[jiggy2011]

I see your point. I've been put off jobs in that past where the requirements have listed stuff like "You must kick ass at Xbox games!" for completely non gamedev jobs.

Now I love video games as much as the next geek and I've always assumed it was a light hearted hint towards company culture rather than a hard requirement.

But I just find something a little off about stuff like this, like it sets off a little red light in my brain that I can't put my finger on. We would probably think it was weird if they said "we all love cricket so you should too!", I guess it feels a little patronising to be told "of course you love Xbox, you are a geek after all!"

As a Segue the use of the term "geek" in job descriptions irks me also.

Edit: Wording corrected

[noonespecial]

I hate to be that guy but FSM help me, I am.

Segway: a goofy 2 wheeled scooter invented by Dean Kamen.

Segue: to make a transition from one thing to another smoothly and without interruption: The conversation segued from travel anecdotes to food.

[partisan]

Some places mention that they have an XBox on site for you to play with, but that's usually just a red flag for me. I love playing games, but if I am going to be at work long enough to feel the urge to play then I am at work way too long.

These are probably the same places that think adding an extra hour to your work increases your productivity by 16%.

[rhizome]

"XBox on site," says to me, "we're (hiring) young people."

[ruswick]

It sort of irks me that people assume that 1) all young people play prodigious amounts of games to the point where an X-Box is some sort of alluring factor, and 2) only young people play games and that gaming is a way to differentiate between ages. I am young, and I would be put off by this sort of thing. If the most appealing part of your company is that you have an X-Box, you're doing it wrong.

[rhizome]

It's not so much "XBox" as a specific device, but of the lifestyle and time that younger people are more likely to pour into their early jobs. They're simply more receptive to a job-includes-hobbies lifestyle. This doesn't prevent older people from participating in this world, but statistics would tell us that more older people have children and non-job hobbies. Frankly, as an older person who owns a PS3 and Wii, it tells me that not only do they want hanger-outers for employees, but ones that play specific kinds of games.

[MartinCron]

And you can make the inverted inference: "we're not hiring older people"

[jiggy2011]

I don't take issue with an Xbox on site, after all plenty of workplaces provide leisure facilities of some kind, especially since there is a legally mandated lunch break here in the UK.

What raises the red flag is making it such a prominent part of the actual job description.