone. Unemployment is a very awful thing. Working is not just about the paychect but the dignity of feeling useful. When people do not have that, something becomes fundamentally wrong with them. I really hope this your endeavour helps someone.
The concept is fantastic and quite unique. I’d love to try it out.
I love all these positive comments.
I’d also love more concerns and criticisms.
It is by uncovering objections and meeting them that we will progress, not by self-congratulation.
Be gentle, though. I’m still in the puppy-love stage and can easily abandon this now with little downside. I’ve learned that everything I’ve done that is worthwhile is really really hard and so I have to fall so deeply in love that when the hard stuff comes along I’m so far in that to turn back is unthinkable.
It’s nice that you can find a way for the younger set to help them through their job search but what about the over 50 crowd? I have been unemployed for a very long time only recently being in the workforce for 6 months.
The only reason I got the job is because I have specialized skills plus no one wants to go to the Middle East – in this case Oman.
The majority of people over 50 have infinitely more problems finding jobs and are more 1) Educated, 2) Have a much better work ethic. 3) Know how to solve problems -how about finding all these talented people jobs?
Concern: Will JobsVille help older people who don’t play on-line games.
Clearly there is age prejudice and I would never deny it. There are young people who are pre-judged to be inexperienced when they are experts, and old people who are pre-judged to be out-of-touch when they aren’t. That said…
The obvious answer is that JobsVille won’t help anyone who doesn’t play. And if they won’t play out of principle, laziness, or unwillingness to learn then perhaps their principles, work ethic, or learning style are unsuited for the modern work-world. But don’t underestimate older people – it was thought that the grandparent set wouldn’t take to Facebook, but they have adopted it in droves – once the saw it as a way to connect to grandchildren and see family photos.
Since creating NSoW I’ve met many unemployed people and they fall into two camps:
1) Young recently minted grads.
2) People over 40.
What I am about to say will sound harsh and I do it because they are too easy on themselves.
YOUNG PEOPLE - One unemployed business grad wrote to say that finally, a year after graduating, he diagnosed the reason for his unemployment: lack of marketable skills. He asked what he should do and I responded, “Get some marketable skills.” He wrote to say, “I will bear that in mind and only accept jobs that will give me marketable skills.”
Not only did he not get any marketable skills in college, he didn’t even learn how to think. He can’t afford to be choosy – he has had NO job offers. Besides, employers want you to come with skills, not train you in skills you can take elsewhere. WANT A JOB? LEARN HOW TO DO SOMETHING SOMEONE CARES ABOUT. And learn to do it well. It takes about 10,000 hours to get really good at something, and you should expect to put in the first 2-4,000 on your own time, at your own expense. Think you deserve a break, then give one to someone first; next time you have a leaky faucet, hire an idiot wanna-be-plumber and let him flood your whole house.
OLDER PEOPLE - Most unemployed old people I’ve met did not learn two lessons I learned when I was young, and those who have are flourishing.
Two things you need when you’re old:
Wisdom: Once, as a young programmer, I asked my boss how I could make more money and he told me to follow around his lead programmer. I saw that this guy did what I did, only more skillfully. Then I asked my boss how I could make even more than that, and he said, “Well then, follow me around.” My boss was doing nothing like what I did. At first it seemed he just wandered around talking to people and then it hit me; he was dispensing wisdom.
Just as with skill, wisdom comes with effort over time, and the wise who live on skill alone don’t let those skills get a minute out of date.
If you are older and unemployed, and you claim to be a wise problem solver, then go ahead – solve your unemployment problem. And don’t claim age discrimination – wise problem solvers don’t blame the problem.
Ownership – As a young head of a programming group, my boss (the owner) told me that I had to think about owning my own means of production. At a certain point I needed to be the one putting my wealth at risk employing others. Not only did I owe it to the next generation, it was a job I could never be fired from.
Most young unemployed are unskilled, and they might have some reason to blame others since they are only now emerging from the grip of their parents and their educational institutions. But older people are lying in a bed of their own making. Don’t believe me? Ask them for wisdom and see if you don’t get complaints instead.
—
If you are over 40 (employed or not) then go to StartupWeekend.org and sign up for the next weekend in your area – or plan a vacation around one: They are in Tucson, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Fukuoka, Monterrey (Mexico), Hyderbad, Gaza, Lagos, London, Phnom Penh, Moscow, Shanghai, and Deleware all before I pitch JobsVille in California on Sept 9.
