I am a recently graduated Mathematician in Western Europe and looking for my first job. My interest would going towards the data-related world (Data Analysis, Data Science, Statistics...) in a business environment.
I have a three-year "gap" on my history, though, as I lived as a professional online poker player during those years before resuming my education. I am afraid that many companies will not like that on my CV. Are my fears justified?
Even if many companies will refuse hiring me for my previous job, is there anything I can really do? They will ask for that gap anyway and then I will either have to adress the topic or lie, which I don't really think is a way forward.
It may also be the case that some recruiters (Western Europe) find the "poker thing" as something that makes a difference between myself and the rest of the candidates. I am not sure about that. What are your thoughts?
EDIT: I've already read this question, but the advice there is a bit outdated as both the job marketplace and the poker world have changed a lot since 2013. Playing online poker for a living was quite common in 2013, now only a handful of people do. Also, the recruiting processes of many companies have been updated and the skills needed quite different (almost nobody knew what Machine Learning or Big Data were five years ago, for instance)
It's not region-specific, I haven't made any coaching/material (which is the focus of many answers) and, finally, I am not a software developer (so "make a poker-based code thing" does not apply)