lying about poker.....

[Geo the Sarge]

So I guess if you've just come out of prison you should just be open about it in interviews?

If asked,by law yes, under the rehabilitation of offenders act, you must declare, when asked, any occurrence of "unspent" convictions.

Most employers have the question set in their applications. To not declare would render immediate dismissal if found out about later.

It isn't just prison sentences either, which catch a few people out. You even have to declare fines, probations and absolute discharges for a certain period of time.

There is a table relating to the time period that these must be declared, dependant of severity of punishment, under the Rehab of Offenders act online.

I know a couple of folk who have been caught out by not declaring simple fines. Whilst the offence which incurred the fine may not neccessarily have stopped them getting the job in the first place, by lying on their application they were instantly dismissed.

Edit: Most employers will only apply for a criminal records report after places are given as it is a long and costly process. I have seen the requests take up to 4 months to be completed by the CRO.

Geo

[Junior Senior]

Some mixed and in some cases poor advice itt.

It's all dependent on the job, the company and the way you are able to describe and articulate what you have been doing plus whether you have any other work experience to draw upon. In general though it is not good to lie on your Cv and can have disastrous consequences. Post some more details on the job, type of company, level of seniority etc.

I have worked in HR and recruitment for 10 years and have also had 2 years off work playing poker and i too had a gap to explain so I maybe able to offer some advice.

Good luck, be honest and true to yourself.

[AndrewT]

Candidate: 'As you can see from my CV I've been playing poker for the past couple of years. I've included my profit graphs and hourly rates so you can clearly see the positives of this endeavour. Any questions?'

Interviewer: 'Just one - how much did you lose?'

*candidate punches interviewer*

[pleno1]

If people I. The thread think it sounds bad you shouldn't mention it.


DUCY

[outragous76]

If people I. The thread think it sounds bad you shouldn't mention it.


DUCY

3 HR/recruitment guys have all said dont lie

Im awaiting Mantis to tell me "where he went travelling"

I once had a guy lie to me in an interview, it does 2 things

1. Insta loses you the job
2. Provides the interviewer with an hour of fun in making you squirm (in what is generally a tedious task)

[th777]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the response/advice. I'll try and address as many points made as
possible, then tell you what i decided to do........
(for those that don't know me, I've only just turned 23, have been
lucky enough to travel some of the world, experimented with poker, and will still
play as a hobby but feel it is time for some stability and a career in my life)

Tikay-     I totally agree with you about being Truthful and Honest  and i have been that
all my life, and it makes me sick having to tell lies/ bend the truth to try and
secure a successful job. "Nice crisp ironed shirt, dark tie, shine those shoes, arive
nice & early, firm handshake, make lots of good eye contact, & smile. Smiling is
always a winner"-   did you just describe me ?

Lucky -    My mate is my best friend from school and i have grown up with him and it
was he that advised me to not mention poker, and go with the travelling for 1 year
and working for my uncle's business for over a year writing up quotes/invoices for a
succesfull alarm company, (obviously getting a reference isn't a problem)

PLeno1/outragous - I also believe people will look badly on it, and wont give me the
time of day, even if i can prove numerous online winning graphs, BRM, being backed
once for wsop 2011, grinding to keep fuel in my car, pay rent, holidays etc.

(own_u2- fulltilt, weasley2-pokerstars,ownu2- ipoker, th777-microgaming etc, but in
all honesty what Employer gives two shits that i won some poker tourneys online when now i'm
applying for jobs which obvioulsy shows i'm not that great at BRM, grinding etc)

claypole - I am a very proud person in what i have achieved and who i am......you
make some great points and i sort of wish i made this thread early in the week to
maybe give myself more preparation time and to change my mind about what i said in
the interview.

Mantis- "Nah, wrong, in the real world they will just think gtfo" AGREE!
blueace - "but the reality is I know of very few people that dont spice up their cv  
               or leave out the negatives." AGREE!
Junior - thanks, i might pm you for some advice
Andrew t - BRILLIANT!

Transferable skills - as a poker player speaking in a poker community i agree that
these skills can be used for the role of being a salesman/marketing assisstant in
media, but i'm not sure the 3 women interviewing me would have agreed. probably
totally differant if it were 3 men interviewing me- like tightend says much depends
on the openmindness of the interviewer/company.

so to conclude.... i arrived very smart, punctual, cheeky grin as usual, polite,
friendly, charasmatic, honest ( except for when they asked what have i done for 2
years i told them a great deal of travelling to the world's finest places and sites
and then helped my uncle out with his company)- cowardly i know and makes me feel
ashamed that i cant come clean because i am v.proud of what i have acheived/done and
shouldnt feel like i should have to hide anything......

ps. The interview went terrible and when i mentioned that i travelled to South Dakota, the sour faced women in the corner chirped up for the first time.... with her extended knowledge on "Mount Rushmore........."  

FMFL !

[tikay]

Lol, great repy! Think "outrageous" owned the thread with a soul-read.

A lie can run around the world before truth gets its boots on. Dunno who said that, but he was not far off.

[claypole]

Similar to Senior Junior said, it is tricky to give specific advice without all of the information at hand, although I generally stand by the "be honest approach" in every situation - albeit tailored to the audience / interviewer.  If you find yourself in this situation again, gather as much info as you can about the company, role, interviewer, sector etc and I will be more than happy to have a chat on skype if I can help.