When my son and I went to the NYC StartupWeekend, at age 59 I was twice the average age, and I doubt the next oldest person was over 40. I need company and you need the experience.
If you have a great idea and need money, go to Kickstarter or IndieGoGo and make your case then go to JobNob and get a staff. Don’t have an idea? Find someone who does and work for them for free until you are worth something and then either ask them to pay you or go to someone who will.
If you’re lazy or hanging with the wrong people, fix that before you blame your age. I’d like JobsVille to get people off their duff and mixing with the right people. A go-getting attitude is contagious once it gets going.
JobsVille can bring the young and the old together to collaborate on doing things. Wisdom and youthful enthusiasm, hard-core skill and perspective, sweat equity and the dollar kind – these are an unbeatable combination.
- Brooke
This is a great idea Brooke. Of course, there is a bit of an issue with the time domain. In games like Farmville, presumably if someone suggests that you plow your field you can do so and respond the next day, whereas in reality it might have to wait until next spring. In job-hunting too there are significant time lags which don’t exist in fantasy games. That seems to me like the biggest issue that the designers will have to work around / work into the game. All-in-all though, this is a great idea for our time.
Concern: Immediate vs. Delayed Gratification
Tom makes a good point; games like FarmVille provide immediate gratification but job hunting is more like real farming; scatter seeds now and maybe there will be a crop months from now.
Actually, this is Gabe’s main point in the video. By “gamifying” the process, JobsVille can award goodies for each step along the way – rewards for doing your resume, filling in your LinkedIn profile, connecting to colleagues, arranging informational interviews for yourself and others, etc.
He also points out that there is a “social proof” component – other people will help you if they see that you are helping yourself. Ask a friend for help on getting a job, then don’t do a single thing to follow up and I bet he’ll feel that if doing nothing is good enough for you it is good enough for him. JobsVille can make your little accomplishments visible to others so they can see if you are the kind of person who does what they say they will do. And if others can see, you’ll become the kind of person they expect you to be.
Job-hunting is worse than farming; seeds get scattered so wide it is hard to remember where they’ve gone or track where they’ve blown to, there is no reliable season, the weather is fickle, and there is no way to store and abundance for the drought. JobsVille can help with all that, even the last thing, by keeping you in everyone else’s loop even when you’re working.
- Brooke
Brooke,
This idea should definitely engage the youth currently looking for work and give them many useful tools.
Thanks for doing this.
Concern: Is this going to be just another time waster?
People crave autonomy, mastery, and purpose (explanation here).
The thing that makes modern games compelling (even addictive) also makes them dangerous time wasters. They meet these needs, but the side-effects are by-and-large useless.
In World of Warcraft you have a huge variety of choice; you pick a character to develop, which battles to fight, and what things to buy with your loot. But it doesn’t present out-of-game options like attending class or looking for a job. So autonomy is actually constrained since in-game choices are more attractive than the one of exiting and doing the hard work of making real-world options for yourself.
In World of Warcraft you do learn about planning, teamwork, overcoming fear of failure but much of in-game mastery is useless in the real world. Try landing a job because you are good at defeating the Boss Monster.
In-game quests and challenges give you a sense of purpose but your family needs to be paid attention to and supported and the world needs you to be on a quest like curing cancer, preventing war, or perhaps just leaving your children a debt-free nation.
We wrote a story about how unemployed people spend their days called Smash in Your TV and Set Your Mind Free. They sleep longer, watch more TV, socialize more, but only spend 30 minutes a day looking for a job, and that average comes from 1 person who spends 3 hours for every 6 who do almost nothing.
If JobsVille becomes a time waster, only making people feel like they are getting closer to work when they aren’t, then I’d want to put an end to it. Preferably by putting it out of business with a competing game that adds real value.
Brooke
Is it going to stay as a game or is it going to become a simulation?
I am asking this because I would be concerned about if the game will affect my real life? In jobsville maybe I will make some decisions ,and try myself with different strategies and I would not want to be affected by them. Shortly, In games you might lose sometimes but you dont pay it with your life.Also you learn by playing.
