“is numi = MBAFinance like WillyR = FrankArabia?” Why are people saying that Willy R is frank? they seem different.
Ted, Bambi, exemplaria, Turkish, 3_letters, and others all have the same registration date and time as myself too. I guess that makes me = all of them. Nice job, sleuths.
I would recommend taking time off if it is something you want to do. Not just because you can’t find the right job. For example, if you wish to go travel Africa then you will regret it more if you do not take the opportunity now. Some firms now offer the opportunity to take a sebatical, so the attitude to time off is changing. I think the US is slower to catch on than Europe though. I think this comes from the increased popularity of a gap year before university in Europe which has rubbed off on the working world to a certain extent. Much of the above advice focuses on charity work / language learning. I’ve found that these things are valued highly in the US, but I’m not sure whether they really give you many more skills than just travelling. My advice is to do what you want to do and not worry what anyone else thinks.
numi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ted, Bambi, exemplaria, Turkish, 3_letters, and > others all have the same registration date and > time as myself too. I guess that makes me = all of > them. > > Nice job, sleuths. wow, if you’re both Bambi and Exemplaria I think my cyber-universe would explode. For my opinion, time off after undergrad = acceptable with an explanation, Time off after MBA = unacceptable. Are you actually in b-school or do you just like the name?
I agree with Big Bean. I didn’t go to Europe the summer I graduated, I started working right away and it’s a HUGE regret.
Traveling can be a real eye-opening experience – socially, culturally, and intellectually. I highly recommend taking the time to explore some countries and cities that really interest you. The only other time you’ll have to do as much traveling will be before getting your MBA or when you’re unemployed (in the latter case, you may not even have money to travel). I’ll agree with the others above to make the most of the travel opportunity. Remember, you can pretty much play golf or sports any other weekend…you don’t need several months off to do that.
Remember that we also live in a globalized world, so this has a good deal of value. Just remember a few things: 1) Right out of school is how a lot of recruitment processes are set up. If you’re not right out of school, it can be hard to get in through that door. This is a primarily finance-industry thing. Just understand that that’s a risk. On the other hand, if you haven’t gotten anything by 6 months out of school, then you might as well do the travel, since you have the opportunity and you may never have as much flexibility to do it. 2) If you travel, try to structure it as learning something about how the world works. Learn a language or volunteer to teach basic business skills in Africa. When you get back, a lot of people equate taking time off with going around the world, smoking dope, and trying to pick up local chicks/guys. Make sure you have some explanation of what you’re doing that doesn’t sound like that.
bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 2) If you travel, try to structure it as learning > something about how the world works. Learn a > language or volunteer to teach basic business > skills in Africa. When you get back, a lot of > people equate taking time off with going around > the world, smoking dope, and trying to pick up > local chicks/guys. Make sure you have some > explanation of what you’re doing that doesn’t > sound like that. In my opinion whatever you do when you take time off will be considered recreational and the easy life. It is all the same to most people if you save gorillas, work in an ophanage or smoke drugs on a beach. Most people (including potential interviewers) fit into three catergories: (1) jealous they didn’t do the same and admire you for taking your chances (2) jealous they didn’t do the same and despise you for having done so while they were working (3) ambivalent to the whole thing and see some advantages and disadvantages In my experience 1 is the most common, 2 would be unfortunate if it was your interviewer and 3 would be fair and reasonable. When I resigned from my last job to go travelling I avoided telling clients through some fear that they would see it as unprofessional. Finance being a small world they all knew within no time. I was amazed at how genuinely positive everyone was. I received phone calls of congratulations, beers and, perhaps most importantly, a lot of business cards with a “phone me when you’re back”. It remains to be seen how easy I find it to return to the working world in the worsening market, but I would not change anything I have done.