Be good at this, and you could get job here

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,74783,00.html

Be good at this, and you could get job here

HOW quick are you with your thumbs and the mouse?

That is the question for aspiring traders in the financial markets.

In fact, some companies require applicants to take online gaming exams, reported the BBC.

This is especially true where electronic trading arcades have replaced traditional trading pits.

And noisy trading pits which use the traditional open outcry system are fast making way for digital trading floors.

Geneva Trading, based in Chicago, trains students to make money out of anything from Brent crude to precious metals and pork bellies.

The company’s president, Ms Mary McDonnell said the company is looking for recruits with a new generation of job skills.

Part of the assessment process involves studying an applicant in a video game exercise.

Ms McDonnell said: ‘It is unlikely that we would hire someone who didn’t show good proficiency at a GameBoy or online poker or similar video-type game where hand-to-eye coordination is important.’

Staying alert while staring at the screen is essential on the job.

The company follows small market fluctuations, which can be easily missed as you stare at a bank of trading screens filled with fast moving numbers.

Traders can buy and sell at the click of a mouse.

The faster they react, and click, the more money they can make.

That’s where those gaming skills are put to good use.

POKER FACES

This new job requirement is part of a trend throughout the financial sector, with some trader training courses offering an online gaming component.

And where does the poker face come in?

Expertise in online poker is a star quality, in terms of the ability to stay detached and read the signs.

Ms McDonnell said: ‘It’s the discipline of not getting too emotional about your transactions, and also the mathematical ability to keep track of numbers, as in card counting.

‘Online poker practice helps traders to read the markets correctly. It helps to determine if people are bluffing, trying to make the market move one way or another.’

But it’s not just financial companies who are recognising the value of computer gaming on the job.

Academics too are catching on.

Professor Mark Griffiths is a gambling expert at Britain’s Nottingham Trent University.

He says poker online, or the old fashioned sort, offers many lessons for success, even in non-mathematical lines of work.

The professor said: ‘Being this focused is an important leadership skill in the workplace.

‘Then there’s the art of deception, not normally seen as a desirable skill, but in poker it’s all part of the game.

‘After all, in many workplace situations the ability to get away with white lies, to save face or be diplomatic, or to smooth over or disguise mistakes and errors, is a big advantage.’