I do appreciate the challenge for a lot of you younger guys who have just played poker post Uni - I think the big advantage myself and Greg have is we had somewhat proved ourselves career wise before making decisions to take breaks to play; this does make it somewhat simpler to re-enter work; especially if you are good at what you do and have a solid CV.

If you're looking for work, some generic advice would be target companies, sectors, roles that are more likely to embrace your history; likelihood is you will enjoy working there more and be more committed to your career there.  I know we all have life commitments and need to make ends meet; however too many people forget that the employment relationship is a two way thing and relationships where you are not engaged in the company and its business aren't productive for anyone.

A sweeping generalisation I know, but based on the cross section of the successful younger players I have met I think most are most likely to get some success if they set up on their own - many are bright, numerate, pretty sharp, driven to learn and probably wouldn't fit with corporate life.

Good luck in the job search - if you  don't get any luck just spin up and take a few shots at $5/$10

[Lamm]

Similar to Senior Junior said, it is tricky to give specific advice without all of the information at hand, although I generally stand by the "be honest approach" in every situation - albeit tailored to the audience / interviewer.  If you find yourself in this situation again, gather as much info as you can about the company, role, interviewer, sector etc and I will be more than happy to have a chat on skype if I can help.

I do appreciate the challenge for a lot of you younger guys who have just played poker post Uni - I think the big advantage myself and Greg have is we had somewhat proved ourselves career wise before making decisions to take breaks to play; this does make it somewhat simpler to re-enter work; especially if you are good at what you do and have a solid CV.

If you're looking for work, some generic advice would be target companies, sectors, roles that are more likely to embrace your history; likelihood is you will enjoy working there more and be more committed to your career there.  I know we all have life commitments and need to make ends meet; however too many people forget that the employment relationship is a two way thing and relationships where you are not engaged in the company and its business aren't productive for anyone.

A sweeping generalisation I know, but based on the cross section of the successful younger players I have met I think most are most likely to get some success if they set up on their own - many are bright, numerate, pretty sharp, driven to learn and probably wouldn't fit with corporate life.

Good luck in the job search - if you  don't get any luck just spin up and take a few shots at $5/$10

THIS! Great post.

Listen to this man Thomas!

Climbing that corporate Ladder mate? Seriously, you are not "Harvester" material!

[outragous76]

many are bright, numerate, pretty sharp, driven to learn and probably wouldn't fit with corporate life.

You have no idea how much I love that line!

[SuuPRlim]

sorry to hear it didn't go well.

Always another etc.

[kinboshi]

sorry to hear it didn't go well.

Always another etc.

This.

There's always the option to say you went travelling, and funded it through playing poker online.  Sounds less degen, and instead sounds resourceful (and appears to be a money earner rather than just gambling).  Makes a change from working in bars, etc.

[th777]

Similar to Senior Junior said, it is tricky to give specific advice without all of the information at hand, although I generally stand by the "be honest approach" in every situation - albeit tailored to the audience / interviewer.  If you find yourself in this situation again, gather as much info as you can about the company, role, interviewer, sector etc and I will be more than happy to have a chat on skype if I can help.

I do appreciate the challenge for a lot of you younger guys who have just played poker post Uni - I think the big advantage myself and Greg have is we had somewhat proved ourselves career wise before making decisions to take breaks to play; this does make it somewhat simpler to re-enter work; especially if you are good at what you do and have a solid CV.

If you're looking for work, some generic advice would be target companies, sectors, roles that are more likely to embrace your history; likelihood is you will enjoy working there more and be more committed to your career there.  I know we all have life commitments and need to make ends meet; however too many people forget that the employment relationship is a two way thing and relationships where you are not engaged in the company and its business aren't productive for anyone.

A sweeping generalisation I know, but based on the cross section of the successful younger players I have met I think most are most likely to get some success if they set up on their own - many are bright, numerate, pretty sharp, driven to learn and probably wouldn't fit with corporate life.

Good luck in the job search - if you  don't get any luck just spin up and take a few shots at $5/$10

Really appreciate your advice, and no doubt i will find myself in this situation again as i hope to have more interviews lined up...(hear back from this one fri, I'm doubtful but you never know, sometimes the Employer invests in the person, and i feel i came across self-assured without being over-confident) It would be great to talk on skype but i dnt want everyone to have my contact info, so ok if i pm it to you?  I believe i took my shots last year at the wsop events, cash, roulette can you sit in the rio 5/10 games these days with 10 bigs ? if so.....poker may be back on the menu!

sorry to hear it didn't go well.

Always another etc.

Ha ha thanks i thought you meant poker didn't go well.....i was going to say that went well(ish) untill now(ish)....... but yeh great for experience,  either way, was actually quite fun!

[TheFallen]

getting a foot in the door with cv gaps/poker is the hardest step imo. once you reach an interview stage they will most likely have made their decision on whether that matters to them or not.
Give recruitment firms a try but make sure u find a reputable one. they take more time to understand ur past and will then be able to find the right fit company to send u to.

[DMorgan]

I think you'd be surprised at the number of people that wouldn't completely mug you off over poker

This one is about renting a flat rather than getting a job but theres still a vetting process to get through:
http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=56078.0

I hadn't seen this at the time but this is the landlord:
http://helynnosa.com/


If I'd seen that before I probably wouldn't have even bothered going for the viewing, but she was completely cool with it and actually found it very interesting.