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.

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