Poker and Job Interviews
 

I couldn't find a good place to post this. If it needs to be moved please do so mods. I know this doesnt apply to you hardcore degenerates out there but anyone else feel free.

I am a senior at UA and graduating in May with an Operations Management degree. I am starting to interview in the next couple weeks for jobs after graduation. Recently, I was wondering about poker in relation to this. Basically, in most interviews they will ask about your hobbies and such and well the vast majority of my free time/hobby time is made up of poker. My question is do you think its at all wise to mention poker as a hobby during an interview or leave it out? I have left it out previously because oh noes its gambling and such but i'm not sure how it affects anything. Any comments appreciated. Thanks

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

Job.... interview?

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

for the most part, leave it out. most people don't understand the quantitative and game theoretical skills that poker can help you develop. For most it's a negative thing. In a job interview you want to err on the side of caution.

The one caveat would be in a quantitative finance position. A lot of those guys are poker players.

But, unless you see a clear advantage based on something the person you are talking to says, it can be reason to exclude you if it's close with another candidate.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

With my small sample size of job interviews I have had pretty good success mentioning my poker playing. The key is to translate why being a good poker player makes you a better candidate for the position you are applying for. Analytical thinking, money and time management, the competetive nature it takes to be a good poker player are usually awesome selling points to job interviewers. Obviously stay away from spewing your results out, and stick with boasting the skills it takes to be good.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

not wise during the interview.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

I would leave it off your resume but you can feel free to bring it up during the process after feeling out the person interviewing you.

I think I got my last two jobs because we talked more about fantasy sports then the actual position.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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not wise during the interview.

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people dont understand it. they will think u r a degenerate.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

Read the interviewer; some people are able to process "I play a lot of poker and it has taught me these psychological, mathematical, and logical thinking skills." Some people aren't going to get that poker is good for you, but will be fine with hearing "My hobby is playing games, like chess and poker." And other people with have an automatic negative association as soon as you say the word poker.

People who have a resume gap have to manage it a little differently but coming out of college, just use it if it'll help you, mention it if it'll be neutral (because it does take up a lot of your time, it makes sense to mention neutral things that you like), leave it alone if it will hurt you. If you can't read which situation you're in, err on the side of cautious, but to interview well in general you need to figure out where the interviewer is coming from.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

It really, really depends on the job.

I have a job starting as a markets trader here in NZ starting next year. Without poker on my CV there's no chance I would have got the job. The traders loved that stuff. On the other hand, with some jobs I think you'd have to leave it off.

If you do mention poker, try and have good language in mind. Talking about risk management goes down well, as does being self taught in my experience. But yeah, I think you need to know your audience.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

I would prefer to leave it out because i think people are misinformed fools who will assume you have gambling issues.

More importantly however, "Job.... interview?"

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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I would prefer to leave it out because i think people are misinformed fools who will assume you have gambling issues.

More importantly however, "Job.... interview?"

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Haha, not all of us play/run like gods on the poker table. I'm one of the many that will be slaving for the man.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

I personally wouldn't mention that unless you're in sales..
or if you notice evidence of them playing poker.

Depending on your location that can be as polarizing as a forearm tattoo if you are too enthusiastic about it.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

Like in poker, a big part of being a good interviewee is reading the interviewer. Some interviewers are looking for someone cool to hang with at an insufferable workplace. Some interviewers are "by the book," sticking to a preset list of questions. Some interviewers who are going to be your boss want to see if you will be a slave to their grind. It's important to come across as genuine while actually saying a lot of what they want to hear.

Thus, with poker, I would definitely only bring it up if there is a clear opening. For example, if the interviewer seems pretty cool and asks, "what do you like to do in your spare time?" You might talk about socializing with friends and playing some poker and mention how much you enjoy the challenge of poker (discipline, decision making under stress, etc.). See where it goes from there.

But in general, leave it out. Too likely that the interviewer will worry about you having one of dem der gambling sicknesses.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

would you really want to work at a place that doesn't think you're cool that you play poker anyway?

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

i think that mentioning poker completely depends on the job u apply for ... for finance industry it is no prob as long as you can convince them you are not a gambler. within finance professionals poker is aknowledged as a skill based games and i know traders all over the world having their private home games. and these games are not played for peanuts

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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I personally wouldn't mention that unless you're in sales..
or if you notice evidence of them playing poker.

Depending on your location that can be as polarizing as a forearm tattoo if you are too enthusiastic about it.

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LONG SLEEVES FTW!!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...x/IMG_0182.jpg

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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I would prefer to leave it out because i think people are misinformed fools who will assume you have gambling issues.

More importantly however, "Job.... interview?"

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Haha, not all of us play/run like gods on the poker table. I'm one of the many that will be slaving for the man.

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Until you win a few more Sunday 100k amirite?


That said, I'd place it in your Resume complete with detailed Financial statistics (ROI, $/hour if good). Basically make it sound big. Don't post bad stats, obviously. If it comes up, bring up math and evaluating skills, nothing else. If they're big into poker it'll be fine. If not, you can convince them otherwise.


