Graduate your game

We've had over 1' people register for our Search for a Star challenges this year! Over the last We are a week away from Search for a Star Registrations closing! First things first - if you Games Careers Week A brand new online festival to inspire people from every background to discover careers in video games! Get a job in games Our Get In The Game online journey is packed with resources to give you everything you need to prepare for a job in the games industry. Search For A Star The industry leading student gamedev challenge is back!

The Grads In Games Awards Celebrating the work of unis, academics, studios and students to improve industry employability Nominate now! Junior Groom Artist Airship. Community Manager Grads in Games It's us! We're Hiring! Associate Technical Artist. Junior Technical Animator Aardvark Swift. Junior Games Analyst Aardvark Swift. Junior Programmer Aardvark Swift. Announcer: Welcome to the Graduate Job Podcast, your home for weekly information and inspiration to help you get the graduate job of your dreams.

The Graduate Job Podcast is your home for all things related to helping you on your journey to finding that amazing job. Each episode I bring together the best minds in the industry, speaking to leading authors, graduate recruiters and career coaches who bring decades of experience into a byte size show. Put simply, this is the show I wish I had when I graduated. We will cover what you can expect in a games-based test and the types of games you will face.

It is an investment in yourself which will pay itself back many thousand times over when you get that graduate job of your dreams. So, go to h owtogetagraduatejob. James: I have a very special guest with me today. He and his company are the brains behind the games-based assessments that many of the large graduate recruiters are using in their online tests, and he is here today to give you the inside scoop on what you can expect and what you need to do. Alastair: Sure, yeah well maybe if I start with Arctic Shores.

James: Excellent. What are games-based assessments? Alastair: The story of Arctic Shores goes back six years where we were looking, or the founding team were looking to utilize game technology to disrupt the assessment space. We know that traditional assessments have some issues, and some challenges, and some problems around things like diversity, and being able to fake your profile, and that sort of thing.

Game-based assessments do what they say on the tin, really. Alastair: Good question. I would split traditional tests into two halves.

They are very much biased towards certain categories of candidates. The problem we have with those is our biases come to the fore. I talked at an event recently where I showed a picture of Mrs. For the UK listeners of your podcast, they probably know this. That shows the subjectivity of this. You can build into it for a later iteration.

These things are not very good either. Maybe if you like Mrs. James: Yeah, definitely. Can you give listeners some examples of the types of games that they might come across with some of the different graduate recruiters and how they would look? Alastair: Absolutely. There are three or four companies that are publishing these game-based assessments now, and they fit into two camps, really.

Behind the scenes, those assessments are then looking at how you interact with each of those tasks. That tool, that assessment, that level is looking at about 15 to 20 different personality traits and behavioural preferences, and it really is about how you apply the tactics in the game. I was trying to explain this to a relative recently about what I do, and they said a great example of this, and the one I explained to this person I was talking to is around rock, paper, scissors.

There is game theory and there is ways of applying it. Once you know that and you know the things that people will do, typically, we then have a way of measuring it in the assessment. These are cross-validated across lots of levels. James: So, Al, are you able to say, then, which companies that you work with and where candidates might be coming across your tests?

Alastair: Absolutely, yeah. Our tool is used by about clients in over 70 different territories, globally, and we work across markets. Most of our clients are in Europe, and we have clients such as the government. We have a broad church of clients that use us. We do work on development projects as well. Ultimately, the reason we can do that is the way that we build up what companies are looking for is based off the amount of data that we capture within the tool. We measure lots and lots of personality and behavioural preferences, and then that can be applied whatever role that might be.

Maybe though if we just rewind a little bit to the balloon game that you mentioned. But, before the balloon pops, you get monetary value each time you pump it, and you have to make a decision about whether to bank the money before it pops or just keep on seeing if you can increase it and get more money.

Alastair: Yeah, absolutely. That kind of gives the game away, please excuse the pun. Are you curious, are you interested in experiencing things? And that is measured in that level. Conscientiousness is in there, so how diligent are you. Extroversion is measured in that, believe it or not, and then things like agreeableness is measured in the two as well. We call it emotional stability, so how emotionally stable are you when we put the pressure on in certain aspects within the tool is also looked at.

It would be worth exploring that in more detail. Al, with different companies then, you mentioned the broad range of clients that you work with. Would they be looking at different aspects from each of the games?

Alastair: Exactly that. Each player will read a quote out loud and everyone, aside from the one who wrote it, has to guess whether the quote is from a novel or made up. How To Play: Prepare a list of academic and pop-culture questions in advance. Separate players into two teams, preferably teens vs. Use the questions you prepared to see which generation has the brains in the family. How To Play: Have each player write a list of their likes and dislikes. As you read each list out loud one by one, have players guess who wrote it and place the list in front of who you think it belongs to.

Once everyone has been given a list, everyone can reveal whether the list was guessed correctly. How To Play: Have all players sit in a circle and pick the first player to write down the opening sentence to a story about your graduate.

Each player then gets a turn to contribute their own sentence. The game ends once everyone has had their turn. Read the story out loud for a good laugh. How To Play: Scattergories always keeps people on their toes. Pick some fun categories centered around your graduate and roll the dice to select a letter. You can also search the internet for a virtual letter dice.

Set your timer for three minutes and have each player write down a word or phrase for each category beginning with the selected letter. How To Play: Want to see who knows your child best?

Select a few contrasting categories for each player to guess which one your graduate prefers. Whether your graduate prefers outdoor activities or brainteasers, these games are sure to get the party going. Shutterfly Community is here to help capture and share life's most important moments. Discover thoughtful gifts, creative ideas and endless inspiration to create meaningful memories with family and friends. Visit their Website. You can follow on Instagram and Pinterest. Shop Trending Categories.

Canvas Wall Art. Baby Shower Gifts. Sympathy Gifts. Wedding Planning. Materials: buckets, markers, duct tape, ping pong balls two colors How To Play: Choose five to ten destinations your graduate would like to travel to.

Materials: large canvas or corkboard, balloons, five to ten watercolors, water, darts, thumbtacks How To Play: Mix water with different watercolor mixtures. Materials: square piece of fabric, duct tape, ten graduation caps two colors How To Play: Place the fabric on the floor and create a grid using the duct tape.

Materials: straws, tassels How To Play: Separate all players into two equal teams and give them each one straw. Materials: disposable cups, foam balls, water, timer, duct tape How To Play: We recommend playing this game outdoors. Materials: balloons, music How To Play: This game is played in teams of two. Materials: two small empty tissue boxes, ping pong balls, two velcro waistbands, hot glue gun, music How To Play: A day before the game, attach a tissue box to the middle of each waistband using a hot glue gun and fill each box with ping pong balls.

Materials: dice, six to ten gifts, plate optional How To Play: This game is super easy and everyone can enjoy. Materials: plastic wrap, prizes, pair of oven mitts, dice How To Play: Gather as many small and medium sized graduation themed prizes. Materials: Prints of your graduate two copies of each at different ages, two buckets How To Play: Separate all players into two equal teams. Who Are We? Materials: whipped cream, aluminum pie pans, keys, buckets How To Play: Divide the teams into an equal amount of players.

Materials: large chalkboard, tape, chalk. Materials: paper, pens, one bowl How To Play: Have all players write at least one quote from their favorite novel or make their own quote.

Materials: paper, pens, one bowl How To Play: Have each player write a list of their likes and dislikes.

Materials: small coil notepad, pen How To Play: Have all players sit in a circle and pick the first player to write down the opening sentence to a story about your graduate. Materials: pens, free printable, timer How To Play: Scattergories always keeps people on their toes.

Who Knows You Best?