However, If its gonna be a simulation like some companies do, it would be still fun challenge but then people might need to get prepared before they play.
Concern: Game or Simulation?
Elvan Senturk asked if this is going to be a game or simulation and I’m not sure I understand how she uses the words, so I hope she will elaborate.
But I am going to answer using the textbook definition of the word “simulation” which is: “the imitation of the real thing.”
My answer is, while there may be a place for simulation (e.g. simulated job interviews), I’d like JobsVille to be the real deal.
I am glad I learned High School Chemistry in the 1960′s because back then there was no way of simulating experiments so we did real ones. You aren’t doing Chemistry until you run the risk of blowing up the lab, which happened only thrice in my classes: nitrogen triiodide twice, thermite once; once is enough with thermite. How do I remember? A good BOOM and you won’t forget.
Learning to do things where there are real risks teaches you something very important: how to handle risk. Failure teaches how to be unafraid of failure, and risk aversion and fear of failure are some of the biggest enemies of landing (and doing) a job. Personally, I think fearfully trying to minimize risk is the biggest risk facing our nation. People are talking about this, but I’d want JobsVille to do something.
I don’t think you can teach courage with simulation and I’d want JobsVille to teach courage.
(I’ll define how we use the word “Game” later.)
- Brooke
I am sorry, I should have been more clear. Let me try again. I used word of “simulation” the way you mentioned,” the imitation of real thing.” And I meant something planned for playing that entertains people,or teaches things without getting away of entertainment by the word “game”
What I was trying to say is; Simulation is not real but it is close to real so there is a posibility that many people might get scared or get bored or some other reason they might not participate. Also what I observed -maybe I am wrong- people tend to play games rather than simulations because it is less stressful. If it is gonna be designed as a game and it moves to a simulation or a real deal ,the amount of the crowd could decrease. But if it is already not going to be designed as a game then there is no problem at all. Then the crowd is different.
Also when you say you’d want Jobsville teaches courage ,my question was answered already. I think I got confused with the “ville” concept.
I hope I made it more clear. Thank you Brooke.
Elvan,
Thanks for the clarification.
Most modern on-line games are simulations, except that they can be of imagined things. The “world” in World of Warcraft doesn’t exist; it’s simulated.
Good games match challenge to skill, whether through handicapping, the rules of the tournament, free choice of opponent, or electronic means.
Challenge>Skill=Anxiety
Challenge<Skill=Boredom,
low Skill and Challenge=Apathy.
More here.
Social games are heavy on the game, light on the social. Job hunting is a lesser-defined game, and it is heavy on the social. I’ve found “eBay for jobs” to be a richer analogy.
Concern: How social a game will JobsVille be?
Randy, good point – many games are light on the “social” but some seem to be nothing but social, like Second Life (or even facebook).
eBay was in trouble before they got Amy Jo Kim to gamify many of its social aspects. She has dozens of entries on slideshare. Here is one you might enjoy: Smart Gamification – Social Game Design for a Connected World
- Brooke
That’s an absolutely brilliant idea, with all it takes to be a revolutionary one.
It converges social media, job hunting and online entertainment.
How awesome can that be?
Concern: On-Line Reputation vs. Character
Since 1996 I have been responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of other people’s money. As part of due-diligence and compliance, my management and potential investors monitor everything I do (even here on NSoW) for signs of a character flaw. A late utility payment, a facebook picture of me face-down in my own vomit, or a poorly reasoned screed can cost me my job or a potential investor.
But the fact is that I pay my bills on time, I am not a binge drinker, and I try to make even my most provocative thoughts well reasoned (see: BrookeAllen.com). By exposing my authentic self to the world the world gives me feedback as to where I can improve and where my thinking is flawed. Even people who disagree or dislike me usually can see that my heart is in the right place.
A young NSoW subscriber wrote to me just yesterday. He is concerned about the difference between his school’s (Harvard) authentic nature and its reputation. He quoted UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, who said, “”Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
Potential and current employers, employees, and investors have every right to know who I really am because I can impact their lives and fortunes significantly. It is a good thing that employers can find out answers to questions about me on-line that it is illegal for them to ask on an interview because, if I can’t be my authentic self after we establish a relationship, who do I plan on being? We did a story about this: Job Hunting is Like Dating – But is it a seduction or a search for true love?
