Career Break Travel

[YYL]

Hi guys,

I recently got admitted to a MFE program and will start the pre-program class from Jan next year.

My current job is a junior associate in a PE firm in Asia. I love the job but hate the hours, and is thinking maybe I should quit it now and go backpacking for a couple of months.

Do you guys think this career gap will jeopardize my future career after graduation? Or it is okay since my work now is actually irrelevant to the quant finance which I would like to do after MFE.

Any advice will be grateful!

 

[daleholborow]

Do the backpacking. Disclaimer: I just resigned (or rather, took a year off without pay) to go backpacking

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Go exploring the world. It will help educating you more than taking some courses

 

[YYL]

Good!!

I have just quitted my job.
Kinda too impulsive... But it feels good.

I guess this is why they ban employees from secretly surfing the Internet when working.

 

[Cary Ferguson]

You live once.

 

[daleholborow]

But I'm told, if you do it right, once is enough

Out of interest, where are you going to go?

 

[YYL]

Thanks all you guys for the advice.

To daleholborow: I plan to go Mainland China, India, Burma, Lao, Thai, Vietnam. Mainly the developing Asia.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

That's a great list of places to travel. Enjoy and update us on your trip.

 

[Cary Ferguson]

Go exploring the world. It will help educating you more than taking some courses

You know... Couldn't agree with this more. I spent two years traveling on and off in an attempt to acquire advanced glass blowing skills. I crashed couches from Cali to Hawaii and even ended up moving to Seattle for a while. Advantage? Well I can hold equally interesting conversations with hippies or bankers... More importantly, I value differing "perspectives" that I would've never seen otherwise. Now that's living.

 

[Cary Ferguson]

Oh yeah.... I picked up some skills too:

 

[Andy Nguyen]

That's some very nice work you done there. Can doing that make a good living?

 

[Cary Ferguson]

That's some very nice work you done there. Can doing that make a good living?

Oops... Didn't know the whole photo would pop up! Haha... It's technically possible to make a living at it in the same way kids want to be a rock star when they grow up. (Heard of the starving artist term?) My goal is to do it on the side and generate demand first... Then make the leap at some point.