What to do with additional time off this summer?

Incoming FT analyst who’s start date got pushed back by 2 months because of COVID-19 so I now have ~4 months to kill. Currently living with my parents at home in the ‘burbs. My family is well off enough so I don’t need to work, but if I want any spending money between now and September I’d need to work (unlikely given I don’t expect bars opening up). I’d feel like a pathetic slug if I just jack off and play warzone all day.

That being said, what would you do if you had this time off? Get prison ripped and tan by a pool all summer? Learn something new? Work and make some extra cash? Improve on some technical skills before starting in (hopefully) 4 months? Network?

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Depending on your future goals, there could be many things you could do.

If your firm doesn't have a structured training course, take a few online training course for financial modeling and valuation (not highly recommended but just an idea I wanted to share). Invest in a diversified portfolio and learn about thematic and fundamental investing to build your portfolio. Prepare for and take the GMAT if you're planning to get an MBA after 4 years or just want to off-set a low GPA/SAT (not that important in the second scenario), read fiction/non-fiction books or just ask your connections at your firm for good references, help with COVID (maybe help local restaurants/business set up website/gift cards whatever you can do in your capacity to help (heard Mark Cuban say in this in an interview "what did you do when covid19 struck? How did you make a difference" (reflects strongly on your character and passion to help) - if that's not you don't push it but as an interviewer, I'd love to see a candidate that made some effort to help with the crisis.

Keep exercising to stay fit you never know how difficult it might get later to find time to work out and keep track of your fitness and well-being. Subscribe to online newsletters for daily news (especially in your field) and keep up with it. Network if you'd like althought it depends on your goal after your analyst stint what you'd like to do but make sure you have some fun, spend quality time with family, and take regular breaks to watch shows/movies/play games you like because you may never get a break this long so make the most of it.

There could be others with better ideas but thats my 2 cents.

 

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