Career/College Advice - Military Experience Resume Value

Hello everyone, I’m currently a Freshman studying finance at Penn State, hoping to break into IB as soon as possible. I’ve been considering joining the National Guard part-time force which would *significantly reduce my tuition and presumably provide very valuable experience, especially for my resume. The only concerns I have are the two-weeks per summer commitment that may or may not interfere with internships, as well as the fact that a six year commitment (which is necessary to get the education benefits) would obviously go into my first two years as an analyst. The commitment would be the same, one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer, which I imagine is fine for most employers. Though based off of what I’ve heard regarding junior IB analyst working hours, I could see a recruiter denying me the job because of it. Especially since there’s always the chance of getting called for something.

Put simply, do you think that the resume benefits of military experience plus tuition benefits will outweigh the chance of an employer seeing my remaining two-year obligation as a deal breaker?

Alternatively, I can also choose a three year commitment. I wouldn’t receive nearly as much financial support, but I would still get the experience and I wouldn’t have to worry about trying to balance other commitments with being a junior analyst.

Please advise, thank you for your time.

1 Comments
 

Sint sint aut omnis et aperiam et reprehenderit. Nulla non consequatur qui. Ipsa beatae modi et omnis.

Qui qui veniam maiores. Quia maxime fugit eos accusantium repudiandae. Voluptatem modi mollitia et iusto molestiae.

Modi rerum id rerum quia blanditiis. Aut ea numquam soluta natus qui harum.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.9%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”