Taking a semester off
I'm currently a junior on a pretty typical path to getting a job in investment banking. I have a solid GPA at a highly recruited public school, one finance internship, a PWM internship, etc...
My mother has a terminal disease, and I am pretty set on taking the next semester off.
I will most probably go home and work in PWM for the semester...I may still recruit for the coming summer, but I probably won't. I will be graduating one semester later, December 2009 instead of May 2009.
I'm wondering...will this look terrible to employers? What effects could it have? What is my best plan of action?
Any thoughts or suggestions will be highly appreciated.
This won't have any negative impact.
Be honest about why you took off a semester - people will absolutely understand.
Don't think twice. If anything it will have a positive impact as it shows you have your priorities in order.
I'm not really thinking twice about the decision itself, but, rather, how should I move forward? I'm going to take the PWM job just to stay somewhat busy. Beyond that, any suggestions? Any similar stories?
Will taking this semester off hurt my job prospects? (Originally Posted: 01/24/2012)
I'm currently a junior at a target with a 3.8 GPA.
Because of some health issues, I have missed almost all of my school's OCR BB IBD deadlines for SA positions. I have applied to only two positions and received a first-round interview with one of them (next week).
I am looking to take this semester off partly to fully recover from my health condition and partly because I would like another shot at the junior-year SA recruiting that I missed.
I would be returning to school again this fall and would thus push my graduation date from May 2013 to December 2013. Would I be allowed to apply to SA positions in another year's time? Will this damage my prospects of receiving a FT offer in Fall 2013?
Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Edit: I'd like to also add that I will be searching for a relevant internship for this semester and the summer if I do take the semester off.
I've PM'd you. But for the general public, there's a reason they say "penultimate year," not "third year." You will be eligible for SA, but you will also want to have a good answer for why you took off.
Agree with the above advice. You'd be surprised about how much stuff you can get away with if you have a good enough story...
The above advice is good...and true. But just don't make up a story...make sure you are telling the truth
Taking semester off, influence FT offer? (Originally Posted: 12/08/2015)
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could you instead cram all your classes in the fall and graduate by year-end? because optically, that looks a lot better (and is more common than you think).
No one will give you any credit for graduating a semester early vs taking one off and coming back
I could, although I must admit that selfishly I would much rather come back for my spring semester and graduate with all my friends.
Fyi op, i did exactly what you're suggesting - sa, semester off, final semester, full time - never occurred to me to run it by hr and it was never even mentioned
Shouldn't have any bearing whatsoever as long ad you graduate by time of your start date. I wouldn't even mention it but it can't hurt to clarify if you feel the need to in order to be super safe.
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