Working elsewhere right before full-time?

Hi WSO,

I signed full-time with a financial services consulting firm and chose an August 2018 start date (can start earlier if I really wanted to). I finish my undergrad in April 2018 and wanted to know if it would be acceptable to intern elsewhere from April until August (when I start).

Since I've heard one typically needs better experience than their peers to get staffed on better projects, I would be willing to trade leisure time after graduation for a) brand name, b) strategy work at a bank, or c) technical work involving modelling. I also want to try lateraling into technology or financial services strategy at MBB a year or two down the line.

Is it ethically/legally acceptable to intern elsewhere immediately before starting full-time? (There is nothing in the contract that says otherwise, and I wouldn't update my LinkedIn until I was working full-time).

5 Comments
 

I appreciate the response. In regards to taking time off, keeping in mind that I give up a few months of salary and experience, how valuable have you found resting/travelling after your undergrad? In hindsight would you have taken more/less time off or would you have considered a brief internship at a prestigious company to accelerate your career if given the chance?

 
Best Response

I traveled before I started and had a blast. If you want to do both there is a cool company called Remote Year that pays you to travel and work remotely for a startup. Obviously you won't be doing anything crazy, but it finances your travels.

 

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