The Myth of the Resume Gap

[Fishy McDonk]

Don't leave us hanging! Tell us about your experience getting a job with "poker player" on your resume.

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So the moral of the story, for those that have thought of taking the plunge, is that you CAN go back.

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No offense, but you're not BACK yet. Getting interviews is not the same as getting a job offer. I think anything would be better than putting "poker player" on the resume. Better to fill the gap with a lie.

The fact is, most people put gamblers in the same category as prostitutes and drug dealers. Even if you find a sympathetic or understanding manager in one of your interviews, the cya syndrome would prevent him from hiring you. In the event you don't work out, he gets the flack for hiring someone with an "obvious flaw" when the case is reviewed. All managers think about this when they make their hiring decisions and they will go with the "safe" candidate, even if he might not be the best candidate.

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This is extreme/alarmist, and flawed. Of course, it's worth thinking about the future impact on a more corporate career path when you go pro, but to suggest that you're completely screwed if you do go pro takes it too far.

There are a lot of false statements in this post, but one thing all you pros returning to the corporate world should definitely avoid is putting a lie on your resume to fill your gap. Realize that ethical considerations aside, routine background checks are getting easier and cheaper to do for any level of employee, and if it comes to light that you lied on your resume, it may not make any difference how well you're doing on your job.

Relevant experience for the position you're seeking is better than either a gap or having poker on your resume. I like OP's approach to including it, if you're going to put it on there -- show some relevant and transferable skills. If you put it on your resume, it won't be the end of the world. In some (albeit I'm guessing a pretty small minority) of cases, it may even help you, because it will stand you out from other candidates.

I won't advise either way whether to include it, but something to consider is that if you get an offer from a company that knows full well about your poker background, you may be more likely to enjoy that corporate culture/manager than somewhere your pro background is negatively viewed.

[dustyn]

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Don't leave us hanging! Tell us about your experience getting a job with "poker player" on your resume.

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I just think you're wrong that "most people," especially professional managers, put poker players in the same category as prostitutes and drug dealers. If OP had "Professional Drug Dealer" or "Professional Prostitute" on his resume, I could virtually assure you he would not have this much job activity. Furthermore, I think you're totally off base about the state of the job market right now, and the availability of strong candidates for most fields. Hiring managers, at least in any field that doesn't suck, do not have a "choice" of ten strong candidates such they can rule someone out for overly vain reasons. The OP addressed this issue upfront, marketed himself appropriately and has been nothing about honest from the get go about what he's been doing. That will commend respect from most employers, especially if his prior experience/personality make him seem like a strong candidate.

I just think crappy advice like yours only encourages people to lie, be dishonest and jeopardize their future careers by trying to start a series of misinformed fibs about their work history. Experiences such as OPs (and he's not the only one on the boards) has not reflected judgments like yours at all.

[Soul Rebel]

Very nice OP, the resume sections in particular are awesome. Good luck with everything.

And why is it that the career posts that are of high quality always get so much negativity? The fact is, poker can be very impressive if presented the right way. Furthermore, its obvious that 2nd Goat is having an easy time in the job market, 3 solid leads in the first week? That is excellent. I remember when Death Valley posted his first 10 months as a pro, and half the posts were people flaming him for not making more money. 2nd Goat's post will be very helpful for any Poker pro who wants to go back a to a real job, so I fail to understand why it is meant with so much doubt and negativity.

[Fishy McDonk]

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I just think you're wrong that "most people," especially professional managers, put poker players in the same category as prostitutes and drug dealers.

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You live in a universe of poker players, which is much smaller than it appears. Perhaps it doesn't have quite the same stigma as drug dealer or prostitute, so imagine putting "pool hustler" on your resume. The majority of people (outside the poker universe) would equate these similarly and yes, there is a significant number that do rank gamblers with drug dealers and prostitutes.

If you think lying is bad advice, then leave it blank, like one of the posters here (who actually HAS been in the drivers seat), has suggested.

