Accept my offer or shoot for the moon - advice needed

Hello,

I am a new monkey on this forum and am seeking important advice on my future career in the UK. I have been reading stuff and looking for advice on this forum, but now is the time to ask for some myself. Long story short, covid 19 made me develop serious anxiety issues during my undergraduate studies, and I will be graduating soon. This seriously affected my capacity to apply and interview for IB summer analyst roles as I constantly felt my mind was being torn apart for over a year. I am better now, got some help and working towards progression. I got a decent spring week at Schroders and a virtual internship with GS during my first year. Anxiety really kicked in during my second year and got to me. Going into the summer of my last year, I had no clue where to apply but was able to get an internship at a commodities-based group company. It was started a few years ago by a group of hardo wall street traders. Worked there over the summer as their first-ever intern and really committed myself to showing them what I can do. I got a return offer and got very close with some directors and the CEO (they really like me). After the summer ended, I kept going into the office to catch up and eventually started doing some deal sourcing for them all by myself until now. I loved the experience and am really considering going back there as they really want me, and its nice to feel like a group of professionals really want to develop my skills. I'm sure my boss would offer a first-year salary in line with IB expectations + a bonus. On top of all that, the company will be going through an IPO soon. They have experienced tremendous growth, want to acquire some companies over the next few years and get into PE projects. My CEO offered me a job to do all of this with them. 
On the other hand, I feel like I have become obsessed with landing an M&A role at a top IB firm or a position at a solid PE firm. I was not able to get into the SA roles, and I feel like I am at a disadvantage. I have done some heavy networking over the past months with a lot of analysts and directors at top firms to give me some clarity. The current job market and M&A market are not looking too good as well, but I feel like I will be missing out on top-tier training and exposure to amazing deals and relationships if I don't go into IB. I am waiting for full-time applications for recent grads to open up this summer to apply with some references at top firms, but I don't know if its worth it. I know the application and recruiting process can be excruciating as some friends have told me. I don't know if I should take my offer, chill out, and try to break into IB/PE through an MBA after some years when the market may be doing better, and opportunities are more fruitful. Or, keep trying to get into IB/PE over this summer, which I know will be tough. I feel like this obsession has been detrimental to my mental health but have realized that the less important I make it, the more confident I feel. To be honest, I sometimes feel like I have completely failed at what I set out to do. 

I know this is a lot to go through, but I would very much appreciate any advice you could give me.
Thank you, fellow monkeys.

1 Comments
 

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