December graduation effect on job opportunities
Hey guys,
I have the opportunity to finish school a semester early and graduate in December. I have been living at home with my parents for the past year and a half and all I have wanted to do is get out. I saw graduating early as the best way. Now I am starting to reconsider because I realized that some jobs don't start until the summer and my situation actually isn't as bad as I thought. I will be graduating with a BBA in finance. If I stay and graduate in May I can either coast through the last semester or finish up a BA in econ. Goal is consulting. Corpfin is my backup. Is it worth graduating early? Will there be any effect on my job opportunities?
It's pretty simple dude. If you think you can lock down the job you want before graduating then absolutely go for it. Unless you really want to pick up that econ degree for your own edification or whatever, it doesn't make sense to spend the money and waste the time*** you could spend doing something else. It should not impact your FT job prospects, some places can be weird about not interviewing people graduating not in May/June (I only ran into this once) but for 99% of cases you'll be fine. You may want to ask someone who is in consulting about this though.. I'm talking strictly about sell-side BB banks. I graduated this past December, had my job locked down in October and now I'm hanging out looking for random gigs (freelance software dev stuff like that) before I move out to NY this summer. Wasn't worth it for me to spend the extra semester at school (scholarship funds ran out and I definitely got the partying out of my system fall semester.... definitely) so I didn't and I don't regret it.
*** thought about this some more and its debatable I suppose. That last semester in college is probably priceless and maybe you want to take a couple of classes just for the sake of sticking around and being around friends. Idk. Had some older friends that did just that and they were fine w it. So it may be different for you
I should note that I am in an ideal financial situation. I have been living at home to save money and my parents are paying for my college, which is a big state school. They wouldn't mind paying for an extra semester because that is what they expected to do in the first place. I have no significant expenses and have been interning part time during the school year, so I have the opportunity to save a significant amount of cash.
Disadvantages of graduating in December? (Originally Posted: 08/11/2011)
Can you think of any? Would it somehow mess with FT recruiting?
Yes. Cabo. Spring Break. Partying. Girls. No Homework. Did I mention, girls?
Or just start working in december as well. But I would stay the extra semester and live the life
or finish in december and just work like 20-30 hour weeks while on campus for the rest of the year
Mid Year (December) Graduation? (Originally Posted: 02/12/2007)
I'm considering graduating early. What implications would this have for a job in investment banking?
Would I end up just waiting around for everyone else to graduate before training in June?
You could start in Jan/Feb and still do training in July. It's been done before. However, it depends on whether there's a need for analysts at the time.
i AGREE w/ the above poster, it does happen more than one would assume.
don't do it, enjoy your life for those 6 months instead.
plus, your bonus won't be any higher.
People do it and travel for a couple months prior to starting.
I'm going to try to travel I think. Though the extra money is tempting, but not really worth it unless they give you an extra half year of seniority and a bonus for the time. Otherwise it is just another internship.
You will get a bonus for the time, at least I did.
It worked like an associate stub bonus.
didnt hear of others getting a bonus for the time they worked but do know of people who started earlier than the class - id advise to not do it. enjoy your last few months of freedom. also think of the tax implications of working an extra few months
But won't that extra 6 months experience give you the inside track on top bonus bucket after your first full year - crucial not only for the bank account and pride, but for PE exit opps?
This was my major motivation. I wanted a head start on everyone else. It also made training that much easier.
And to the other poster: I have never heard of a pperson being promoted to 2nd year analyst just for starting work early.
maybe, maybe not. doubt a bank will automatically give you a top tier bonus due to 6 months extra worktime and also, i think that if your good enough to get top tier, 6 months extra work isnt going to help much. itll make training a breeze though.
^^ Is it possible that you might become a second year analyst after working six months?? I've seen this as a possible question that can be raised when getting an offer so was just wondering if that is actually possible..
^^ In that case I would rather take stupid classes and chill out in school.
its also a question of responsibility. i don't personally know anyone who has done it (just heard of it), but I tend to believe that banks won't treat you as a true analyst until you've gone through training.
unless you are an accounting/finance whiz.
you may just end up doing formatting and comps for six months and get treated like a glorified intern which would suck a big one.
well, did you get the offer from ib yet?
^^ well I definitely know that they treat you as an analyst and working in january isnt that big a deal (atleast according to Goldman Sachs people)..but i dont know whether they give a stub or not..not sure about giving you top bonus either
Well it doesn't seem like you would automatically get the top bonus. But if you have 3 months of internship experience, then 6 months of work experience, it seems like when compared to others in your class with either 3 months experience of 0 experience, that since you are going to be able to better know the people in your group/have more experience at the job that you will outperform them and receive the top bonus.
What about starting in April? Since it's only a couple of months, will they not let me do this? Or do they always need all the help they can handle?
If I want to start just 2 months before the actual start date, will they let me do it?
Graduating in December (Originally Posted: 09/11/2006)
How does graduating in December (vs. May) affect the hiring cycle for analysts? I am majoring in Finance & Industrial Engineering so if I were to take 4.5 years to finish school, would I just have 7 months off or would I start work earlier than the other graduates?
