Taking days off as an intern
I am a final-year student who just wrapped up the final rounds for a 6-month off-cycle IB internship at an EB in Singapore (July to December). The team is currently discussing internally, and I received positive confirmation from the VP that I'm likely to receive an offer early next week.
However, I have a pre-planned vacation commitment that requires me to take 2 days of leave in early October (a Friday and a Monday, essentially creating a 4-day weekend). Initially, I didn't expect to have this internship opportunity, thus the vacation cannot be rescheduled.
I want to be professional and transparent, but I understand the long hours ranged from 80-100 hour weeks according to the staffer during the interview. Therefore, I would like to seek advice from the community on the following:
- Should I disclose this commitment to HR/Staffer before I sign the offer letter next week, or should I wait until I am a few months into the internship?
- How badly will asking for a 4-day weekend in the middle of a 6-month stint hurt my chances of securing the full-time Analyst return offer?
I am fully prepared to bring my laptop on the trip and turn slides/models remotely if a live deal burns, but I want to know if the implicit stigma of asking upfront will kill my chances before I even step onto the floor.
TLDR: Do I flag a 2-day October leave to an EB Staffer during the offer call next week, or do I stay quiet, grind for 3 months, and ask for it closer to the date?
If it's unavoidable, flag it as early as possible post-offer and indicate that you want to be flexible to the firms needs. You do not drop bombs in people's laps at the last minute - think about how that looks - it's either you held onto this info way longer than necessary and didn't allow your team to prepare or you booked a vacation mid internship on purpose.
Realistically, if you value a return offer, this may mean not going on the vacation. Wouldn't be the first time I've seen someone have to cancel their vacation and I don't even work in IB. Now I've heard of instances where the firm refunds you the trip but idk if they're gonna do that for an intern.
There's a couple ofher things working positively and negatively for you here. Positively this is an OC, so youre treated more as an FT than e.g. an SA. Which may mean the firm is much more amenable to you taking time off. Negatively, it's in Asia, work culture is stereotypically worse.
In theory you could try to soften the ask somehow e.g. by calling it a destination wedding or just a wedding (vaguer the better tbh) or something, instead of a vacation. Which makes it seem much less like you're just going on holiday.
My 2 cents.
Thank you very much for your advice nutmegger. I totally agree that flag it as early as possible would be a better approach in handling this situation. I guess I can only hope that they are fine with the arrangement and I can still secure the internship offer and return offer in the future.
If you don’t want the return then go on the vacation. If you want it, then don’t go. Pretty simple
I don’t think 2 days off during a 6 month internship would be a problem at all.
A vacation is not a “commitment” unless it’s for a close family members wedding.
Taking time off as an intern is a perception issue: nothing bad will happen (you are an intern, none of your work is needle moving), however, the perception you give your team maybe be one that you do not want to give as an intern if you want a return offer.
Do as you please but know that you are playing with fire taking vacation as an intern.
I am not saying this is right or wrong, but this is reality.
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