Poker on Resume....the real reason for asking

[slim]

I've read threads where people are asking if putting poker on their resume is a good idea. This is my take on why people ask that question......tell me if you think I'm right or wrong.

I think it is obvious that putting poker on the resume is a bad idea......but poker players have big egos when it comes to poker especially if you are a winner....so by asking if one should put poker on a resume is another way of showing off. You are fantasizing in ur head that ur sitting in front of the interviewer and he says "you play poker too?? so do I" and then you can excitedly elaborate on how much u've won or start talking shop with the guy and teach him strategy and he'll think ur so smart. I am not trying to put someone down for asking such a question, bc I dream of that scenario too. As a matter of fact, when I am at work, I deal with patients and anytime I detect that the pateint may be interested in gambling I kind of prod to see if they play poker. I am hoping they play too and we can discuss winnings/strategy. My ego takes over and I can't stop myself.
Asking if putting poker on a resume is like when a murderer brags about a murder......he knows he shouldn't but he can't help it bc he is so proud.

[PokerGoblin]

Dude, you have no idea.

You are totally wrong (about me anyway). The inevitable question is going to be asked; what have you been doing in the 6 months since you lost your last job?

My answer in the interview is that I have survived by living some I had saved. If he asks, I'll be honest on where it came from.

Ego has nothing to do with it. If I cared about impressing a bunch of strangers I'd post under my real name.

If I wanted to show off there are more effective ways of doing it... like maybe a brag post or 10?

It's apparent that you are probably not satisfied with your poker prowess and have a jealousy complex about it.

[ QUOTE ]
Asking if putting poker on a resume is like when a murderer brags about a murder......he knows he shouldn't but he can't help it bc he is so proud.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea I am proud that I have had to use my second job as my first job for the past six months. You have no idea how difficult it is to make enough money to live from poker alone. All the while having no retirement plan, no sick benefits, no health insurance and no real way to grow my bankroll without playing 60 hours a week.

It works 10 times better as a supplemental income. Trust me.

I am done.

PG

[TheIrishThug]

not true, in my case at least. i'm pretty modest about how well i do. ppl generally start with just "are u up (or down depending on their preception of poker)?" i modestly say i'm a winning player. if they ask again then i'll give them a rough number. i play low stakes compared to most ppl on this site, but its still a good number for the stakes i play and for it being one of my hobbies while in college.

as i said in the other thread. logical problems solving is a useful skill for engineering. i put it on my resume becuase it displays that skill.

[threeonefour]

you should probably delete that murderer line if you still can.... its going to get jumped on pretty hard i think.

unless you really think that is a good analogy... in which case.... woah /images/graemlins/confused.gif /images/graemlins/confused.gif /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[slim]

maybe a little extreme....
my point is that sometimes u r proud of something and it leaks out even though u know u shouldn't broadcast it.

[coffeecrazy1]

[ QUOTE ]
Ego has nothing to do with it. If I cared about impressing a bunch of strangers I'd post under my real name.

[/ QUOTE ] This line confused me. Is PG someone we would all know? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[PokerGoblin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ego has nothing to do with it. If I cared about impressing a bunch of strangers I'd post under my real name.

[/ QUOTE ] This line confused me. Is PG someone we would all know? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

haha no I am not famous, nor do I want to be, that was the point.

I can see where you would take it like you did. I should have worded that better.

PG

[M2d]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ego has nothing to do with it. If I cared about impressing a bunch of strangers I'd post under my real name.

[/ QUOTE ] This line confused me. Is PG someone we would all know? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
Shhhh. He's been out of work a while and has to live on his wife's income. luckily, she was elected to congress

[PokerGoblin]

[ QUOTE ]
luckily, she was elected to congress

[/ QUOTE ]

Not luckily for me... I keep hearing these reports on the fox news channel of her coercing young interns for oral sex.

The money's good though.

[cwsiggy]

If you are applying to Susquehanna trading near the burbs of Philly it is +EV, otherwise forget it.

[Filip]

Should i instead say that i was living on social welfare, of my parents or in a mental asylum? I cant even see the connection to bragging.

[DcifrThs]

this post says more about you than those you are attempting to analyze.

Barron

[tek]

[ QUOTE ]
Not luckily for me... I keep hearing these reports on the fox news channel of her coercing young interns for oral sex.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope she uses Summer's Eve /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[slim]

Hey, I already mentioned in my original post that my reason for putting poker on my resume would be bc of egotistical reasons so I won't disagree. But I still think I am right for the most part. Here is why....the interviewer is either going to be :
1)a Non-Poker player: in which case he/she will not care or frown upon your poker exploits
2)a Poker player/enthusiast: in which case you guys will obviously start discussing poker strategy and/or how well you each do at poker.

Tell me how that's wrong.

[jrbick]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey, I already mentioned in my original post that my reason for putting poker on my resume would be bc of egotistical reasons so I won't disagree. But I still think I am right for the most part. Here is why....the interviewer is either going to be :
1)a Non-Poker player: in which case he/she will not care or frown upon your poker exploits
2)a Poker player/enthusiast: in which case you guys will obviously start discussing poker strategy and/or how well you each do at poker.