Guys, I had a videogame guild I was a part of on my Resume; if you can talk about yourself correctly and bring out your strengths, you could have baby raper listed as a hobby and get away with it.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

I'd leave it off of the resume and feel out the interviewer to see if it'd be wise to bring it up. You can usually tell if someone will view poker as degeneracy or see it as 'cool' or maybe even recognize the skill it takes to consistently win, appreciates the merits of that skill, etc etc.

Also, whoever mentioned that it was job-dependent was right.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

loll, a job, hahaha

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

Maybe like 10 more sunday 100K wins for the entire 1st place prize lol. I think I will just read the interviewer and go from there. Thanks for yalls input

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

I'd keep it under wraps in the interview---you never know the inclination of the interviewer in terms of gambling, etc. The hobby question doesn't come up as often as you think, and if it does "I'm working hard on my degree I don't have much time for hobbies" always looks good. That or "I drink a lot".

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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I'd keep it under wraps in the interview---you never know the inclination of the interviewer in terms of gambling, etc. The hobby question doesn't come up as often as you think, and if it does "I'm working hard on my degree I don't have much time for hobbies" always looks good. That or "I drink a lot".

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Ew, believe it or not there are not that many people that want to work with someone who says things like "I don't have time for hobbies," or even have such a dolt working for them. And if they do, you probably do not want to work for them.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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I'd keep it under wraps in the interview---you never know the inclination of the interviewer in terms of gambling, etc. The hobby question doesn't come up as often as you think, and if it does "I'm working hard on my degree I don't have much time for hobbies" always looks good. That or "I drink a lot".

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Ew, believe it or not there are not that many people that want to work with someone who says things like "I don't have time for hobbies," or even have such a dolt working for them. And if they do, you probably do not want to work for them.

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Agreed.

I suppose if I was interviewing you for a spot at my company things would be different. Otherwise I don't think it can be seen as a good idea. However, I wouldn't go with the "I don't have time for hobbies" idea either. Like others have said the people that are reading the interviewer and reacting to them are most likely the candidates that get the job. Being engaged in the interview helps a ton.

I'd also leave beer pong off the resume!

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

silly tattoo luke

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

*silly as in sweet wicked

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

I'm a poker player, though if you interviewed with me for a job, I wouldn't look positively on it unless I knew exactly where you are with it. I do interview/hire in my position.

I know the time requirements for tournaments and know that cash games might be "juicy" at late hours. Do I want to take a chance on hiring someone that may or may not show up on time to work, or might have only slept for 2 or 3 hours and too tired to focus on what I'm paying them for? Not likely.

I'd think the same if I found out a candidate goes out partying most nights during the week also. You'd have to be an outstanding candidate compared to the others.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

This thread has been done a million times...

... but it is better that you asked than go into your inteview and challenge the HR guy to HU4JOBZ.

For the vast majority of jobs and the vast majority of interviewers mentioning poker is a big mistake. There are some people with whom it might be an advantage to bring it up and if you get the read that your interview is one of those situations you should either:
a) play it down (i have a weekly game with friends but i always win because I am competitive, have a thurst for knowledge, am good at reading people, am good at math)

or

b) stay up until 5am winning the WCOOP ME the day before your 9am finance interview like strasser did last year.


In general though I would go with avoiding it and I think that NorthernGuy's points are good ones that I hadn't given much consideration to (because most of the people you get will not understand poker and will equate it to shaundeebesque blackjack degeneracy where you think that you are +ev because you have "a system")

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

I mentioned poker during my interview and it went fine. I was forthright and honest about it.

The guy asked about my excel experience, so I mentioned tracking data concerning my poker. I talked about it like I took it seriously and used actual data to think about my play and my results, and showed that I could think critically about it.

What would an interviewer not like about that?

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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Thanks for yalls input

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its probably not wise to say yall in the interview either [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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Thanks for yalls input

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its probably not wise to say yall in the interview either [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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haha yea good one. If the interviews in the south or alabama no big. haha

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

I go to NYU. I've been interviewing a lot, and I have Professional Poker Player first on my list for work experience on my resume. I will be having my 7th interview next week. Most of my interviews I have gotten through my resume. Of course, there are other factors to consider. I'm mainly applying for jobs on Wall Street such as trading and quantitative analyst positions. Also, I have a high GPA which helps. For the most part, however, poker always becomes a large part of the interview and the interviewers seem to enjoy it or are fascinated by it. Of course, I also have good results and cashed at the WSOP ME, which is always the starting point of discussion. I would recommend you put poker if the qualities of a good poker player relate to your job and you have good proven results.

Re: Poker and Job Interviews
 

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Thanks for yalls input

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its probably not wise to say yall in the interview either [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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If you hear me speaking, and you think I'm an idiot because I say "yall," I don't want to work for you; I probably don't even want to know you.