How Much Time to Take before PE Associate Stint - Gap between IB or Consulting
I will be joining a private equity firm as an associate this summer and am curious how long most people take off between roles. I am coming from a MBB consulting firm, so there is no official end to my "analyst program." I could quit as early as tomorrow with no issues. For reference, I will onboard with the fund the last week of August and will have to forgo my year end bonus regardless of when I leave, as it's paid out at the end of the calendar year.
How long is average and / or acceptable for this vacation? 1 month? 2 months? 3 months?
Should I be worried about my next firm looking down upon how much time I take off? Or is it fine to enjoy the break, take the GMAT, ramp-up for the next role, and to come in refreshed after an extended break?
Take as much time as you need, your firm won't care. I'm sure you're slowly ramping down your last couple of months anyway so it's not like you're missing out on too much valuable experience. I took just over a month personally and it was plenty of time for a eurotrip with some college friends, visit family, and generally relax before starting the new gig.
From an optics perspective, you may want to time it so that you quit at the very beginning of July (i.e. now) so you have almost two full months off but it doesn't look like it on the resume. Not that is really matters though.
Did you find it necessary to prep? Skills decline pretty quickly (like Excel, etc) imo
Nah, I felt a little rusty at first but you pick it right back up. Better for you mental health to unplug completely and come back ready to roll.
‘forever on gardening’ sounds like a good timeline.. hah.
In all seriousness if there’s a formal associate training program, that’s probably your hard stop date. definitely don’t miss it, not really for the training but more from the socialising with your class + integrate into the firm smoothly.
otherwise, I totally regret not taking a longer break! those of my peers who did take long breaks (even up till 6 months)... I don’t think a single one of them regretted it.
trust me you will have FOMO of joining early to be competitive or using this time to prep.... don’t. you have a whole career ahead of you and some proper painful times waiting. you ideally also Won’t have too many career breaks like this.
have fun!
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