[dustyn]

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I just think you're wrong that "most people," especially professional managers, put poker players in the same category as prostitutes and drug dealers.

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You live in a universe of poker players, which is much smaller than it appears. Perhaps it doesn't have quite the same stigma as drug dealer or prostitute, so imagine putting "pool hustler" on your resume. The majority of people (outside the poker universe) would equate these similarly and yes, there is a significant number that do rank gamblers with drug dealers and prostitutes.

If you think lying is bad advice, then leave it blank, like one of the posters here (who actually HAS been in the drivers seat), has suggested.

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Leaving it blank IS lying. They will ask you about it on an interview. If they do a background check (and use a service like Kroll that really digs into things like credit history, etc.) you may get found out anyway, especially if you make something up that looks inconsistent with other stuff a service like that digs up. It's a bad idea.

EDIT: Services such as this can dig up information like media exposure, so if he published articles about poker, they can dig them up. You greatly underestimate the stuff background check companies can and will come up with.

[Soul Rebel]

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I just think you're wrong that "most people," especially professional managers, put poker players in the same category as prostitutes and drug dealers.

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You live in a universe of poker players, which is much smaller than it appears. Perhaps it doesn't have quite the same stigma as drug dealer or prostitute, so imagine putting "pool hustler" on your resume. The majority of people (outside the poker universe) would equate these similarly and yes, there is a significant number that do rank gamblers with drug dealers and prostitutes.

If you think lying is bad advice, then leave it blank, like one of the posters here (who actually HAS been in the drivers seat), has suggested.

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Statements like this are ridiculous. I don't know why you guys think that saying you're a poker player is such a bad thing. We are not pool hustlers, that is just silly. You should actually listen to people like 2nd Goat, Bisonbison, and Death Valley, all of whom have had solid job opportunities after playing professionally. Poker was not a detractor for any of them.

I have personally been told by several people on Wall Street in the investment banking and trading industries that it is very impressive that I am making six figures playing cards, and that they're happy to hear I'm doing well without having to work for Bill Lumbergh.

I personally love playing for a living, and any job interviewer that has a problem with my current profession can suck it. There are far too many job opportunities out there to have to worry about impressing some idiot who automatically associates poker players with pool hustlers. Give me a break.

[Fishy McDonk]

Ok, the proof will be in the pudding. Having a good feeling about your leads is meaningless. Many interviewers are "feel good" type of people. In fact, I think it is a technique of professionals to put the candidates at ease so they will open up and provide more information (that may or may not help the candidate) I've left many an interview with a good feeling, never to be contacted again.

I can assure you, he has basically killed any chance he had at getting a government job, especially one with a security clearance. The cya syndrome is at its ultimate here.

A tight labor market does not mean employers don't get tons of applicants for every job. It just means that none of them have the mix of education and experience they would like. I don't think many would think "poker player" should be included in that mix

[chief444]

Honestly I'm not sure why everyone is jumping all over Fishy here. If you think that there are not a certain percentage of HR/Managers who would hesitate to hire someone with Poker on their resume you're mistaken. I guarantee you there are. I'm not saying there aren't some that would prefer to see it opposed to a gap. There very well may be.

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You should actually listen to people like 2nd Goat, Bisonbison, and Death Valley, all of whom have had solid job opportunities after playing professionally.

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Did they include it on the resume? Do I not count in that group? I didn't include it.

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Poker was not a detractor for any of them.

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Nobody said you can never get back to work in your field after playing poker as a sole means of income for a certain period. But that doesn't mean it isn't/wasn't a detractor to some extent.

I think if you do decide to include it 2nd Goat did a nice job with the details and trying to relate it to the type of position he's looking for. It was an excellent post as an example of how to do that if you so choose. But I'm not sure just leaving a gap would be worse. And no...leaving poker out of your resume is not lying or unethical (to those who feel otherwise). Lying in the interview if asked what you did for income in that period is clearly a different story. But I don't believe anyone was advocating that.

[chicagoY]

"Responsible for statistically grounded capital management,"

I like that and will be quoting you, thanks.