Thanks,
From what I see, most firms do hiring in october-november for entry level, and then you start your training in july. So you'll have to wait the 7 months before you start your job.
But I think thats actually good for you, because you'll be able to relax from school appropriate amount before you start doing your 80-90 hour work weeks.
Some BB firms let you start early in January after you graduate and you receive a stub bonus in June.
December graduation after SA (Originally Posted: 04/30/2008)
Saw some similar posts but nothing exactly like this:
I'm going to be a SA at a BB but am graduating in December. Any chance of a FT offer at the end of the summer to start in January?
Thanks.
There's a post out there about the reasons not to do this.
This fall will be my 8th sesester, so going into the spring 09 would mean an additional semester.
I think it's possible. There was an analyst in my class who graduated early, started in February and then went through training with everyone else in the Summer.
Still don't think it's a good idea, as ideating noted.
If graduating in December, would company's look down on you traveling, studying for GMAT, etc before the summer regular start instead of working for them right away?
They have a good article regarding reasons why NOT to do this... I am in the same boat, and I think I will be studying aboard in spr 09'
Study abroad or travel. Once you have the FT offer, the firm won't know or care what you're doing for the rest of the year so long as you graduate and show up for training. Why start work early? You've got the rest of your life to work.
When to apply for Full Time? (Graduating December 2013) (Originally Posted: 05/25/2012)
Hi
I am graduating a little later than usual (in December) and was wondering if I will be applying for jobs this Fall or the next Fall. I reached out to one MBB and they said it was this year for them. How is it like for most firms? Also, if I do not get an offer this Fall, does that blacklist me for summer internships and/or FT positions next year? Thanks!
just graduate in the summer like a normal person.
Based on my personal experience, I wouldn't worry about it.
I am graduating post graduate in Summer (December-February in Australia), and have an offer with a Big 4 to start January. I've been upfront with everyone I've interviewed with, in that I may have one subject remaining by the time I start work. I've not had problems with firms crossing me off the list because of this.
Some of the graduate positions are still available to those who graduate within 2 years, so this might be an option. Each firm is different, so go read their graduate position criteria.
Also look into the internship criteria, because they are generally for the penultimate year. And talk to your university program co-ordinator and university careers office.
Generally you apply to graduate by submitting a form to your uni, so you might be able to just submit the form to graduate later if you don't get an offer and the company where you want to work doesn't take graduates from the last 2 years. I don't know too much about this, so I'd look into it before you try it.
Good luck. Remember not getting a graduate position isn't the end of the world, there's always grad school, and other entry options. Every company that rejected me suggested I apply for other roles within their organisation, so you're going to be fine.
December Graduate (Originally Posted: 08/14/2007)
I am graduating in December and am extremely interested in starting my career in investment banking. It is something that I have always been interested in. However, I did not get a banking internship this past summer, but had the opportunity to work in a corporate development department. Additionally, I am extremely well versed in both modeling and accounting.
I am curious whether graduating in December will give me any advantage in acquiring an analyst position.
Also what would be the best strategy/method of applying for positions this fall, coming from a non-core school (Babson College)?
Thanks.
are you interested in investment banking? What else is on your resume?
I am extremely interested in I-banking. I have worked for 2 years at smith barney doing pwm, and co-founded a company. Beyond that I have taken and will be taking classes that focus specifically on investment banking skills. These classes include financial modeling and accounting for finance.
You just told me what you've done so far, and that you're really interested in getting into the field.
i) what is investment banking? ii) what does an IBD analyst do? iii) why do you want to be an IBD analyst?
I'm asking because I held off on graduation until December and joined SEO for this past summer. I've been working at one of SEO's sponsors near Union Square in NYC and will be returning to Stanford to recruit for the next class. I finish tomorrow.
Business Development is well respected from what I know. I've always heard if not IB, then strategy consulting, and if not that, business development or internal M&A.
Things to do if I graduate in December? (Originally Posted: 06/08/2011)
I'm seriously considering graduating early. Say I receive a FT offer after my IBD SA stint this summer, is there anything else worthwhile I can do between December and June/July (or whenever FT start dates are)? I was thinking of something PE or real estate-related.
Of course, there would also be some fun stuff thrown in there like backpacking South America and sleeping, above all.
Thoughts?
i would not graduate, take like 2 classes, and absolutely live it up at college. dont know why you would ever want to leave college early to be honest...you have plenty of life left to not be in college...
I did the above. I took 3 BS classes and just slept all day then partied at night. It was awesome because 2 of my roommates/best friends did the exact same thing so we just balled out for 3 months.
100% agree with the above posters. college was awesome...sigh
Hm.. This would be graduating early or late? I presume early.
I would take the minimum amt of classes you can, probably 2. Agree w/ above posters or knock out CFA/GMAT, one or the other. There are classes I wish I took in college, so make sure you pick good and easy classes.
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