American Truck Simulator may net you a driving job in real life

Major logistics company is looking for drivers in the game
American Truck Simulator may net you a driving job in real life
American Truck Simulator may net you a driving job in real life /

Schneider National, a logistics company from the United States founded in 1935 and employing almost 20,000 people, is looking to recruit additional truck drivers – and it’s doing so in American Truck Simulator. Players of the PC title might already have noticed that some in-game billboards, which are often used by developer SCS Software to advertise new game updates or special events, are showing actual job advertisements.

Various slogans like “Get your career on the road” or “Make the switch to Schneider” can be read on the billboards alongside a call to action to apply for a job at the company’s website.

According to SCS Software’s blog, Schneider National approached the studio for its recruitment program due to the ongoing shortage of skilled professionals in this field.

“We aim to provide opportunities that bring attention to interesting details organically within our game world – things of value and deeper meaning,” the company stated. “That is why when Schneider National approached us with their desire for us to help them with their recruitment campaign, we were excited to collaborate since it presents something new and also allows us to assist the need of the trucking industry in general considering the current shortage of skilled professionals.”

SCS assured players that this is a “try-out phase” and that it would “respect your gaming experience and want to ensure that it remains enjoyable and immersive.” For now, players shouldn’t expect a flood of real-world ads to show in the game world.

According to Axios, Schneider National got the idea to take their recruitment program on the virtual road after some new recruits had shown driving skills over their anticipated level. The employees credited the time spent playing the simulation game for that, so the company decided to give this a try. The effectiveness of this form of recruitment is still unclear, as the campaign has only been running for a few weeks, but a spokesperson said that the company was “optimistic” about it.


Published
Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg