IB and Part Time Armed Service Role?

Hello monkeys. I have a question for all of you. Context: My father, and his father, and his father, etc, are all military guys (some enlisted, some officer). It would be fair to say it runs in my blood. I have always been keen on serving in some capacity but found my professional ambitions to be at odds with that. After doing some digging, it seems it is possible to take up "part-time" opportunities, at least within the Navy. The position I am looking at requires an initial multi-week training (which, in theory, I would complete between college graduation and starting my IB role), one weekend a month of "drilling", and two weeks per year of "Annual Training". 

Have any of you heard of any IB analysts doing anything like this? Obviously it would take up a large proportion of what little free time I would have as an analyst. But, if I see it as more of a hobby than an obligation, I think it might be something I might really enjoy. Wouldn't hurt future B-school applications either. Thanks in advance.

8 Comments
 

Taking two weeks off all in a row is pretty unheard of for analysts, but I would say veterans are highly respected in the industry-- veteran run boutiques, diversity groups/recruiting for vets, etc. I work with some veterans at my bank and they are all really impressive guys. So I wouldn't think its impossible, especially if there happen to be vets on your team.

I would also add if you are willing to put your career on pause for a bit, if you join as an officer out of college and you were already qualified to be an IB analyst out of school, you will have an incredible profile for MBA recruiting. 

 

I think going as an officer and then recruiting for MBA gives a solid story (especially with more specialized units like SF, SEAL, SWCC, EOD) with leadership experience, and business schools are happy to take you up as there are many veterans in finance, meaning they can actually give you the ropes to enter IB. This of course depends if you actually want to fully join the military or not.

Served in the Marines (not US) and for me it taught me grit and perseverance, which was useful in finance and life in general. Just my 2 cents.

 
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Let me start by extending my gratitude to your family for multiple generations of service.

To address your question directly, it is not realistic to do what you are outlining as an analyst. An IB analyst role is more than full time, and if you have active deal flow, you will likely be working 70-90 hours per week with virtually zero predictability for the "slow" weeks vs. the ones that lead to 100+ hours. Also, it's not like a set number of hours in the office, but you are also essentially "on call" all the time - responding to emails satisfying client or buyer diligence requests at odd hours or on weekends.

While I can appreciate your passion for service, I don't think it would be a good idea to pursue in conjunction with IB if that is your true aspiration / career focus. 

 

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