I'm looking to get into trading and I feel like it's ok to put poker on my resume. I graduated from college 3 years ago and it's probably better to fill the gap with poker then leave it blank. My question is how do I write it, do I give a job description or write down my win rate/overall profit/time per day? The other jobs on my resume is generally Company name/job title/job description. Would it make sense to say i'm self-employed in the poker industry doing coaching, backing and playing?

Can you state your winnings in terms of ROI...put some numbers into the equation/on the piece of paper...

I'll try and get back to you with more on this tomorrow. I was a small biz owner prior to joining the corporate world and struggled with similar issues of how to quantify what I did. You have skills, it's all about you display them.

I think there was several discussions in the past about this

in the section other, list investing. if the subject happens to come up in an interview you can mention it depending on the managers personality.

lots of great threads on this topic, try searching

ok will do
in terms of profit, about 220k profit in mtt's from 2009 to 2011.
50% roi on ftp, ub
slight +ev on stars over a big sample

playing like 2-3 days a week on average. But massive sessions like 12+ sometimes.

Probably better to leave this off the resume and leave the time blank. If they ask what you were doing for those two years say something about self employed or something vague.

you can always say you did a start-up that failed

Lying on your resume is a good way to get fired or not pass the background check. Being vague in an interview is a good way to get them to think you went to prison.

Say you played poker and don't sound apologetic about it when you go to the interview.

Do employers even read cover letters? Not to derail, but I think this should be talked about too. Positions that require "fast paced environment" or "quick analysis skills" etc...are these good ones to list poker on and talk about how poker relates to the job skills needed in a cover letter? I try to sway my non-experienced resume this way in the cover letter, showing poker is a great asset...thoughts?

Definitely don't lie, don't be vague and don't leave a blank. That would be absolutely stupid

If you had no occupation during that time, definitely put poker on your resume. If there is any poker skill that is useful at all in the job you're applying for, put it in.

QFT, never lie on a resume...and being vauge is extremely shady. I would immediately think drug dealer or something.

massive mistake to hide it. some employers will not like poker but you probably don't have a chance there anyway. some employers love poker.

no one reads cover letters. you do not lose anything from being relatively straightforward and uncommon on your cover letter. you lose a lot if you put something arrogant or dumb on there and someone happens to skim into it.

Thanks...don't get the friggin point of them anyway. Usually just change the position, company info, etc.

Agreed. If you explain it correctly its much better to say you played poker professional then just put "self employed" or "entrepreneur" - the first question will always be "so what did you do?" and your going to say poker, and they are going to say wtf did he lie about that on his resume = you not getting the job.

It is better to get rejected outright by some people who have moral objections then to trick them into getting an interview.

When someone is vague its for a reason, it makes it sound like you were selling drugs or something. There is no reason to be ashamed that you were a winning professional poker player.

Any more smart advice on how to go about presenting this in a resume? Strassa you seem to be experienced in this topic

Just write up your poker accomplishments in terms that a non-poker player can understand and also doesn't sound like bull****.

Don't write "investing" or similar lies. That is one quick way to lose any sort of goodwill and initial trust you have with people.

When I used to work for a company where I handled some of the hiring, a good cover letter was more important than the resume. The problem is that most cover letters are generic and useless. And if they have stupid grammar mistakes, they can really hurt you.

But if a cover letter is tailored to the company and you can clearly and convincingly outline why we should hire you, it can be a huge plus. My business was IT so qualified applicants all had basically the same stuff on their resume. It's the cover letter that made the difference. Forget stupid buzz words. Just write it the way you would write an email to a person you don't know but want to know.

Agreed.

this. Sending a few tailored cover letters is way more effective than mass sending generic ones.

If you are not going to tailor a cover letter to a specific opportunity, unless you are some 20+ year guy who is just listing major achievements and huge projects, it is prolly better to never send a generic cover letter.

You should be tailoring the CV too

if you made a decent amount from rakeback then affiliate marketing would not be a lie.

Of course it would. It's also useless because you won't have any of the actual knowledge that someone working in affiliate marketing has.

I agree with others in not trying to hide it or brush over it. This is part of my resume:



obv I'm trying to sex up the math behind poker a bit here, why not