So, to the extent I can control where JobsVille goes, I’d want it to encourage players to concentrate on leveling-up their character and worry less on their reputation. Good character is hard to fake and it is best revealed by a documented history of good deeds triangulated by others with honest testimonials. That is one of the things JobsVille should facilitate.
- Brooke
Great idea. I would love to see this implemented and would be very interested playing this game as well.
Brooke,
I think your idea has a great deal of potential and I think that if you can harness peoples competitive nature and channel it into something constructive then you will certainly have achieved something great. One thing I have observed with regard to social games is that they are typically relatively simple and require relatively modest skill to play so that they can attract a large user base. Along those lines I would suggest that you start by focusing your game on resume editing and passing resumes onto the right people because these are simple tasks that can be easily tracked and rewarded.
Perhaps you should be pitching this idea to the folks at LinkedIn. They don’t have any social games, but this idea is seemingly right up their alley. This is something LinkedIn should be willing to invest in developing. (Or sponsor a game company to develop for them) given the potential for a game like this to increase the amount of time LinkedIn users spend on the sight.
Regards,
Brad
Making a game out of the daunting job seeking process sounds like a terrific idea! Particularly for recent graduates who need to build up a lot of fundamental skills in the area.
As a teenager, I loved to play Sims. It made me think of my world in terms of input and output. For instance, the more my character socialized with other people, the deeper their friendship was growing. (Well, duh… But I just wasn’t as conscious of this logical relationship as far as my personal life was concerned.)
I think the game you are suggesting has the potential to do the same for one’s professional life. You’d have a constant reminder that every little thing you do moves you closer to the goal.
Brooke, the more I think about this idea, the more I think it could be a great opportunity for a visionary designer to make a truly revolutionary game. There have been “alternate reality games” that make use of the player’s real-life environment to enhance the gaming experience, but none that yield positive real life results, or that are that open-ended.
If the “game” is designed fairly thinly, basically as a clever way to encourage positive behavior, it could still be interesting and useful. But if it becomes a genuinely fun and engaging game – and I do think this is possible, because of how much there is in the job market that is similar to gaming tasks, but more challenging and creatively stimulating – it could make a huge impact on both gaming and job-seeking.
I think you need to find someone who sees that kind of opportunity, and isn’t just going to take the shortest and easiest path to gamification. Hopefully, in your upcoming trips you find the person who has this vision as well as the track record to back it up.
The ‘second life’ genre could be used for ‘interviews’…
I am not a second life fan, but it is a virtual reality that exists and could be like ‘going on a job interview’.. a foreign place with people you don’t know..
This is an awesome idea, let me know if you have problems with funding as am part of the London startup scene, we have accelerator programs here etc.
I often bumped into people on facebook who were supposed to be job hunting so making it a game would be superb.
Great idea Brooke (as usual!) You are and remain a source of inspiration. It would be great if this was available for nonfacebook users too (like me). I am in!
There’s an interesting TED talk on gamification here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1DuBesGYM
Good luck; you are an impressive and tireless advocate of finding better ways to use the immense reserves of talent that are lying near-dormant in our country and in the world.
I didn’t read the other comments in their entirety, but here are my thoughts:
The more I think about this, the more I like it!
It should absolutely be educational as well: have the job seeker make decisions and then what the potential repercussions of those decisions could be. Since we can only operate within our own reality, this could provide scenarios to the job seeker that they may not have previously thought of. Potentially, it could help them with those aspects of themselves that may be hindering their job search.
On the flip side, one would have to be seriously motivated to play this ‘game’. Real life job searching can be depressing enough so this game would have to seriously offer something enticing to the job seeker!
Job hunting is not a game but it is a full time job if done right…
A better approach is to join a support group and stick to the grind using daily/weekly goals as a tool.
Concern: Job hunting is itself a full-time job, not a game.
Bryan has expressed an often-heard sentiment: When you’re unemployed your full-time job is to get a job.
And boy do I hear you… I’m appalled at how little time most job seekers put into their effort. Often I’m asked to help someone and I’ll put in three hours on their behalf and a week later when we touch bases I discover I’ve done more work to get them a job than they have. Infuriating.
I used to tell people their only job is to get a job but I don’t any longer.
