Taking a Break - professional Hiatus?

[bertusgeert 1]

Since I always come here for some good advice...

I'm at the end of a 2yr, post undergrad corporate finance program, which is pretty intense and has required a lot of devotion. I am in a good competitive spot now, receiving external offers at $20K more than my current, and at what they cap me at internally.

IMO, this is a good opportunity to make a clean break, and take some time off.

How would it look to a future employer if I take a break at this point for a couple of months? A friend argues it would make no difference.

How about making the break more sustainable with working a part time job on the side (which I won't list on my professional corporate finance resume). Maximum time off, 6 months.

Also, what about taking a job at that $20K more, working a few months or a year, and then taking a break? Getting that bump into my history can only help, right?

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

[NWFlyer 2]

Can you accept one of the offers with a later start date? That to me would seem like the best of both worlds.

A couple of months isn't a big deal in an employment history, but if you're getting these offers now, there's no saying they'll be there later, especially if they're coming as part of your program's recruiting office - don't underestimate the value of that infrastructure at helping to put you in front of employers in a positive light; having to do that same legwork on your own a few months from now could be more challenging.

If you're talking 2-3 months, I would think that would be a reasonable negotiating point with employers who have made you offers now. "I'm very interested in taking the offer, but I wonder if we can negotiate a September start date." If you don't ask, you don't get ... worst they can say is "no" then you have to decide if you want to reject the offer or take it on their terms.

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Also, what about taking a job at that $20K more, working a few months or a year, and then taking a break? Getting that bump into my history can only help, right?

It could hurt, too, if you only work for a few months. Now you have the "Tell me why you only worked at Acme Corp for 8 months" question to deal with. Anything less than 2 years and you risk looking like a job-hopper, which can turn off a lot of employers. Others won't care, but if you don't have a more compelling reason for only being there a short time than "I wanted to bump my salary range up" ... well ...

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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How would it look to a future employer if I take a break at this point for a couple of months? A friend argues it would make no difference.

In and of itself taking a break may not make a difference, but going through a period of unemployment between jobs means you have less leverage in salary negotiations. I think I settled for $10K less than I had been making when I did that.

I'd see if any of the offers will accommodate a start date a couple months in the future or a sooner start with unpaid time off if that makes them more comfortable.

[quade 3]

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I'm at the end of a 2yr, post undergrad corporate finance program, which is pretty intense and has required a lot of devotion. I am in a good competitive spot now, receiving external offers at $20K more than my current, and at what they cap me at internally.

Wait, you say you're "corporate finance" and people are coming at you with offers for $20k over what you're currently getting and you want to take a couple of months off?

They must have covered this in class somewhere, but just in case they didn't let me say it; "Money now is better than money later."

What I find ridiculous is that in this economy you'd even consider such a thing as turning down a job offer for the business you've been training in that is offering you more money so you can "take some time off."

You have no idea whatsoever if there will be a job in 6 months. None.

How would it look to a future employer? Well, if I was a future employer and saw what you had done I would really have to question your ability to make sound financial decisions.

You're young. The more you work at an early age, the more that's going to pay off for you in the long run.

I think your friend that "argues it would make no difference" is full of shit.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[bertusgeert 1]

The model changes significantly when you consider "net benefit flows" instead of "free cash flows". If our model contained only hard-cash-money, and thats all that mattered in life, it would be a clear and easy decision.

I have put in tremendous effort throughout college (3 degrees and a part time junior analyst position in 4 yrs) and over the last few years into this job. I made significant sacrifices in terms of friendships (relocated several times) and what I want to be doing on the weekends (worked many of them). I did this to get myself on a solid footing with strong experience. I feel like I have achieved my goal.

I currently live in the northeast, and I am looking every day to move west closer to my family, the mountains, and the quality of life. It was when i mentioned this to a friend that she said - why don't you take your time, drive out there and take time off, go paraglide for a few weeks? Looking for a job from the place where you want to be would be significantly easier.

This said, you all provide good perspective on not taking too much risk without a job offer.

