Travel/Volunteer or Start Work?

So I was one of the recent college grads who got their full-time BB S&T offer deferred for a year in exchange for $$$. I must say that the last 6 months have been some of the best of my life, but now I'm in a fork in the road and would appreciate everyone's advice on my situation:

Thinking that I was not going to begin work until July 2010, I have been planning a 3-month trip to travel across Asia while doing various volunteering programs along the way. I would start in India, travel through all of southeast Asia, and end in Beijing before coming home. In a nutshell, the trip of a lifetime.

However, a couple of weeks ago, my BB contacted me offering my deferred class the option to start in January instead of in July with the rest of class of 2010. Obviously, the perks of starting earlier would be the ability to get a head-start on the new analysts who start in the summer and also just getting our career going, now that business is picking back up again. After consulting with my 2 MD's, one advised to go on my trip while the other advised to start work, so reaching out to them didn't help me that much.

So, what would you guys do? Start work or travel in the spring? Your responses are greatly appreciated.

 

assuming you had a chance to enjoy the months since graduation, you should dive in and plan travel/volunteering post analyst program as you're plotting your MBA strategy (should you choose that path) I think it would look very good when somebody asks you a question such as "describe a time when you made a sacrifice for the benefit of your team?" or "tell me about a time when you made a difficult decision on a short time frame" - seriously, you would look good for doing this, go right ahead!

 

If you can decline the offer and choose to work in July, providing the BB is ok with it.. TRAVEL.. thats what all my MDs say to me..... "You are young, travel while you can" cause once you start working, there is no such thing as a 3 month break unless you are changing jobs, doing MBA or a SUPERSTAR..

6 months is not a long time but not really a short time either.. but I doubt you lose much.

 

Because I'm always recommending people take all the time they can to travel, etc... but in this case I have to recommend getting started at work.

You're going to be coming in at a time when things are ramping up and they need the help, and that won't soon be forgotten. It's a great way to differentiate yourself from your peers who opt for another 6 months of Xbox. Go to work and work your ass off, it's not often in this business where you're handed an opportunity to stand out.

 
Edmundo Braverman:
Because I'm always recommending people take all the time they can to travel, etc... but in this case I have to recommend getting started at work.

You're going to be coming in at a time when things are ramping up and they need the help, and that won't soon be forgotten. It's a great way to differentiate yourself from your peers who opt for another 6 months of Xbox. Go to work and work your ass off, it's not often in this business where you're handed an opportunity to stand out.

yar, now that you've mentioned the recent pick up... work is the best option now

 

honestly, i was thinking about starting early too since I grad in dec.

However, what's your future plan? If you want to get a MBA, i think this 6 months volunteering will look GREAT on your resume.

However, if you plan on going to hedge fund, going on trading etc., I think it's best you start now since the market is recovering. You can always go on vacation in 2 years but you won't have the same opportunity again to start work.

and I personally think 6 months of vacation you just had was good enough of a break...But that's just me.

 

You don't really talk about what you have done the past 6 months, but hopefully you were able to travel and see some new things. While going to Asia and volunteering would be a great experience, I would think that starting work would be a better choice LT. Plus, in S&T aren't you required to take 2 weeks vacation every year? While this wouldn't really let you take on the philanthropist role as much, you'd still be able to tour Asia.

 

Travel. Have the trip of a lifetime, then start with the rest of the analyst class. Plus, the trip through Asia will be more of a 'resume boost' than an early start date. Everyone I've ever spoken to about this subject has always said not to start working off-cycle.

______________________________ Freeze those knees, my chickadees!
 

Travel/Volunteer. I know quite a few people that started in January - it's awkward timing where you work for a half a year then go back to training then start again. You'll actually get a better, more organized method of networking / being introduced to the senior bankers/group if you start in the summer with the majority of the class.

 
Best Response

In retrospect, I really wished I took the time I had in between jobs to travel and volunteer.. Besides the 'it looks great for a MBA thing' (which I have a big gaping hole I still need to fill - that differentiating factor), it would have been a great experience in it of itself.

I don't suppose anyone knows of good organizations you can volunteer for without need for travel (something like in microfinancing or fundraising...)

Conservatively, I would probably take the job early, if I were in your shoes... for the reasons Edmundo mentioned. But if you can really afford to (job is secure regardless of choice), I think you should go for the vacation.

From another similar post in the past, several people have suggested reasons against starting early. That being, for the networking reasons as mentioned by others above, and also, that people won't excuse you for mistakes made just because you didn't go through training. So if you make a mistake, or take more time than necessary completing a task (because you're learning as you go and everything's new to you), they won't think 'it's ok, he's a newbie'. Well, they know you're new, but everyone's too busy to really realize that and put 2 and 2 together. There may only be a few newbie analysts working with you in January... not a whole class learning together, so it's not very visual (as such people forget).

I also started work before training... and I would have liked to have had the training first. The only real plus I find with work prior to training is that you get context (what is actually done vs. theoretical), but if you've already interned at a bank, you'll know what the work's like anyway...

 

wouldn't you get training before you start at your desk? cos in S&T, you need a bunch of certifications before you can even pick up the phone and talk to clients. w/o training, you're basically on another internship...sitting around and observing rather than doing anything substantive.

 

Dude travel - you won't get an opportunity like this out of college....ever again. It might seem sweet to go ahead, start early, get that "leg" up on other people, and if you're one of the super type A competitive kids, then that may very well be the best thing for you.

The fact that you're asking though, leads me to believe that you would probably enjoy traveling - just realize once you start, this shit never ends. I would kill to have the opportunity to take a paid year off before banking, even if the job wasn't there when I got back from some country. It might even let you realize that banking isn't that great of a job....jk....but seriously go travel.

 

Alias unde et sint mollitia. Rerum modi aut corrupti molestias tenetur.

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