I'm entering my last semester of my bachelor's, and recently I've been offered several interviews. One of these companies is a really prestigious one, and my application to this company have been rejected multiple times. So it's a really pleasant surprise that they contacted me (I haven't applied again), offering an interview.
Until very recently (before receiving these interviews), my plan was to do my masters directly. However, for this company (and maybe a few others), I'm willing to delay taking my masters for 2-3 years, potentially doing my masters while being employed by the company at the same time (I have a few classes with master students, I know a few that are employed by this same company, so there must be some type of arrangement, but I couldn't find this in the company's website). But for the sake of this question, please ignore the last parentheses, as I don't think such an arrangement is universal.
Question: How to convey to the interviewer that me doing my masters is non-negotiable, but am willing to delay it? I would like to avoid closing doors, and would like to be prepared with an answer.
Extra details that may/may not help:
- I'm an international student
- This is in Europe
- For my master's degree, a lot of universities suggest/require 'minimum work experience, preferably none', 'as little gap in studies as possible', 'max 2 years gap (this one is a hard cap)'
- The master's being non-negotiable is outside of my control, so it really is non-negotiable