This week the Esports Certification Institute launched, hoping to provide a way to certify that a job candidate had the knowledge and skillset to work in an emerging industry. In theory, it provides verification for a set of traits that are otherwise hard to prove in a job application setting. In practice, it looked like a pointless worksheet that you pay for to get a shot at applying for a job.
There were plenty of critics and memes about this news, even forcing ECI to go back to the drawing board. However, there is an argument to be made about the need of such a certification tool, just not as blatantly money grabby as it was done here.
This has been humbling. First of all, thank you to the entire esports community for your feedback. We read through every response/retweet, and we were lucky enough to also engage in dialogue with some of y’all. We hear you. We have plenty to fix and much to iterate through.
— EsportsCI (@EsportsCi) April 29, 2021
The Esports Certification Institute project and where it failed
The Esports Certification Institute originally launched with quite a strong promise and idea. It was also backed by some major figures established in the esports industry. The certification was simply proof of a passed exam or qualification. People can take the exam, receive their certification, and then use that as proof of expertise when searching out jobs.
A paywall, presumably sat somewhere between an expensive formal education and actually being able to get an entry level job. Pretty quickly, the community completely turned on this bizarre exam. This widely mocked program might have been one of the biggest esports industry news pieces in a while. The certificate has been shut down just days after launch, with the team going back for a rethink. The exam is only for those looking at traditional business roles within organizations though, not for anyone particularly involved in the games side which was the first miscommunication.
This is a great clarification – we did not create this exam for casters/writers/similar talent positions! It’s designed for trad business jobs.
If you bought the exam because you want to be a caster/writer/other talent position, please reach out and we’ll give you a refund! https://t.co/odfju7Ybpy
— Ryan Friedman (方仁宇) (@RyanWFriedman) April 27, 2021
Although, what exactly makes this scheme necessary for traditional business jobs hasn’t been explained. There are actually some much bigger issues surrounding the proliferation of traditional business into esports, that this scheme ignored entirely. The scheme carried a hefty entry fee of $400. That’s to sit an exam, which was just 120 multiple choice questions, followed by a basic essay question. Most of these don’t exactly indicate an in-depth testing of an applicant’s knowledge.
These are real questions from the ECI’s practice exam…. LOL what pic.twitter.com/8aVrWJk5yn
— Joe Pokrzywa (@JoePokrzywa) April 27, 2021
While there are loads of memorable pages, most of it just came down to basic maths.
Defenders of the Esports certification institute have pointed out that the certification does actually go beyond this questionnaire. Those who enroll will have access to ‘networking opportunities’, ‘career advancing resources’, and the opportunity to speak with the advisors. All of that is difficult to actually measure in terms of effectiveness though. What’s kind of weird about all this, is that the apparent goal was to make esports hiring more open and inclusive. Which is pretty much the opposite of creating a private paid-for club where you get special advisors and networking.
However, the Esports Certification Institute does address an actual problem though, even if their solution was pretty far from that problem. The overall goal to make hiring more transparent and inclusive is hard to disagree with, but the institute has hardly handled things well.
The original goal of this scheme was to make things more open and inclusive. That’s a fine goal, which could end up justifying the continued existence of the esports certification institute. Although, it really just feels like another roadblock. One good idea behind the scheme was to try and eliminate the
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