she wants to turn down her job offer and give civil services a year. i don't know what to say

orchid_badminton_706922 Jun 2026

our daughter finished her degree this summer and is still in the city where she studied. she has a job offer, joining in august, decent company. last night she called and said she'd like to decline it and spend a year preparing for the civil services exam full time, in a coaching hub, living on her own. she's thought about it more than i expected. she has a budget, a study plan, a date by which she'll decide whether to continue. i still keep thinking about the offer she'd be giving up, and what happens if the year doesn't go well. i'd hate to talk her out of something she's serious about. has anyone's son or daughter done this straight after college, and what did the year look like?

3 comments

silver_sketch_532422 Jun 2026
Our daughter is in her second year of college, and two of her seniors did exactly this last year, so I have only heard it secondhand. What their parents said afterwards was that the year was harder on the student's morale than anyone planned for, more than on money. The question I would ask her is what she will be doing on a bad day in month seven, when the mock scores are low and her friends are posting about their jobs. If she has an answer to that, she has thought it through.
violet_pool_838822 Jun 2026
I hire freshers at work, and I would gently point out that a one-year gap for exam preparation is very easy to explain in an interview later. Nobody I know would hold it against a candidate. The offer feels like the only one now, but at her stage there will be others. The part I would discuss with her is the date by which she decides. Make sure that date is written down and agreed before she starts.
breezy_wave_780522 Jun 2026
Our mol is in final year and her roommate is planning the same thing after graduation. The roommate's parents asked her to take the job and prepare in the evenings for a year first, and she said that would mean doing two things badly. I could see both sides 🙂 If yours has a budget and a stopping date already, she's ahead of most. I'd say it's her call.