Taking my fathers seat and do the easy path making around 300k or trying my own path and risking being less Successful

Hey,

I am currently asking myself the questions of what my next steps should be, maybe some of you (old or young I am open to every opinion) can give some advise. My current situation is, that I am in the fourth semester of Business Economics of my Bachelor (definitely non-target) and have done an internship at Deloitte in IT Riskmanagement for the last three months (got a return offer but I declined because I didn’t liked the work moral, really unmotivated Team) and now I am entering banking as a working student at Berenberg. Now I am asking myself if I should do a GMAT, further internships to get into a good Mastersprogramm after my Bachelor or if I should join my father’s company directly after my bachelor, that does real estate valuation. On the one hand I would like to see how far I can make it in banking and on the other hand I could have a secure job with which I could earn well over 200k-400k in the first few years but without great opportunities for advancement. Additionally to say my father is already quiet old and want to stop working soon so there is no option of pursing the first option and coming back to Option two if that don’t work out. 
Open to suggestions and additional questions. 

14 Comments
 

I think most people don't stay in banking anyways, and don't end up making the same salary you described, especially in Europe. It seems like you have the opportunity to do something with much better WLB and salary out of the gate. I'd only stay in banking if I was super certain that I wanted to become an MD or if I really disliked my father's job/company. There's nothing wrong with following in your father's footsteps, all successful people reach their success by taking advantage of the advantages their parents were able to bring them, including doing what their parents did.

 

What?

You have an option to make six figures and be your own boss.

And you’re considering the other option of blazing your own trail? What trail? You were too dumb to get into a good college and the only internship you got was IT risk management. Get over yourself dude. Nothing wrong with taking the help of your clearly intelligent and successful dad.

 

Smoke Frog:

What?



You have an option to make six figures and be your own boss.



And you’re considering the other option of blazing your own trail? What trail? You were too dumb to get into a good college and the only internship you got was IT risk management. Get over yourself dude. Nothing wrong with taking the help of your clearly intelligent and successful dad.


Actually, you're not completely right in saying that I didn’t go to a target school because I wasn’t smart enough. I chose my school because I was sailing in an Olympic class and was required to stay in a certain city for the Olympic training base if I wanted to remain on the team. I didn’t mention this earlier because it didn’t seem relevant to the topic. Honestly, I still don’t understand your point about what’s wrong with considering doing my own thing. I have younger siblings who would love to take over my father's company, so it wouldn’t be a waste if I pursue my own goals and find my own path.

 
Most Helpful

I am an "old" commenter.  Honestly, I do truly understand the desire (and need) for security and a very healthy salary.  But at such a young age, it really seems sad to feel trapped into doing something that you have no passion for, without taking a chance on going after opportunities that you have some measure of excitement for.  Of course, you could start with your father and move on in time if it doesn't interest or suit you.  Either way, don't give up on your dreams.  Banking, as you see from this forum, is not all it's cracked up to be, there's not so much glory, and there's a lot of gore.  It will be a good few years before you hit $400K with plenty of bloodletting on the way!.  It sounds like either choice to some degree nullifies the other choice.  I just think that these IB jobs are so brutal simply BECAUSE they offer the promise of relatively high salaries for relatively young people, and prestigious company names on a resume.  YOU have to determine if it's hype, or if it really seems fascinating to you.  One option is to try to get in somewhere you want to work, and have the family biz as a back up.  
My thought is, going to work for the family (unless you really dislike the business) is a great option to start making really good money while developing side gigs/opportunities/investments.  Would that money be useful to start your own thing, create your own opportunity/business?  Which avenue will give you more access to networking and contacts towards a career or endeavor that really interests you?

I also didn't get that from the post - is there something that fascinates you, that you really love doing?  Do you like the numbers, making presentations, selling, networking?  Is money the driving factor, "prestige", something else?

Well, I suppose it's a good problem to have~  I just hate to think someone so young is afraid to take risks to go for what they are excited to get up every morning to do.

Leah R. Matsil
 

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