Playing your cards right may land you a job in Japan

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Gone are the days when card games were just a form of entertainment. A Japanese IT start-up has seized the advantages of gaming and adapted Magic: The Gathering, a classic and celebrated US trading card game originating from the 1990s, into its recruitment process to assess the personality of fresh graduates.

This creative and viral recruitment campaign has been inspired by the company’s employees who are avid card players and who demonstrate superior logical thinking abilities.

The operation and recruitment head of this start-up GeeeN, Hiroki Okano, explains that not only does this form of gaming ease the pre-interview jitters, but also reveals a candidate’s authentic self.

It is expected that an excellent Magic: The Gathering player possesses impeccable information processing and crisis management abilities which are crucial in the workplace.

The format of the interview is a duel between a candidate and one current employee. A golden ticket to the final interview is given to the winner. Luck might be in the candidates’ favour, but the key to getting hired is their reaction under stress, their mindset and thinking procedures.

Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game available in 70 countries and 11 languages. With its annual worldwide tournaments, the game has attracted more than 20 million players across the globe.