Here’s why:
In every job I’ve had I interact with people, they ask me to do things for them, and I do. I have lots of social interactions and my days are full of sense of accomplishment. Every job I’ve ever had has been fun because of this.
But I’ve never had a full-time job that was to only find a job, even when unemployed.
When I lost a job as a programmer in the recession in 1982 I did not want to become a salesman. I wanted to be a programmer. And, as it turned out, programming for everyone who cared (whether they could hire me or not) turned out to be a better way to land a programming job than if I stopped programming and made my full-time job to be in sales – where rejection of the product (me) was personal.
Sales people and career coaches were telling me that my full-time job was to get out there and sell myself. They didn’t see it as so daunting because that is what they do. I felt like telling them, “Let’s make a deal. You teach me how to sell and I’ll teach you how to program computers, except that whenever you make a mistake I’m going to give you as much negative reinforcement as the market gives me in my sales efforts. Let’s see how good a programmer you become.”
Sales people and coaches think selling is all important, but some times I think that is because it is their only hammer. Us programmers have our own tools, and we’ve created things like Facebook and LinkedIn and eBay and Google and Second Life and MeetUp – not just support groups in church basements.
What Gabe is saying in his video (watch it if you haven’t) is that if unemployed people want have a “Get a Job Job” then people at firms like Zynga know how to give them a much nicer place to do their work – a place where their support group is at hand 24/7, where you get applause for doing the little necessary steps along the way, where if someone gives you 3 hours of your time you can reward them, and had damn well better follow-up or everyone will see that too, and where your daily/weekly goals are animated – and bonk you on the nose if you ignore them and squeal with delight if you service them.
So, if JobsVille was not just a support group but a whole support-village, and you were its Minister of Daily/Weekly Goals, what would your ministry be doing for people?
- Brooke
How about ‘rewards’ when participants perform any of the following kinds of behaviours:
- find a way of adapting some part of their own or someone else’s work history or skill set to match an employer’s requirements
- finding out something about an employer that helps another participant or themself
- sharing information about an employment page with another participant
- finding typos or grammatical errors in another participant’s marketing documents
- telling another applicant about a specific area of the country where there seem to be a lot of suitable jobs
- asking a question that is highly rated by other participants
- use grammar and spelling checks against cover letters and résumés
Hello Brooke
I must say it sounds interesting. However, I would be very concerned with the handling of so much private data. In Farmville you are a virtual person. In Jobsville you would have to present a lot of sensitive information to other, complete strangers. Also, do you not fear that people could get too occupied with playing Jobsville rather than actually going out job-hunting? I like the idea of a platform where you can exchange knowledge for job-hunting though!
Best wishes,
Jacky
Job Hunting gane development.
I think that the idea of a job /Resume/Interview and Research skills game that would allow job hunters to get information but most important to connect to others to share not only information but to have others to connect with to express the frustrations and little successes along the way to a new job.
I like the idea. I once managed a game by STSC called “The Management Game” -
it was used with the Pepperdine Key Executive MBA Program in the 80′s. The students agreed that it was fantastic having a gaming environment to discuss many of the issues that had been given in class.
I think that getting any positive feedback when you are looking for work helps. I am currently looking – again. It’s early in the process right now, but I still like it when someone gives me an “attaboy”.
Hopefully the game will be designed to give plenty of strokes to those who need it… without being a “pity party”.
Have a good trip to the Bay area.
the new depression is a great time for startups, lots of unemployed professionals who have spare time to contribute
I’m in the UK, but the approach looks better than a lot of the gloom and doom I see around me! The only issue I can see with it is that you’d need to offer a very wide variety of ways to “score points”. Perhaps some of it could be connected with sharing blog entries, as being better-read would improve employability? Also inviting each other to professional institute events could be a good one – this will be another issue though, as only a few will be in the same area as the event. Still, start somewhere and see where it grows, I say.
I think the jobsville idea is fascinating. You get a lot of the experience without the high stakes involved with a real search
This is a great idea, but we keep forgetting about that pesky digital divide. How will you get the computer-illiterate, or those lacking the equipment, to be a part of JobsVille? Make sure you coordinate with libraries to advertise this.
A lot of my friends are believers in “funology” – the science of having fun; or, the idea that “fun” is necessary and useful – intrinsic to our lives.
