Any advice for a poker pro wanting to become an actuary?

[Parlay Slow]

Originally Posted by Carnifex

This guy is trying to make a transition into our field and asking our advice on how to go about it & how in the heck it is going to be explained on resume and in an interview, and as such I would have guessed that luckily he posted his question here first so he could get some good advice from business professionals. Instead for the most part this thread has been a bunch of bitching about technicalities of online poker.

There's a poster in this thread that is obviously trying to be provocative with his comments. I actually expected a bit more of that sort of thing, so I have been pleasantly surprised.

Now I need to go pass some exams!

[tenthring]

Originally Posted by Carnifex

Can we get past the whole "Is playing poker illegal vs imorality of insurance companies" theme? Any and all acusations about playing poker online is illegal/playing poker for a living is illegal/imoral is petty and rediculous.

This guy is trying to make a transition into our field and asking our advice on how to go about it & how in the heck it is going to be explained on resume and in an interview, and as such I would have guessed that luckily he posted his question here first so he could get some good advice from business professionals. Instead for the most part this thread has been a bunch of bitching about technicalities of online poker.

Isn't it central to the matter. I mean he's already been told the obvious stuff he should be able to figure out on his own:
1) pass exams
2) put self employed instead of poker player on resume and then explain in the interview
3) try to bypass HR

So the important thing is what to do in the interview. Some people will hate it like Wasp. Some will be cool with it like me. And most will be neutral/uninformed. They will think its kinduv cool but like all actuaries will fear anything that is different. They will pose many of the same arguments Wasp has posed but with a bit more of an open mind, and he may need answers to these questions.

[Parlay Slow]

Originally Posted by tenthring

Isn't it central to the matter. I mean he's already been told the obvious stuff he should be able to figure out on his own:
...
2) put self employed instead of poker player on resume and then explain in the interview
...

This is actually not obvious to me. I really do not want to do this unless it is nearly impossible to get an interview.

[gosuruss]

Originally Posted by Parlay Slow

This is actually not obvious to me. I really do not want to do this unless it is nearly impossible to get an interview.

Why not? Would you preferred to be discriminated against based on an HR lady's uninformed opinion?

[FastAsATurtle]

Originally Posted by Parlay Slow

This is actually not obvious to me. I really do not want to do this unless it is nearly impossible to get an interview.

I would be interested to see the results of sending half of the companies you apply to a "self-employed" resume and half a "pro poker player" resume.

2/3 of this topic is actuaries playing armchair psychologist regarding HR reps. I'm not saying that the sentiments aren't probably correct, but it's all just speculation until you try.

[Kenny]

Originally Posted by Parlay Slow

I really do not want to do this unless it is nearly impossible to get an interview.

Why? Who was your employer?

[tenthring]

Originally Posted by Parlay Slow

This is actually not obvious to me. I really do not want to do this unless it is nearly impossible to get an interview.

2005-2011
Self Employed
*Managed personal risk capital earning a return of X% on $Y per Z years.
*Earnings on a risk adjusted basis of (you can do this with poker tracker).
*Implemented understanding of statistics and game theory in a high risk quick transaction environment.
*Have a strong understanding of how to make value judgments with incomplete information.

If you are sending a resume directly to an actuary, not through HR, you can put basically the same thing except with poker player in the title.

[Carnifex]

Originally Posted by Parlay Slow

This is actually not obvious to me. I really do not want to do this unless it is nearly impossible to get an interview.

Poker aside, with <= 1 exams on your resume you already are going to have a hard time getting an interview. Your competition are Entry level candidates that have 3-4 exams and an internship or two with degrees in Actuarial science (AKA: they poped out of the uterus and knew they wanted to be Actuaries).

[epeddy1]

Originally Posted by tenthring

2005-2011
Self Employed
*Managed personal risk capital earning a return of X% on $Y per Z years.
*Earnings on a risk adjusted basis of (you can do this with poker tracker).
*Implemented understanding of statistics and game theory in a high risk quick transaction environment.
*Have a strong understanding of how to make value judgments with incomplete information.

If you are sending a resume directly to an actuary, not through HR, you can put basically the same thing except with poker player in the title.

You were a drug dealer?

[epeddy1]

Serious Answer:

Why not try to get a "real" job while passing exams? At the minimum, office related. It would be better if it were at a financial, investment, insurance, etc type firm.