Is this remotely normal in IB? 1 year vacation offered?

Saw on linkedin at a BB in NYC a girl did 2 years as an IB analyst. She then did 1 year as an associate at same bank. She then had a thing on her linkedin that said "Career Break" (as a job / experience) and it said "backpacked asia for 7 months and Europe for 5 months", and then her next job was the same bank and associate again. 

So she just straight up was able to take 1 full year off? Is this remotely normal at all? I have never seen it before at all. Maybe she just quit and then a year later reapplied, had good references, and was able to join the same exact team? (It was same coverage group) Good for her. Solid. 

22 Comments
 

Have seen it happen at more senior levels (VP) in a BB for a shorter period (6 months)

 

I understand that it bothers you but I was on the hiring committee at my IB years ago and you would be shocked at how upfront the department heads were about keeping women. Literally didn't care about performance. That was ~2018-2019, imagine now after the big DEI push industrywide. 

"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
 

Wasn’t in IB, but was at a large prestigious company where you could take up to a 27 month sabbatical. Downside was that you come back to your career where it was before and everyone else has basically been promoted.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I think stuff like this is possible if there are multiple factors at play. Maybe she quit because of burn out but left on good terms, then when she was recruiting again the firm REALLY needed someone and knew that she would be a seamless fit. Win-win for both sides.

Also ofc, it could be she got help because she is a women and/or nepo baby. Who knows, but she played her cards well (no hate). 

"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
 

There could have also been mental health issues, family tragedy, or some mix. Maybe she was just a slugger that the firm really wanted to invest in for the long term.

I have a good friend that suddenly lost a family member and he was granted ~1 year leave with a guaranteed return offer. That being said, he was several years deeper into his career than this girl. 

This was me trying to be optimistic though... at the end of the day it really could be nepotism or DEI pressures. You will never know, but this isn't the norm for the industry.

 

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