Runescape Experiences -> Internship/Job

Hi everyone,

I am currently in the process of finding internships for this summer, and I have been successfully using my experiences with RuneScape to land interviews and network at some rather nice places (withholding names for privacy reasons). The fact of the matter is that many employers, particularly within the more financial fields, find these experiences quite fascinating. Depending on what you have done, your RuneScape experiences can REALLY help you get into some excellent places.

After I complete this whole process and finish planning out my summer, I would like to offer a few services here on Sythe to help people capitalize on their RuneScape and RWT experiences. I would be offering services like resume reviews/editing, mock behavioral interviews, helping you build your pitch, etc.

Before I start developing these services, I would like to gauge how much interest there is in them. Please vote on the poll to let me know if you would be interested. Also, feel free to ask questions or comment below.

Best Regards,
NikeShoes

 

I would find it extremely hard to believe any serious business would take RWTing gold in a video game as credible previous experience.

 

what Iain said, even my mum doesn't believe you can make money off games and i've RWT with her accounts before.

 

Yes.

Employers want to see what separates you from another candidate. Something as unique as experience in Runescape sales, while it may sound childish, is actually quite unique and innovative. If you can explain it to them in layman's terms, you can pique their interest.

Being innovative is something severely lacking in our society today, many people from an outside perspective would view Runescape as a waste of time. However, considering the large sums of money I have personally made off of it, paying off a huge chunk of student debt, there are countless beneficial attributes Runescape presents outside of the confines of being a game.

Anyway, I do believe an open-minded employer, especially in the fields you described, would be interested in hearing about these experiences. We are in a generation now where you have to think OUTSIDE OF THE BOX to generate income, and like-minded innovative employers will see that and it will separate you from the other candidates, no matter how quirky or unique your skill set may appear.

 

I know Verts and SuF also lobbied their experience as administrator/global moderator respectively. I think SuF put it on his CV whereas Verts left it off hers and merely brought it up in interviews to much success.

I'd be interested in this service but I likely wouldn't pay for it.

 

I would call it something like virtual market analysis, research, and manipulation or a better title then just 'selling vidya game gold'. It'd be more theoretical work though, because with Sanct I don't believe it could be counted as actually working in a field - unless you're interning for R2P.

 

Yep. The few interviews I was in were quite interested in Sythe and I talked at length about it. It's not directly relevant but you just need to talk in language that makes it seem relevant and cool.

 

I'd recommend leaving it off the resume but bringing it up to an open minded employer. I don't think managers would really see it as a positive that you tried building a job on a game but if you have other employment it could be something you can bring up. I could see how you could leverage it though since you're basically running your own business, setting the bid and ask prices based on the supply and demand, and ensuring you have the required liquid inventory to maintain your business, the only problem is there's no one to verify this type of employment. I think you'd be better off bringing up a research assignment you did in school or through work than trying to prove checking people's threads for gold prices helped give you the relevant skills to complete the job.

 

I can imagine them googling it, finding random stuff about black market sales, breaking ToS, law suits against botting websites... and being totally turned off hiring you.. could always backfire

 

You definitely beat me to my reply, yes you need to find more legitimate ways to seperate you from the competition.

 

I recently got a new job and mentioned my moderating here at Sythe.org as volunteer work, and they seemed impressed I was active outside of work, so I guess it could work.

 

It’s all about how you present it!

I think virtual market research and analysis sound great. Avoid words with negative connotations like manipulation though. Even words that are technically correct (like EXPLOITING a profit opportunity) can be interpreted negatively by human resources.

The entire experience section of my resume consists of experiences in RuneScape, cryptocurrency, and the work I’ve put into my book so far. Everything is self-employment. This has not harmed me in any way whatsoever. So far, employers have been pretty fascinated and a few have even commented that it’s one of the most interesting resumes they’ve ever seen.

Again, it’s all on how you present it. There are skills you develop working in these games (depending on what you do). The hard part is describing them in a way that makes sense to an employer. What makes it especially difficult is that RuneScape has developed its own terminology for things that also occur in real life. For example, flipping and finding margins is essentially what is known as “market making” in real life. It’s essential to know how to describe your experiences in real life terms rather than in RuneScape terms. If you can do this, the employer will definitely realize your experience and transferable skills. (This is, of course, something I would be helping people with if I launch this service.)

I have not had an issue with this so far.

But always be honest up front. Admit that some of what happens in the rwt industry (formally known as real money trade) is rather unethical and frowned upon. But be honest and tell them you weren’t involved in the unethical stuff (assuming you weren’t&#8230 You can even go so far as to say this is why you would like regulation, taxation, or something else imposed to help protect individuals in the game.

Let them know that rwt is supported by some game companies and not by others. If they notice that it is “technically” against RuneScape’s ToS, remind them that this is NOT the same as being illegal! Also, throw out the statistics that the majority of players have rwt’d at some point (MMG’s quote). Be prepared to provide the source.

I like to compare it to monopoly money. If you are playing monopoly with friends and you are caught exchanging 20$ for boardwalk underneath the table, you’ll probably be kicked out of the game. But will you go to jail? Of course not!


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EDIT: I should also say that it is probably not too big of a deal that they can't "verify" you "worked" here in RuneScape. Realize that coming up with a fake story like this would be so absolutely difficult, that it is almost zero probability of it being an issue from the eyes of an employer. They will ask you questions about your experience, and you should be able to answer them clearly and concisely. Someone who is fabricating a story almost certainly will not be able to do this. So if you know what you have done (and obviously you do), backing up your story and showing the recruiter that this is a real story will not be an issue. And it is easy to prove that this industry exists. There is even some professional literature by academics on it. So you can always direct them to that literature in case they are skeptical that this industry exists.

 

That's pretty cool, did you mention it on your resume or just bring it up during conversation? I'm thinking about ways to spin it but so far I can't find a way to justify moderating or how it's relevant to most jobs I've been applying for.

 

Depending on the job, leadership is often an important part of a resume which deserves its own section. Typically you want to show that you were able to work well in groups, help bring about great outcomes, and take initiative. Moderating at Sythe should almost certainly be relevant. But yeah, it just has to be presented in the right way. You can always read through the job description and look for keywords/buzz words that you can try to work into your resume whenever possible.

 

I do have a section on my resume devoted to when I started my own business, and it's been a hit with different employers. I've worked for what's considered one of the most prestigious investment banks, and I recently accepted a position with one of the most respected consulting firms. Both of them were interested in hearing more about it because students do not have businesses with hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.

I agree that it's how you spin it - I never mentioned any game specifically but stick to the topic virtual goods because it's significantly easier to explain. In terms of leadership, I've never mentioned my tenure as administrator/moderator here. I think that's a bit farfetched for me and not necessarily relevant for the type of leadership my companies are looking for.

 

To be honest it was just something to put down, but you can always bend / twist the wording to make it sound relevant.

 

I think if you word it right and show how it relates to the job you're applying to, it can be appealing to the employer.

Now I wouldn't use it as my main pitch but it's definitely something you could throw on there.

 

I spun it basically as being able to work and communicate on a diverse remote team that rarely is able to talk in a traditional meeting setting. In software development remote work is a new trend and working well in a team setting will certainly get you bonus points. Not sure how much it helped as I did very well on the technical questions as well, but I thought it worked for the discipline I am working in but it will not be relevant in all lines of work.

 

I have it on my resume. If I updated it I might remove it to use the space for another job but I already have a job offer so I say meh.

 

If you're currently in the process of getting an internship, I'd hardly consider you qualified to be charging people to tell them how to use their RS experience to help them get a job.