Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo_Boy
Good.
You haven't really lied and if you are prepared and are not ashamed of your poker career it shouldn't be too dificult to blag it. The interviewers are human beings and would presumably listen to your concerns and explaination as to why you did it.
If you were making a realtively meagre sum and making ends meet by playing poker then it would be a poor reflection on you that you chose to do this rather than using your Maths degree to pursue a 'normal' career. Otherwise, a presentation of your profits would help (using statistical software such as HEM, which you don't have) along with a deposit/withdrawl record from the site you played on . Don't forget you have a Maths degree too. Why would an employer 'take the view that you could have been in jail for 4 years' (straight from Uni) rather than looking at your well written CV and educational achievements?
In fairness I don't know how difficult the job market is at the moment but perhaps you are applying for the wrong kind of jobs? Perhaps your poker has nothing to do with your lack of success? Has this actually been confirmed when you have followed up your applications? If so, have you asked how they would have reacted if you had used an alternative phrase to get your foot in the door?
Basically I'm making long, off topic posts which cover old ground in this thread when you didnt listen to it the first time.
In short: Your description of yourself as a professional poker player with a Maths degree directly contradicts your posts as a penniless, jobless, whiner. Stop making excuses.
Have you considered teaching? Big source of employment for Maths Graduates and you may be able to get a grant depending on who and what you train to teach. Part time job and/or poker on the side and you'll be set.
I was making a decent amount from poker and not simply making ends meet when I chose to do it for a living.
I'm assuming you don't live in the UK like I do then, because the state of our job market has been well publicised in many news articles and TV programmes.
I wasn't making excuses for my situation, just trying to explain the reasons for it. I'm also not whining about it either, it's been this way for a while, I've become quite accepting of it and was just answering any questions that people asked about it. I wasn't whining about it at all.
Apparently, there are an average of 70 graduates applying for every graduate job in the UK and one in 5 graduates is currently unemployed, so there are plenty of people in the same boat as me. A degree is definitely not the guaranteed pathway to a job that it once was and your description of me as a maths graduate who used to be a professional poker player, but is now jobless and penniless, whilst being quite depressing is actually a very fair assessment of my situation. I'm not sure why you seemed to find that hard to believe, but maybe it was just because you didn't know the state of the job market, like you said.
I have received all kinds of advice from various different recruitment advisors and courses I have attended about job searching, CV writing, interview skills etc, so it's not really the case that I'm going about finding a job in the wrong way either.
With regards to teaching, I'm not sure I'd have the confidence to stand up in front of a class of people and give a lesson. Also, it would mean another year's education, whereby I would have no income for that year and would find myself further in debt, with no guaranteed job at the end, so it's not really something I can afford to do. I am however looking into doing maths tutoring, perhaps as something I could do alongside playing poker.