Unconventional (Intelligence) Background Prospects
Created a burner account for obvious reasons. I currently finishing my undergraduate degree with a major in finance from a target university in the UK with a good GPA, IB SA internship, and HF experiences under my belt. I also want to do a master's degree in finance area but before that, I am taking a gap year where I want to explore myself and think properly about what I want from my life for the next 5-10 yrs (at least) and do something interesting. Anyways, I have an opportunity to work for a private intelligence agency during that gap year and thus, I am wondering whether I should take this opportunity. As mentioned before, I want to do something rather unconventional and the job itself is really interesting (can't go beyond that), would work with very driven and smart people (with backgrounds from special ops; national intelligence agencies and etc.). However, this stint would come with 2 major caveats. The 1st one is that it does not add any valuable skillset that is needed in the financial industry (apart from interpersonal skills?) and hence, it would be harder for me to recruit during my master's studies (to add - I won't be able to disclose what did I do in my job). Note: I am making an important assumption here. I want to work there just because the work is really interesting and etc - I don't imagine myself being in the intelligence community for a long time period and I am definitely interested in working in the finance world in the long term (hopefully HF). The 2nd caveat is that this company is surrounded by a major cloud of secrecy and is involved in various controversies (meddling with elections, hacking and etc), and arguably has a negative public perception (as little as it is) although has management with a good rep in the intelligence community. So, I am worrying how my future employer would view this stint as the work would probably entail some gray areas. Alternatively, during my gap year, I could do off-cycle internships in relevant fields (IB; AM; ER and etc), thus increasing my value profoundly when compared with the 1st option. To sum it all up, the first job would be a pretty interesting experience and since I am still young, I am considering exploring that. However, as mentioned above, there are at least a few issues and etc. So, I guess I want to find out the perspective of people working in IB, ER, HF and etc: what your perception would be if a potential hire would come with this background (assuming I will get into top postgrad school and finish it with good grades and etc)? Thanks!
Might look weird in HRs view but interesting talking point for interviewers. I still believe if you know that you want to work long-term in another industry, you should aim for an internship that compliments this (esp. in an industry as competitive as finance).
Do the intelligence, you can get an internship or off cycle later but if you pass up intelligence, the opportunity won’t come back. Life isn’t about IBD or how fast you make it to VP, defo go for intelligence
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