Rolling for Initiative: What a Weekend at PAX Unplugged Taught Me About the New Rules of Hiring

We all know that the traditional hiring process often feels like a game where no one quite explained the rules. As someone who wrote a book to help the next generation win at the Game of “Work-Life”, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to make hiring processes and candidate experiences better.

This past weekend my husband and I traveled to Philadelphia with comfortable sneakers and waded into a sea of 30,000 people for PAX Unplugged.

PAX Unplugged is a massive convention dedicated solely to analog gaming. Board games, tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), and card games. If it involves cardboard, dice, and sitting across a table from another human being, it’s there.

Standing in the middle of the expo hall, surrounded by the roar of rolling dice and card shuffling, it hit me. I wasn't just watching people play Catan or Dungeons & Dragons. I was watching thousands of rapid-fire interviews, high-stakes negotiations, and real-time assessments of soft skills.

The expo floor was a microcosm of the modern job market. And if you’re looking to get hired, or looking to hire better, you need to understand the game being played.

Here is what the tabletop world can teach us about the human side of hiring.

1. The "Magic Circle" creates authentic networking

Walking into a traditional networking event often feels like walking into a dentist's waiting room where everyone is trying to sell you toothpaste. It’s stiff, transactional, and frankly, exhausting. 

PAX Unplugged is the exact opposite.

In gaming theory, there’s a concept called the "Magic Circle." When you sit down at a table to play a game with strangers, you all agree to enter a temporary world with shared rules and a shared goal, whether that’s working together to stop a pandemic or competing to build the best railroad.

The artificial barriers drop instantly. You aren't "Julia, the TA Leader," and they aren't "Project Manager at a Tech Firm." You are just two crusaders trying to defeat a goblin king.

The Hiring Takeaway:

The best professional connections don’t happen when you are thrusting a business card at someone. They happen when you are doing something together.

If you are job searching, stop just "networking" and start collaborating. Volunteer for a hackathon, join a working committee in your industry association, or contribute to an open-source project. When you share a goal, the relationship-building happens organically. You’re no longer asking for a favor; you’re demonstrating your value in real-time.

2. Adaptability is the ultimate power-up

Over the weekend, my husband and I sat down to demo several new games I’d never seen before. In each instance, a facilitator had five to 10 minutes to teach a table of strangers a complex system of rules, resource management, and strategy.

Then, we had to immediately apply that knowledge under pressure.

Some people froze. They needed to read the rulebook three times before making a move. Others thrived; they grasped the core mechanic, accepted they would make mistakes, and adapted their strategy on the fly based on what others at the table were doing.

In today’s rapidly shifting economy, technical skills have a shorter shelf life than ever. What employers are seeking, and what AI can’t replicate, is cognitive adaptability.

The Hiring Takeaway:

•  For Job Seekers: During interviews, don't just emphasize what you know. Emphasize how quickly you learn. Share stories where you had to absorb complex information rapidly and act on it with incomplete data.

• For Hiring Managers: Stop obsessing over candidates who check every single box on the tech stack requirement. Look for the players who can learn the rules of a new game in ten minutes and still enjoy the experience. They are your future leaders.

3. Soft skills are revealed when the dice roll low

It’s easy to be gracious when you’re winning. But what happens when the dice betray you?

I watched a man throw his cards down because a move didn't go his way. I also watched a table of strangers cheer when one player pulled off an incredible, game-winning move against them.

Tabletop gaming is a high-pressure simulation of workplace dynamics. It involves negotiation, bluffing, resource scarcity, teamwork, and inevitable failure. It strips away the polished "interview persona" and reveals emotional intelligence (EQ).

How do you handle a teammate who isn't pulling their weight? How do you negotiate a trade when you have nothing of value? How do you lose with grace?

The Hiring Takeaway:

As I discuss in my book From Hi to Hired, we hire for hard skills and fire for soft skills.

When you are in the interview process, remember that you are being evaluated on the "meta-game." How you treat the receptionist, how you handle a tricky technical question you don't know the answer to, and how you follow up after the interview matter just as much as your resume. Your technical skills get you to the table, but your emotional intelligence is what keeps you in the game.

The Final Turn

Whether you are navigating a dungeon or a final round interview with a CEO, the core principles remain the same. It’s about connecting authentically with the people across the table, learning the rules quickly, and managing your own reactions under pressure.

The next time you feel overwhelmed by the job search, maybe step away from LinkedIn and open up a board game. You might be surprised at the professional skills you're leveling up while you play.

We had a great time at PAX Unplugged and walked away having played and/or purchased several new games including Magical Athlete, Chasing Shadows, Agueda, I Made You a Mixtape and many more!