Would you put Professional Poker Player on your Resume

[Cactus Cactus]

So...you've been doing professional poker for 3 years and you have done quite well. What happens when you go to get a job and have to submit a resume. What are you going to put down for what you have done for 3 years??? Do you think that putting down professional poker player is good???

[miajag81]

If the alternative is saying you've been sitting on your ass for three years, I don't see how it could hurt. Be prepared to explain a lot of things.

[Rotflmao]

If you have done so well, why do you need a job???

[Eratosthenes]

Hi Cactus--

In my previous life I have hired many young technical types, mostly engineers and scientists. I, personally, would have no problem considering someone who played poker for a few years and had decided to go back to a real job. I would be worried about whether your skills were rusty, how you would accept a more fixed schedule, working with a team, etc, etc. I would certainly be interested in the 3 year gap in your resume and would have trouble considering someone with such a gap, if not adequately explained.

In the interview I would ask you some questions about your poker experience and how that experience would help you in the job you were interviewing for. I would also be asking some questions to try to determine if you are serious about rejoining the real world.

My advice to you is to put it on your resume and to think hard about how you are going to talk about poker to interviewers. You might even want to practice (not rehearse) answers to obvious questions like: "What made you decide to try professional poker?" and "What made you decide to quit?" One attribute of a good poker player that is highly regarded by most employers is discipline. Many prospective employers may not think of us as a disciplined lot, so you will have to (gently) educate them. Similarly, poker players must study and prepare if they are to do well. This willingness to learn the tools of the trade is another selling point.

There are companies (and managers) who appreciate risk-taking, creativity, and thinking outside the dots. Poker will not be a problem there, and, these are the places where you will probably do better, anyway.

With any luck, you will get invited to some really soft home games.

Good luck and have fun.

[Pinlifter]

Well for the last three years you were are a gambler and a synonym for gambler is speculator . You gambled on the outcome or fate of the cards. A sysnonym for fate is lot. Kem is a well know manufacture of high quality playing cards. I think you can quite honestly say that for the last three years you were a self employed Kem Lot Speculator

Now that I have come up with an accurate description of your profession for the last three years, I will leave it up to other members of the forum to come up with specific descriptions of the day to day tasks surrounding Kem Lot Speculation.

It would probably help if you told us what kind of jobs your are applying for so we can focus on the tasks of Kem Lot Speculation that most closely match the profession in which you are now applying too.

Pinlifter

[stigmata]

A resume should be tailored to the job you are applying for, so the answer is "it depends". Think about the sort of person who will be reading the Resume and what their attitudes to poker might be.

You might want to put a certain spin on "proffesionl poker player" depending on the job. E.g. a trading job you could play up the EV aspects. Or a salesman job you could mention the ability to work alone, yet it still relies on you getting on well with the general public, etc.

[Phill S]

When i first read this i thought "Volatile Investment Analyst" - Ive used this line whilst at university last year for chatting up lasses in clubs/bars a couple of times and explains how i have money with no 'real' job at the time.

If i were going for a job id recommend being as honest and upfront about it as possible. Before starting my uni course i worked in a company which specialised in preparing people who were long term unemployed for job interviews etc; CV work was an area i did a lot in. What i had to do is make them look good, whilst not misrepresenting what they had done.

Basicly, if you lie on your CV, it will be picked up in interviews approximately 60% of the time, and if that relates to the last couple of jobs (or last job that was long term) it jumps to at least 90%. By having a fancy title you will be caught out 100% of the time.

Dont lie, when found out that you talked up your old job title you will look like an idiot in the interview and you wont be hired by most people as they will be too suspicious of what you did (ie you're seemingly ashamed of something, got something to hide etc).

You lie on the CV you will get more interviews, but your success rate will drop massively (how long can you carry on a lie, and if not how do you go about saying the investment you did was online gambling?).

Be honest; you will get less interviews, but you will get a LOT more sucess once you get to that point. If they are prejudice against gambling, your not wasting your time with them, they are already accepting of what you did to a point, you just need to convince them further that what you did wasnt weird.

And sell yourself on it. Only 8% of all poker players online are winners (according to jackpot joke of ESPN fame) so you've succeeded in an industry that has few winners and doesnt forgive laziness. This is quite an impressive feat no matter how successful you are/were and whatever reason you have for rejoining the 9-5ers.

Phill

[poker-penguin]

Yes I did, but I was applying to work at a poker software company. Otherwise, it depends on the job.

[Phill S]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes I did, but I was applying to work at a poker software company. Otherwise, it depends on the job.

[/ QUOTE ]

Further to my post above, having a bad 3 year job is better than an unexplained 3 year gap - unless perhaps you plan to work at a religious anti-gambling lobbyist group or something.

Phill

[Pinlifter]

Well I visited www.dilbert.com because I thought they had a resume generator. My mistake they only have a mission statement generator. Close enough...just tweak the output slightly(i.e. change "we and us" to "I and my" ) and you can come up with lots of good discriptions for a Kem Lot Speculator. Hows this for a first try:

It was my business to globally gain access to long-term high-impact information and seamlessly leverage existing seven-habits-conforming leadership skills to authoritatively facilitate timely paradigms in order to solve business problems

Pinlifter