It seems that JobsVille is a great way to incorporate “fun” with “work”. Humans need both to survive. We need fun, games, and even competition to some degree. We also need jobs. And, we need to be useful; we need to feel useful and be needed. We like to think that we can help others and that there are some things that others can also teach us.
What a wonderful idea! I look forward to see how it progresses.
This is a good idea, and I like the TED talk about “Games to save the world.” I would like to throw out some questions:
1) Would “SkillsVille” work as a name as well?
2) What are some examples of point scoring activities?
3) I like FarmVille’s “nest-building” activity, where, rather than pursuit of higher levels, one could craft something nice to look at. In this case, this goal could mesh well with job search tasks. Any comments?
This actually seems like the perfect feature linkedin should consider. It will add a gaming aspect but also rank people’s profiles by employability based on how complete it is, number of answers, blog posts, articles published, length of service in jobs, etc. Pitch it to linkedin!
A (good) game can help you in everything…(even how to lose weight)
Brooke,
I’ve been only partially employed for more than 2 years and have been to several No Shortage of Work meetings. I’m intrigued with your idea for the game of JobsVille. I’ve never played FarmVille, and I’m not much of a computer game player (except for Mahjongg). I’ve read most of the other comments posted, and I agree with the few people that there would have to be safety features in place to protect privacy from abuse by total strangers. However, the networking potential for this game, if done right, could put people in touch with others who could exchange insights, encouragement, etc. in the job search effort. In fact, as in No Shortage of Work, people helping each other through JobVille could contact each other (only by mutual agreement) in real life beyond the game, as well.
All in all, I think this game is a great idea. I do have one suggestion: For those of us who are digitally challenged (we’re way past 50 and grew up before computer-literacy was considered a survival skill), there should be simply written instructions available on how to sign up or download the game, or whatever one needs to do to get started, and how to navigate through the various levels.
Good luck as you talk this up!
Actually this is a damn good idea! You might think about other aspects such as social banding together of “teams” not to hunt the next evil ork in the path but to do something useful for the job search. I could also see enlisting business to offer “prizes” to people to have gained X points (via sending out X resumes) and so on. Good luck!
What an intriguing idea. In theory, I think this would be wonderful. Rarely does anyone associate job search or post education skill development with fun, so if someone can make it fun, it could be quite helpful.
Can it be done with a game is yet to be seen. I think the challenge to make it fun and realistic at the same time is quite high. Farmville is encouraging people to tend crops online but it doesn’t really develop anyone’s farming skills. Other games give people a great sense of accomplishment and skills, but I haven’t seen any game where that skill really translate in the real world. A Jobsville could lift someone’s spirits in job search but will the skills he or she use to progress in Jobsville really translate in the real world?
It’s worth a try. If Zanga plans to develop Jobsville to help people develop real skills – I think I might even apply for a job there as Product Manager. I highly doubt though Zanga will do this as the objective of Fun vs realistic skill development conflict with each other and Zanga is going for more fun and feel good games than realistic.
Maybe Zanga won’t do it, but it’s a great business idea that I hope someone will try to do.
It is a fascinating idea, and arguably, it is the problem with linkedin — there is no way to follow up to find out whether your help did any good, which creates a broken feedback loop. If, somehow, that feedback loop could be closed, I can well imagine that people might be more motivated to help strangers in this way.
We need more thinking like this!
My friend Jon Loomer has gamified his job search. He’s created a set of rules on his website that allows people to earn points for helping him 1.) publicize the game, 2.) get him interviews, and 3.) get him a job.
Help get this guy a job and you too may be eligible to win some glorious prizes! See here for the official rules.
Best Wishes Brooke. Reading this I can hear your voice…Right ? Right ?
I particularly laughed at the sales/programming divide with recruitment consultants.
I really like your game; our company’s main problem right now is the lack of available skills in our locality.
When hiring people it would be really useful to be able to interact with them virtually without being in the same place or in front of a VC.
They would of course have to promise to stop playing once they worked for us…
Most recently I have been doing volunteer work with ex-offenders and other people with significant barriers to employment. I also volunteer with Goodwill and tutor adult learners working toward their GED. I am a part-time tutor at a technical college as well. My heroes are people who remain genuine despite the twists and turns of life and accept responsibility for their actions. People who keep their joy and hope : )