Having graduated from Oxbridge last summer, I decided to take a year out and work for 6 months, travel for 6 months, then apply for grad schemes in October '08. I intend to apply for I-Banking and Strat Consulting positions. Will this gap year look horrific on my CV, even if I actually do worthwhile projects whilst away?? Everyone seems to apply in their final year, and I'm worried this blip may not be justifiable. I have plenty of work experience in business and financial institutions, but no 'proper' internships. What do you think my chances are like in these sectors??

Relax, kiddo.The real world ain't like skool. Just make sure you can give a convincing answer to the questions about what you did during your year off and you'll be fine.

Don't accept any jobs in Bradford. That would be a MASSIVE mistake. It's more boring than Kent here...

You didn't think of this earlier?

Jim how old are you and exactly what did you study? doing this in your late 20s is not good.

I doubt it's going to look good for IBs. They usually go for people straight out of uni. Jolly gap years aren't viewed favourably. Get serious if you actually want a career.

When I was interviewing, as long as you had good reasons why you had a year off and what you did in the mean time, it was not an issue (unless you had another year off before University in which case it does look like delaying and takes more explaining. Certainly would have been better to apply last year though as the market is a lot tougher this time round