Quitting 2Y EB IB for Peace Corps: Is this Insane? What are Job Prospects After?
Currently approaching two years as EB analyst in NYC, been a solid performer so far, but 80-100 hr weeks and endless pitchbooks have me losing my mind. Applied to Peace Corps on a whim, got accepted for 27 months in Sub-Saharan Africa doing ag/business development.
Is this career suicide or a respectable pivot? Will the 2.5-yr gap kill me, or can I lateral back into finance / a traditional corporate career. Doesn't have to be MF PE but something that won't make me broke.
Anyone actually done something like this?
Any interest in MBA? This would be a good story for adcoms if you're interested in any non-IB MBA exits (PE not likely since you won't have prior PE experience)
I think most corporate companies won't know how to evaluate this if you're coming directly from it, and may go with a "safer" candidate with traditional experience, or basically set you back two years to entry level ASO roles. If you want to do something tied to your work like work for the World Bank that would play well.
Honestly a good choice for your life and happiness overall given you are helping people. That’s the most important thing at the end of the day, and any company worth their weight in shit would see that. Good on you and good luck!
Do it man. Life-changin exp. You might even become a Tribal Chief or whatever they have over there.
Go from having a finance harem, to an actual harem. Respecc (think Ali G).
Bro said you might become the tribal chief. I’m fully dead rn ☠️
I can speak on this because I was once travelling through subsaharan Africa and happened to meet around 15 peace core members who were staying at the same guesthouse as me in a large city. (think Conakry, Liberville, Contonou) I was able to talk to them over a couple nights of drinks.
Im not sure if you are possibly doing something above the standard Peace Core work due to your background but If you are doing the standard education/agriculture work your life will basically consist of the core putting you up in a random village in whatever country you are assigned to. In theory you will be given a directive to improve the village somehow like organizing the construction of a new building or teaching and implementing better farming techniques. You are suppsoed to make a plan and the Core will help fund you.
In practice from what I gathered the peace core is very underfunded. This is even more so with the current administration. The members I talked to all recieved a monthly salary of a whopping 300$. Some of them were actually living off of this with no outside money. It seemed it was difficult to fund their induvidual villiage projects. They were saying the Core has been shutting down operations in other African countries to save costs. While their mission was to teach and direct in actuallity most just did whatever the villiage chief would tell them to which often meant doing farm labor themselves and other menial things.
Also I cant stress this enough but you have to understand that you will be living in a tiny villiage in Africa and what that means for your life. Think of a dirty house with a bucket shower. Think of basically only being able to eat rice and some meat every day, and getting sick constantly because of how unhygenic things are in general. The local store will only have some essentials and you will have to stock up on confort things when you visit a big city every couple weeks. 2 years is a looong time and you may be very bored with this lifestyle after a while.
One thing I didnt like was how the Core nannys the members with a ton of rules. For example you are forbidden from riding a motorbike which is insane because that is the main mode of transport in Africa. You are only allowed to ride on the back as another person operates it. You are also forbidded from travelling to areas the Core deems "dangerous" and are drug tested often. To me this seems like no way to treat an adult.
However everyone seemed to be content with their decision and generally enjoying themselves. There were supposidly about 40-50 members in the country and they were all tight with each other. They had a big groupchat and whenever they were in the city theyd meet up with each other and have a good time. If the Core assigns you to a Francophone country you will be basically fluent in French after a year which is great. You may not have a huge impact but the work is meaningful. I think what they do is admirable. Multiple times in Africa someone would ask me where I'm from and when I say America their faces would light up and they would tell me about some sort of positive experince they had with the Peace Core.
As to your career prospects I think only you can determine the value it would create for you. All the members I talked to seemingly joined the core on a whim and most had zero plans on what to do with their life when they return to America. It will definitley give you a different perspective on life and make you a more interesting person and that is the value I believe. If you are feeling burnt out this will be a complete 180 on pace of life from NYC IB. Just make sure you know what you are getting into for 2 years.
