Hi,
I currently hold an offer for an 8 week internship at a Tier 2 strategy consulting firm in London. In my contract, it says that I am eligible for 4 days of annual leave. I am also hoping to represent my university at an international competition abroad, which would take up those 4 days. However, I also want to maximise my chances of getting a return offer. Would taking 4 days of annual leave for this reason likely impact my chances?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Let me be quite blunt. You have to consider what your priority is and how you are going to be perceived.
If you are in the middle of a project and ask to be out for a few days to go into a competition, you are signaling that your priority is that competition and not the project. Well, consulting firms want you to prioritize their projects and clients.
To be honest, they also want you to prioritize the firm, but the client comes first, and putting other stuff above their clients is not something they'll be happy about. If you are in the middle of a project, this would be perceived as a lack of commitment and a lack of project ownership.
Let me go a bit further. If you were a consultant in a project, would you book stuff in the middle of a project? I hope not. Between projects? Fine. You have to act as a (full time) consultant would.
On the other hand, this is different if you are not assigned to a client. In that case, this is something you can discuss with your mentor/manager. I would seek their advice. But still be cautious about this, since the firm would likely expect you to consider each week as an opportunity to show that you fit in. In other words, even this may raise an eyebrow…
… you are saying that instead of working in a real case you want to go and work on a simulated case… that most people will use to improve their CV in order to get a job or intership in strategy consulting… this really sounds like the wrong priority. Maybe I am missing something, and if I am, then maybe you have a good case to ask for that leave.
P.S. The leave is there probably for legal reasons, or to give you the flexibility to miss a day if you really need to.
Hi!
As you can see from the range of responses you've received, it's hard to say the approach the Manager/Staffing team will take if you requested this leave.
You could be dealing with someone very relaxed who will recognise that you have holistic interests. You could equally come up against someone more old school who will see this as a sign that you're not committed. In a way, if you face the latter, you get a preview into what life will be like for you at this firm and you need to assess how important WLB and autonomy is to you.
Having said that, you'll effectively be taking 12.5% off your short internship. I do think you will have more satisfaction if you stick around the whole time and stay focused. 8 weeks go by so quickly so you want to take all the opportunities to both learn and shine. In general, interns/newbies should focus on building skills, demonstrating reliability and gaining trust first and foremost.
Are the dates of the competition fixed? Are the dates of the internship fixed? If the latter is not, see if you can start your internship earlier/later so that you don't have to trade off these 2 commitments.
Hi there,
congrats on the internship offer.
If you take your leave, you will effectively miss a week of your 8-week internship. Whether or not this will impact your chances for a return offer certainly also depends on when you will have to take that time off.
Generally, I would think that the further down the line during your internship you take that leave, the less likely it is to negatively impact your chances - because you have had the chance to establish your standing at the company for some weeks and people will know you by then. On the flip side, if you leave very early during the internship, it might taint the first impression people get of you and they might question where your priorities lie.
If you want to maximize your chances with the consulting firm, I'd say do the 8 weeks internship without leave and give it your all. However, if the university competition is very important to you, so much so that you cannot miss it, then make sure you discuss the timing with HR early on so that they can figure out the best staffing setup for your internship in advance.
Best of luck
The direct answer is that four days means pretty much a week out of eight, and if you were present during that week and performed well, that could increase your chances of getting a return offer.
BUT
Don't lead your life like that.
If you start making these tradeoffs now, you'll soon find yourself in the common challenge that consultants often face-the struggle to maintain a sustainable work-life balance.
Remember, you have every right to attend the event and take those 4 days off. So, go ahead and make the most of it.
Discuss with your team and HR in advance so they know that you want to take that time off.
Think about this period as a moment to recharge and come back with fresh forces and perform even better.
Don't second-guess yourself.
Best,
Cristian
Hi there,
Congratulations on the offer. In terms of your question:
Q: Would taking 4 days of annual leave for this reason likely impact my chances?
In theory, this is something you could present to your manager. In practice, your manager might not have visibility of what will be the situation in the project at that moment. There is the risk that they will ask not to take the leave and focus on the job if they are under pressure, regardless of what they say initially. There is also the risk that this might give a negative first impression to your manager.
Given you cannot predict the situation of the project and you might have the risk of canceling your presence at the competition due to that and the risk of a bad impression, I would err on the side of sticking to the internship only.
If you would still like to participate, I would highly recommend aligning with your manager first, presenting the opportunity, and clarifying you want to prioritize the internship. However, keep in mind that even if they allow you to take the leave, they might need you on the project later on due to unexpected circumstances and ask not to go.
Best,
Francesco
Hi there,
As with most things in life, the answer is: it depends!
In this case, mainly on the project situation.
I would play it openly and transparently with the team and collect their input.
If the team is coasting or in a good stage of a project it is more feasible and sensible than if you leave in a week right before the most important steerco meeting.
On the one hand, you want to make use of all the time you have to learn and also make a good impression. 8 weeks is extremely short.
On the other hand, if your personal commitment is important to you I see nothing wrong with stating that to the team and going for it (if the situation permits). After all, work is only just one part of life and many (unhappy) consultants often seem to forget this…
All the best,
Florian
The short answer is I would not recommend taking any days off from work unless of course you need to for important reasons. You only have a very short time to impress upon people your abilities and also your dedication to being a good employee. Taking 4 days off would not help with that impression, especially when it comes to giving out full time offers.
Hi there,
First of all, congratulations on the offer!
I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:
If you would like a more detailed discussion on your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.
Best,
Hagen
Please don't take leave.
That uni competition is not as important as getting a return offer.
Yes, the annual leave WOULD 100% impact your chances.
Don't miss the forest for the trees here….
Expert case by
My internship won't start for another 3-4 months so if I told them now do you think that would mitigate some the disruption to the project work, or would even asking them potentially be a red flag. I should have also clarified but the competition is not related to consulting, but is fairly well recognised.
Thanks for your help!
Ahmed
My answer would be different for 1-2 days. 4 days is significant time off.