leo187um

I am currently about to finish my first semester of sophomore year at UMD and I am thinking about studying abroad for a full year in Japan next year. My goal is to initially become a financial/management/strategy consultant for a firm and eventually I want to start my own firm, conducting business in America as well as Japan. I am afraid of the fact that the study abroad extends to the middle of the summer after my junior year, preventing me an opportunity to have an internship with a company that I desire to work for. I've talked with a couple recruiters and they said that studying abroad is an amazing experience but I dunno. The study abroad will prevent me from getting an internship after my junior year and that is what is scaring me. So what do you guys think? Should I think twice about studying abroad for a full year and also do you think that my chances of getting a consulting job may be negatively affected by not having an internship after my junior year? Your thoughts would be appreciated.

gonsenheim

Not getting an internship your junior year will probably have a negative effect on getting a job in consulting, however the study abroad experience is pretty amazing. have you looked into possible internship opportunities with American firms in Japan while you are there? If you are fluent in Japanese I think this would be a viable option and certainly help you get a job out of college.

It won't be impossible to get a job in consulting even if you just do the study abroad thing (assuming you have some prior experience or your resume is strong) it will just be more difficult. A lot of times firms will offer their summer interns full time jobs--the advantage here is that while everyone else is scrambling through the job search senior year of college, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your last year of freedom.

If you have some prior work experience and you have a decent resume now I don't think doing the study abroad thing would hurt all that much. It will probably look good to most recruiters.