Issues with Taking an Internship Before Starting Full-Time?

I am scheduled to start full-time in July at an Elite Boutique in their M&A team but there's a chance I can work in a buy-side role (PE or Infrastructure Investing) for a couple months before I start my FT job. I was wondering are there any compliance or legal issues with me working a summer job in the same field prior to starting my FT job? Even if its legally fine, will it be frowned upon by my FT firm as they might see it as a sign that I'm interested in something else? I obviously want to prioritize my FT offer so I was planning on emailing HR once I received more info but I wanted to hear any thoughts or advice.

Thank you!

3 Comments
 

I don't see why there would be an issue- you have a right to earn an income and if there is nothing that you signed stating that you are not able to work a job in a specific field then there should be no issues. You are not an employee of the EB until you are fully on-boarded and getting paid.

I would make sure that you do not sign any non-compete with the other firm though to make sure that there will be no issues. (There is very little chance that they would come for you anyway given that interns are only told to sign such agreements for compliance reasons as they are 99% targeted towards seniors with actual proprietary info). With that being said it is always good practice to act with integrity and keep your word with the firm if you sign a non-compete.

 
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