Best forward-looking skill set ?

Monkeys,

I am in my 2nd year of undergrad and a bit lost. Signed IB SA 22&23 offers and originally wanted to go down a PE/investing career path. I recently came to a realization that being an analyst doesn’t really provide you with material/hard skills like a software engineer, doctor, electrician, etc.

My parents, both immigrants from Eastern Europe, wanted me to go into the trades. I laughed and thought I was above that career until I learned that some tradespeople who own their businesses get bought out by PE funds and receive 25-250mm cash. These people have value. I guess mom and dad were right after all 😂

I understand that IB/PE will give me some business-sense and knowledge to raise capital, but I want to develop a specific, hard skill set that is in-demand, has great outlook, and would allow me to start my own businesses/carve out my own path eventually.

Something to do with computers/software/coding would probably be the place to start, but what would be best to specialize in specifically, i.e. machine learning, data science, etc.?

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