Would generally advise against joining the peace corps. While the work will feel meaningful, as above poster said resources are quite limited so actual impact will also not be huge. You’ll also probably have to sit around a lot, which isn’t the greatest if you’re in some remote village without electricity during the day.
Also, this goes for the whole of Africa, but especially West Africa, please understand that the people that live there have a completely different mindset from western society. They are generally very hospitable and warm (especially in Francophone countries), but they will see you as someone they can get resources from (be it favours, money, etc.). Even though you will be helping them greatly, you’ll never be part of the community as a local person would. Passing through other towns you’ll be known as toubab/le blanc/etc. I can tell you from experience that this mentality gets old really fast.
If you’re really set on joining the peace corps, I would advise on travelling to the continent first and seeing how you like it — before locking in a 2-year contract. See if you can handle the living conditions (e.g., bucket showers, no electricity, constant heat/humidity, cockroaches/bed bugs everywhere, eating mostly chicken and rice every day).
As an alternative, I’ve met plenty of europeans that donate to charities, that in turn allow them to travel to the continent to help build schools for a couple weeks a year. Maybe that’s something you can look into.
Source: have travelled all over Africa and spent 5 months just in West Africa alone.
In my earlier comment I was trying to give information without my opinion because generally I hate telling others what to do in their life. However I think it's worth saying that I agree with the above post and would caution OP against joining the West African Peace Corps.
I also spent ~5 months in West Africa and by the end of it I was going Taxi Driver/ Joaquin Phoenix Joker levels of insane. I'd like to echo the above poster and say that people have a completely different mindset and way of life in West Africa/ Africa. It is very hard to describe without actually experiencing it yourself but it's almost like the luster and appeal of what makes life worth living is just gone. People generally have 0 passion or care for anything they do which extends to every aspect of life there and was very depressing for me. When things break they stay broken, people are incredibly unhelpful in any kind of customer service situation, people don’t even bother to not dump garbage directly in front of their homes or place of work, ect. People generally don't operate with a mindset of delayed gratification which couldn't be more different from someone who works in IB.
In the majority of your interactions people will try and cheat/lie/deceive you for money in any way they can. I would consider myself a kind and extroverted person but after 5 months of this I saw myself turn very suspicious and irritable to people. I would catch myself arguing for long periods of time over a handful of dollars just for the principle not of being stolen from. It’s not just because you are foreign and an easy target, it’s just the way people treat each other there. Most of the governments in the region are barely functioning due to the corruption and stealing that permeates every single level.
If OP is reading this I would also encourage you to travel to the region first. The way people think and live their lives is incredibly different which makes visiting interesting but I would definitely not choose to live there. I didn’t want to knock on the Corps because everyone I met did genuinely seem happy with what they were doing. But honestly the only way you could get me personally to return to the region and do what you're considering doing for 2 years would be with a gun to my head. I also want to say that I have met incredibly kind people in West Africa especially in the muslim areas. But those experiences get soured by the constant barrage of bullshit that you have to deal with from other people.
I could be wrong but I get the feeling you want take a break from the career and do something international and interesting that looks better to employers than “I fucked off to travel for 2 years”. However I would encourage you to find other more enjoyable options that improve yourself more than sitting in an African town/ village for 2 years. If you go through with this just make sure it’s something you REALLY want to do.
Also I notice in my original comment I repeatedly spelled Peace Corps as “Peace Core”. May the internet have mercy on my soul.
Peace corpse is fucking lame.
Peace corp helps the volunteers more than the actual villages. Lots of other ways to donate/give back that are more impactful
Maximizing village value 🤓
Do it. Life is too short to spend it sitting in front of a computer. There will be plenty of time for that. Take a look through LinkedIn and you’ll see plenty of returned volunteers with successful careers. To be young and in good health and have this opportunity is once in a lifetime.
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Dude 100% do it. Don’t listen to all these dorks saying you won’t make a difference. I’m confident you will have a positive impact on the people you meet and the experience will forever change your outlook on life
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