My eSports Purpose - Who am I? Why am I here?

Without goals we do not have any targets to move towards both in the world of eSports and in life. Without movement, nothing will change and we cannot grow. Elite athletes, successful businesspeople and experts and achievers from all walks of life always set goals.

Why set goals?

Setting clearly defined goals ensures that you will:

• be able to measure your progress forwards
• maintain motivation
• raise your self-confidence
• recognise your improved ability and competence

The importance of setting goals

Goal setting is an important strategy for eSports players and coaches. Watch the video below and note down what is important when setting goals.

Watch: Personal Goal Setting (2:07 minutes)

Brainstorm your large-scale goals about what you would like to achieve in different areas of your life, such as lifestyle, career, education and finances. Think big!

How to set goals

Now that you have thought about your ‘big picture’ large scale goals, you need to break these down into smaller targets that you must hit to reach your large-scale life goals. A well-established tool that can help you plan and achieve your goals is using the SMART goal method.

SMART goals

Each element of the SMART goal method works together to create a goal that is clear, planned and easy to see if you have made progress.

As an online learner, you will need to form solid study habits to do what you need to do and to get things done. We all have experience with our habits affecting our progress toward our goals, both positively and negatively.

Study Habits Quiz

Whether you have been studying recently or if your last time in a classroom was decades ago, you can always benefit from revising effective study habits. Over our course, you will come back to your self-reflections and re-evaluate to see how your skills are developing.  

The science of habits

Now that you have assessed your study habits, take a look at how you can leverage the science of habits to improve your habits and help you achieve your goals.

Watch: The science of habits (15:53 minutes)

Watch the video below and take notes.

eSports not only offers a vehicle to drive your goals, your improved habits and your skill sets, but each module will provide opportunities to develop more transferable skills and future proof yourself.

Your Curriculum Vitae (CV)

During each module’s Portfolio Checkpoints, you will build up your Curriculum Vitae (CV) which is also called a resume. A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a summarised compilation of relevant information about you. It will usually cover:

• your personal contact information (name and contact details)
• the role you are aspiring to become
• a brief description of yourself- always try to highlight your passions and strengths
• your education (names of the institutions in which you studied chronologically, and qualifications gained)
• your professional career experience (starting from most recent with referee contact details)
• your personal experience (relevant experiences e.g., played Valorant every day for 3 years)
• our personal achievements (what you have achieved during your life such as leadership activities, collaborative projects, and your passions and hobbies)
• your skills (Microsoft 365 proficiency, Tongan language proficiency)

In any professional environment, it is necessary to have your own presentation card, a footprint of your experience and accomplishments. It is for this reason that your CV must be kept updated and on the right platforms for proper exposure to the career path you have planned.

Before you upload your CV  make sure you follow these tried-and-true tips:

• Be concise
• Check for errors using Microsoft Editor or Grammarly.com - attention to detail is a great skill to cultivate
• Do not worry if you do not have any work experience, we all start somewhere. Try writing down life experiences that gave you skills to face problems. Remember to order them chronologically from the most recent till the past relevant and give a referee to corroborate your experience
• Articulate all your experiences which are relevant to the role, e.g., languages, school camps, clubs, technical skills, diplomas, classes etc.
• Be creative in your design choices.

Looking backwards to move forwards

Self-reflection about what worked well and what did not is a key part of growth and development in learning and in life. 

Practice being self-reflexive and forward looking by asking yourself:

1. What went well? Why?
2. What did not go so well? Why?
3. What would I do differently next time?

Watch the following video about an eSports player’s self-reflections on his previous CVs (AKA resumes). As you watch note down your answers to the questions about each resume below.

Watch: eSports & Game Industry Resume Review (23:40 minutes)

Resume 1:

1. How did he synthesise his experience as a Mechanical Engineer to fit the role he was applying for? Why did he do this?

Resume 2:

2. What did he say was valuable about the bullet point:

• Planned, hosted and produced 180+ episodes, totaling 200k+ downloads?

3. When talking about what he wrote for experience, why does he think "fleshing out" experience is important?

Resume 3:

4. Which bullet point did he think was the most relevant and should be put higher for this specific role? Why? 

• Interacted daily with community via social media platforms
• Created video and image content to provide value, promote podcasts, and drive conversations.
• Implemented tags, SEO and analytical findings from previous posts and content on YouTube and other social media posts.
• Managed and collaborated with 10+ volunteers which include editors, social media, moderators and cohosts to build our community and content.

Careers: Seek and you shall find

Now that you have a basic idea on how to present yourself professionally, it is important to know which platforms you can use to put yourself out there.

Below are three main job seeking platforms to get you started:

1. Let's start with New Zealand's favourite: SEEK!
   
2. If you want to have a widely read CV go with LinkedIn
   
3. But the Number 1 for eSports jobs goes to hitmarker!
   

Start searching for your dream job on each of the three career platforms.

If you do not meet all the requirements do not worry. You are the master/mistress of your own destiny; you just need to start working on what needs some work!