On the other hand I want to move closer to the type of finance work that I would like to be doing, for a company that I would like to work for, with a healthy work-life balance, and closer to the location where I have family, good friends, and plenty of fun things to do close by. The economy is getting better, and the longer I wait (yes, it's a gamble, but it may pay off) the more jobs there will be out there.

Thus my pondering on time off...i may not, depending on what comes along, but if I don't receive and offer for a job I like (more important to me than the pay), then I'm considering relying on my savings, having a good time while moving west and setting up shop there.

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

[akarunway 1]

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Since I always come here for some good advice...

I'm at the end of a 2yr, post undergrad corporate finance program, which is pretty intense and has required a lot of devotion. I am in a good competitive spot now, receiving external offers at $20K more than my current, and at what they cap me at internally.

IMO, this is a good opportunity to make a clean break, and take some time off.

How would it look to a future employer if I take a break at this point for a couple of months? A friend argues it would make no difference.

How about making the break more sustainable with working a part time job on the side (which I won't list on my professional corporate finance resume). Maximum time off, 6 months.

Also, what about taking a job at that $20K more, working a few months or a year, and then taking a break? Getting that bump into my history can only help, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmUhYSr-e4

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[Sapphire 0]

You're young... if you wish to move out west, you should probably just try and do that now. If, for some reason it doesn't work out right away career-wise you have family you can fall back. (Worst case scenario here)

Long are the days of having to stay with a company until retirement... granted, you don't want to job hop excessively, but you do have to do it to increase your salary. (I'm in the DC area and that is what is true here at least and in my experience.) You are still young enough in your chosen profession it will be normal, if not expected, for you to move around from company to company until you find the one you want to stay with for awhile.

Good luck whatever you decide!

"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

[quade 3]

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Long are the days of having to stay with a company until retirement...

Also long gone are the days you can expect a company to be loyal to you and allow you to keep working for them, simply because you've been a good employee to them.

There are no guarantees.

A negotiated later start date may turn into a job that the company decides to fill with another person or simply not fill at all.

Thousands of jobs lost over the last few years may never be filled again even if there is a complete recovery.

Right now I'd jump at the higher paying gig and delay the vacation until things are more stable.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[skyrider 0]

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Long are the days of having to stay with a company until retirement...

Also long gone are the days you can expect a company to be loyal to you and allow you to keep working for them, simply because you've been a good employee to them.

There are no guarantees.

A negotiated later start date may turn into a job that the company decides to fill with another person or simply not fill at all.

Thousands of jobs lost over the last few years may never be filled again even if there is a complete recovery.

Right now I'd jump at the higher paying gig and delay the vacation until things are more stable.

I wouldn't take the chance on a passing up a well paying job, with the way things are going, You always have weekends, and normal vacations!

My bet is that job offer is history if you take off, why would they wait for you?

[NewGuy2005 51]

Here is a little piece of truth that you can live and die by:

Time_Kills_All_Deals

Go with NW FLyer's advice of accepting an offer with a delayed start date.... but not too delayed. I would say 3 or 4 weeks maximum.

[Sapphire 0]

You're absolutely correct, though every decision we make is a gamble! Ultimately you have to be happy where you are. The OP stated they wanted to move to be closer to their family... I'm assuming no family of their own (spouse/kids), so now is the right time to make these kinds of moves, rather than later on in life when it gets more difficult to do so.

"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

[airtwardo 6]

Unless you are debt free and have the equivalent of a years salary banked I would shelf the hiatus idea.

It's not the fun thing to do, but it's the smart thing.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[bertusgeert 1]

If a bunch of people with a similar view of risk/reward (and a lot more experience than I) all have such a similar opinion, it makes it fairly clear. Not exactly what I want at this point, but I am fortunate to have the options I do. I'll put more emphasis in my evaluation on taking advantage of them while I have the chance.

We'll see how things turn out, and which job I take, but this thread provided a healthy (and needed) dose of reality to not risk too much.

Thanks all.

