Goldman Sachs Credit & Equity Research Fellowship for non-finance PhDs and PhD Candidates

AM monkeys, I need your advice on this one. Saw this on Onewire:

"The Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research division provides investment recommendations by generating fundamental research and analysis of companies, industries, markets and economies. We help our clients and the firm achieve superior returns through our creative, differentiated investment insights and ideas.

Goldman Sachs is seeking PhD candidates or graduates with non-finance backgrounds to participate in a a 6 month fellowship opportunity scheduled to begin in early 2011. The fellowship will enable PhDs to explore a potential long term career transition into <span><a href="/finance-dictionary/equity-research-overview">credit or equity research</a></span>. The fellows are provided with mentorship and individual training opportunities as well as hands-on experience on a research team."

I would love to do this. Background on me: Ph.D. in STEM, BS in math and BA in econ with finance minor. Postdoc in computational physics and chemistry for 2 years.

But the fly in the ointment is: I've been working a sub-MBB full time since the end of 2009.

Will it hurt me that I have some non-finance work in between applying and finishing academia? I feel there is no question that I should leave it on because it seems shady to leave off an employer with whom I have been working for a year. Will I get dinged for being not currently being in school, and if so, how should I go about defending it?

ANY info about this position will be hugely appreciated.