Quote:
Originally Posted by thin_slicing
I've been lucky enough to involve travel in my breaks.
Also how you sell the story makes a difference.
"I quit for two years to play low stakes poker" would be horrible to say in a job interview.
Employer: I see you haven't had a job in two years.
Me:My Dad had recently retired and I took a year off to travel the United States with him player poker at some of our stops to supplement my income.
Employer: Wow, that sounds interesting. So you consider yourself a professional poker player.
Me: I use the term "semi-professional" and I use that term pretty loosely. I did take it seriously though, I tracked all my sessions, I have a warm up and cool down I do in between each time I play. There is also some studying off the table that is involved, usually just one or two hands from the previous session or time that I played.
The travel wasn't all about poker though. My Dad's a big bike rider so we went on bike rides, went hiking, and spent a lot of time in nature.
It was just the break I needed to come back and fire on all cylinders.
Employer: Wow, you might be the most interesting person we have ever interviewed. You are hired right on the spot and we are going to double your salary and give you bonuses. You can also marry one of my daughters.
Me: Your daughters are not property dude, I don't want this job anymore you sexist pig!
Employer: AWWWW MAN
This is a true story
Lol... Here's how it would go for me.
Them: So...I see you have a resume gap here for the past 2 years where you appear to have done no mathematical work. What have you been doing in this time?
Me: I'm glad you asked. I've been playing online poker extremely successfully. I played up to 30 tables at once and was the #1 winner in my game according to sharkscope. My overall results placed me in the 99.99th percentile of players on this site. (Hands graph and sharkscope screenshot)
Fantasy response: Wow! 30 tables at once? And still you manage results like these? That is incredibly impressive and must take tremendous drive and focus. You're hired!
Actual response: Hmm...so you felt the need to play THIRTY tables? It sounds like you have a serious gambling problem.
Me: Well no, I see it as a form of risk assessment where I used my mathematical skills to leverage an edge over the competition. And my ability to multitable allowed me to maximize that edge. These kind of results were inevitable with my approach.
Them: So you use your mathematical skills to prey on gambling addicts and weaker players? Have you done any volunteer work or contributed anything meaningful to society?
Me: Umm...
Them: And isn't online gambling illegal?
Me: Well no, it was illegal for banks to process payments in certain ways but not to play online poker
Them: No I'm sure I read something about this. Didn't the Department of Justice shut down these sites for money laundering or something?
Me: Well yes but I had nothing to do with that
Them: So you don't take responsibility for your actions. Hmm. Well thank you for coming in and best of luck to you but I don't think we can find a place for you in our organization right now. We do important research here for the betterment of mankind. I'm actually calling security right now to have you thrown out. You're a disgusting human being and your "poker career" represents everything wrong with this country. Get out.
Me: Cries softly
Obviously exaggerated but I could tell by reactions these guys were not impressed by my poker career and looked at me like some kind of degenerate parasite, or at best like a lazy and useless person.
I just stopped telling people about poker because my responses when disclosing were never good. But I live in the American South. Your mileage may vary.