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

[airtwardo 6]

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[jimmytavino 16]

good job bertusgeert
to have completed all the tasks set before you....That, and your willingness to read, absorb and consider the range of suggestions here in this thread , tells me that you're on your way to a successful job/career/life...

Transition stages can lead us to all sorts of ideas and changes or adjustments of plans.

Brainstorming is always helpful.. if you have the time to do so.
good luck and keep that uspa membership current It is your passport to to each and every state,, in the USA.

jimmytavino
A 3915
D12122

[shropshire 0]

Bwhaaaaaa......

3 months ISN'T a hiatus, it's just a fucking holiday ... where do kids these days, get these strange ideas from?


Go and have some fun for the summer

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[quade 3]

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3 months ISN'T a hiatus, it's just a fucking holiday ... where do kids these days, get these strange ideas from?

Different countries, different customs.

In the US, taking three months off is a LOT of time.
In the US, a "holiday" is just that, a day.

In Soviet Union, hiatus takes you.
Eeeeh , Eeeeh, Eeeeh.
What a country.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Bwhaaaaaa......

3 months ISN'T a hiatus, it's just a fucking holiday ... where do kids these days, get these strange ideas from?

This is America.

We work long and hard but don't drop dead like the Japanese.

The only vacation we need is some of our national holidays (10 or 11 days at most companies) for some time with our family and a few three or four day weekends. I haven't been on vacation for more than one or two work days since 2005 when I got married and took a 10 day honeymoon where we missed six days of work.

Many companies have nice vacation packages (two weeks a year, often increasing to three with a few years of service), but it's often a bad idea to take advantage of those (people might not steal your monitor, although they may take over your projects) and with the unstable economy cashing out your vacation can go a lot farther than unemployment insurance.

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Go and have some fun for the summer

You can have fun when you retire.

Invest 25% of your pre-tax income in index funds, don't breed so you can keep doing that, and you should be able to keep your current inflation adjusted salary indefinitely when you retire in 20 years. I wish I'd had that wisdom when starting my career 17 years ago.

In all seriousness, the job market sucks. While domestic things will resolve we're a long ways off from wage equalization between the first and developing worlds (with 2 billion people in India and China alone). The job market is especially bad for young people - there are too few entry level jobs, and it's a lot more attractive to hire some of the surplus experienced people for the same wages those positions used to command. Or give them to unpaid interns. Or paid interns, where the parents have paid a few thousand dollars to have their children placed at unpaid positions. You don't want to fall back on American unemployment insurance which can be just 1/8th to 1/4th of a professional salary.

A job you enjoy in a location you want to live balanced with a few healthy vacations (you can get a pair of 9 day vacations out of the standard two weeks) each year is the most prudent course of action.

[shropshire 0]

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3 months ISN'T a hiatus, it's just a fucking holiday ... where do kids these days, get these strange ideas from?

Different countries, different customs.

In the US, taking three months off is a LOT of time.
In the US, a "holiday" is just that, a day.

In Soviet Union, hiatus takes you.
Eeeeh , Eeeeh, Eeeeh.
What a country.

Jeeze, and I thought that you guys had abandoned slavery ... go figure

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[quade 3]

Just a vastly different culture.

If a person works for a good company, they might be able to get a paid vacation for a couple of weeks. At one point in my life I worked for a company and had enough seniority in their very old and established system where I accrued four weeks of vacation a year. That was a luxury and highly unusual. I never took it all at once and I doubt I'd ever be in that situation again for the rest of my life.

I know that's very different from the state mandated vacation times in a lot of European countries where in some four weeks is what a person gets at entry level.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/09/opinion/fenton/main634664.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;5

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/30/sunday/main6532472.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;7

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[airtwardo 6]

I know that's very different from the state mandated vacation times in a lot of European countries where in some four weeks is what a person gets at entry level.

State Mandated....you mean like Slavery?!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[bertusgeert 1]

by the way, if you haven't read this book, it's worth reading. Quick read and numerous little wisdoms

http://www.vagabonding.net/

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!