Should I avoid mentioning a gap year as part of my "story"?

I had to take a year out of school because of an outstanding balance and I worked full time as a waiter to pay the balance off (sounds hilarious and fake as I read this I know). Should I avoid mentioning this at all costs? My fear is that either 1. it sounds like a sob story 2.rich people on wall street looking for well-connected kids are not going to be interested in someone who is clearly poor 3.they think there's something I'm not telling them.

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"Had to take time off to work due to financial difficulties" is totally fine; college is expensive and kids don't have control of their families' financial situations, just don't dwell on it (1). Was the outstanding balance on tuition or other school-related payments? Makes the story even easier if so.

And no one gives a **** if you're poor (2). You don't need a trust fund or to have taken art history at Andover to move logos around in PowerPoint.

You might get one or two suspicious people (3), but your transcript and eventual background check will prove it wasn't academic or criminal, so they'll let HR figure that out.

 

Was in a similar situation back when I applied. Explained it in resume, invited to superday and was asked about it during all my interviews. Landed a top BB gig thanks to the experience

 

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