Would you work in IB if you were in my position?

So I recently graduated from a non brand name school, going to a top MSF program in US/Europe along with pretty solid prospects to land a MM offer. Have been networking hard, have had a several month boutique IB internship and other F500/Investment Management internships, and feel pretty good about it overall.

I have two older siblings, both working good jobs in F500, who have pretty solid paths so far. My father is a senior executive and recently joined a booming company approaching IPO, probably has multi 8 figures coming in the next 3-4 years, on top of 8 figures of assets already (farm land, residential properties, stocks, etc...), said and done will probably have around $40-50MM total.

I want to work a few years in the corporate world/industry just to pick up more of the soft skills, professional mindset, etc... but down the road my parents can get me involved in the family business, growing more in the real estate/franchising space. Part of my goal in working is to travel through work to see more of the world, learn about different cultures and ways of living, etc...

It seems like IB would just be a big grind for the money but that isn't really the most important criteria to me. I think corporate banking or even investment management might be a better vertical, through the former I could travel for work, and with the latter I can have the time to travel on my own/with friends & family.

Any thoughts?

2 Comments
 

In my humble opinion, do IB. If you spend 18 months in IB and leave nobody will bat an eye. There are so many roles that require that sniff of banking. Won’t even consider you if you don’t have it. It’s great that it looks good for your family, but what if things fall out, etc. There are so many people who have had that happen. IB will be great experience but also open doors for you outside of your family. Like I said, if you lateral into something else in 18 months and your story was that it wasn’t the right fit virtually every hiring manager will empathize. There is a reason a significant portion of threads on WSO are about exits.

 
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