Weird Resume and the Military: should I stay longer?

I've been on this website for years, on and off, and have done a lot of growing up since my long earlier posts. Currently I'm in a strange situation and wanted to get some advice from people on this forum.

Long Story short: (possible tldr) My resume after college is kinda weird. I jumped around a bit at first before the Military. Spent 9 Months at software company doing consulting in the healthcare sector. Took a leap of faith with a small IB firm on an internship... never got hired. 4-6 months later ( ironically as I was going to the army recruiter) i got a call for a job with a small commodities trading shop. Immediately wanted out because of a toxic work environment, people were leaving left and right and it eventually went under. I stayed there for a full year though while my packet for OCS in the Navy awaited completion. I've not been in for slightly over 3 years. The first year and a quarter was in flight school, which i didn't end up finishing. 5 months was spent retraining for my new community, and if I got out when i was originally considering I would be at 2 years and some change in a leadership command while serving overseas in Japan.

Up until about 2 weeks ago I had told my boss and my command to get out. then I did some self reflection. With my spotty record early on and the flight school thing, I've been debating extending my time in service at another command for another 2 years. I believe it would show some further leadership development putting me at 6 years, allow me to regroup back stateside, retake and increase the GRE/GMAT ( my current command has me to busy for this with deployments but my next command is a shore billet), visit campuses and do in person interviews, as well as interview for jobs if rejected to all of the schools i'm considering.

My biggest concern is that I am engaged. I've been living overseas for 2 years while my partner does a post doc at a lower top 25 mba school. Because of this change of heart, I would be living 3 hours away which is manageable but still not the same as living together while married. She's supportive but i think she's also concerned about managing to reconnect after the military to the same town ( hoping to move back to the north east for school after or stay near her or the other top 15 mba near her school if admitted) Because of my hit or miss record, would an additional 2 years of experience add any benefit to my candidacy at a top 10-25 program outside of the fact i wouldn't be forgoing a 100k salary for uncertainty in admissions and extra time to take the GRE? I would be 32 vs 30 at time of admissions, so old, but not crazy old.

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Modi soluta aut quas totam. Ipsum fuga et sint. Repellat temporibus voluptatem quod temporibus dolores.

Laboriosam sunt non dolor quae ut. Sit molestiae aut et dolorem blanditiis ea minima debitis. Culpa aut ex tempore voluptatem sint laborum. Vel nobis enim facere odit.

Suscipit voluptatem possimus officia aperiam quo quam qui laudantium. Asperiores sapiente perspiciatis aut. Ea earum in natus sit.

Linda Abraham President, Accepted | Contact Me | Admissions Consulting

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”