Tell me how that's wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, #1 is what we're all trying to figure out. That actually hasn't been determined yet (as far as I know); how the employer will perceive poker playing.

#2 is merely conveivable. If I'm there for a job interview and the employer plays poker as well, then my guess is that it would stop at that: "we're both poker players" <smile>. I'm pretty sure that if I'm being interviewed that I'll just keep, being interviewed. Anything less seems like it'd be kind of unprofessional.

I understand though, that looking at this from your angle, that if both people have the problem of ego and both have that desire to indulge in ego, then the result would be standard. I'm just not sure that you're going to be able to find that your premiss is absolute. Well, I'm pretty sure.

[slim]

If the interviewer is not a poker player, there ain't no way in hell he will say "Yes I admire your poker playing abilities because I hear that you have to have great analytical skills to play poker well"........he will either think nothing of it and not even notice it (in which case there was no reason to put it in) or he will think you are a degenerate.

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

I would not hire someone who played poker for a living, unless I knew them very well already. Put it on your resume, and I'll shitcan it on receipt.

[Zele]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are applying to Susquehanna trading near the burbs of Philly it is +EV, otherwise forget it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a hunch their office games are weak-tight city.

[MarkD]

[ QUOTE ]
I would not hire someone who played poker for a living, unless I knew them very well already. Put it on your resume, and I'll shitcan it on receipt.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why?

[jrbick]

Sure, you may be right about that. But I was answering this claim:

[ QUOTE ]
1)a Non-Poker player: in which case he/she will not care or frown upon your poker exploits

[/ QUOTE ]

We don't know if they will "care" or not or if they will "frown" on it or not. Milo suggests that they will care and that they will frown.

[Nightwish]

[ QUOTE ]
If the interviewer is not a poker player, there ain't no way in hell he will say "Yes I admire your poker playing abilities because I hear that you have to have great analytical skills to play poker well"........he will either think nothing of it and not even notice it (in which case there was no reason to put it in) or he will think you are a degenerate.

[/ QUOTE ]
This very much depends on the job you're applying for. Many people with quantitative/analytical jobs (engineering, finance, etc.) understand that poker is not the same thing as roulette, i.e. that there's a lot of math and a lot of strategy to it, even if they don't play poker themselves.

[ctv1116]

Talk to any non-poker player about poker, especially about the swings, and they just won't understand and will probably adversely affect your candidacy.

[shagjohn]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are applying to Susquehanna trading near the burbs of Philly it is +EV, otherwise forget it.

[/ QUOTE ]

cwsiggy makes a good point.
I hear many firms looking to hire trader / market maker types look at a winning poker history as a plus, since it requires many of the same abilities (rational decision making and thinking in terms of BB or %, not $$).

For a CPA job, they'd probably just see you as a gambler and show you the door. Just like most things, it depends.

[DeezNuts]

All the poker players I know are much pretty lazy and don't enjoy listening to authority, especially when it comes to office work.

DN

[nigelloring]

I work for an electronic trading company. When I interview people, I am always on the lookout for people with good poker skills. (Emphasis on "good").

IMHO, there are many similarities between poker and trading. Understanding EV and stochastic processes are skills I highly value.

if you are a winning player then why not put it on your resume. how do you think the business owners got to the point of hiring you? they're in the same boat, taking calculated risks day in and day out. it's the ability to come out a winner over the long run in situations such as this that owners look for in management.

[mgsimpleton]

when i was interviewing for management consulting firms, i did not include poker on my resume but i made sure to always throw it in the interview when people asked what i did with my time. first, it's just plain honesty since i spend 80% of my free time playing poker.

second of all, there are many similarities betweent the jobs and i have received quite positive reactions. in fact, in one interview, my interviewer was also a poker player and we literally spent the entirety of the 30 minutes (this was not the case interview section) just talking about poker, which went over extremely well as i was relaxed and on home turf.

p.s. i got a few very nice offers despite my "stupidity" of talking about poker. maybe i'm just that good.

[rwanger]

[ QUOTE ]

#2 is merely conveivable. If I'm there for a job interview and the employer plays poker as well, then my guess is that it would stop at that: "we're both poker players" <smile>. I'm pretty sure that if I'm being interviewed that I'll just keep, being interviewed. Anything less seems like it'd be kind of unprofessional.


[/ QUOTE ]

I had an interview at a video game company once, to be a programmer/designer. I went in to take the "programming test" and somehow got into talking about poker with the guy.

20 min later the fellow who dropped me off came back to bring me to meet some other employees, and said "how'd he do?". The "interviewer" just smiled and said "oh he's fine, no worries" and programming was never discussed.

I wouldn't put it on my resume, but I'm sure there's a casual way to work it into the interview as an "outside interest", and maybe you two bond over poker.

Depending on what kind of job it is...a lot of places just want someone they think can do the job AND fit it.