Does a 4 year gap ruin my chance at high finance?

Hi all,

Please please read because I feel as if I am stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. I was set to graduate from college in May of 2022, had an investment banking offer lined up, but due to a family member's worsening health, I've had to take considerable time off to take care of his mental and physical disabilities—4 years. I'm now set to graduate in 2026, and have been working part time ever since at McDonald's to keep myself busy. My questions are:

1. Will a four year gap due to extenuating circumstances basically exclude me from any high finance opportunity? If so, what are my alternative best bets?

2. If not, how do I explain this gap to employers on my resume? Do I list exactly what happened on my CV or do I approach it a different way?

Anything helps, thank you!

2 Comments
 

Veritatis quam dicta aperiam fuga perferendis autem. Quo provident ducimus eos non numquam blanditiis tempore non. Quia et sit laudantium sed est maxime non. Distinctio iure consequatur ullam sit molestias. Quis rerum facilis quia. Et et dolor placeat exercitationem optio nemo adipisci. Enim aut rerum voluptatem rerum iusto ducimus.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (47) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (24) $180
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (82) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”