My son interested in S&T over IB (your advise Please)

Lol.

The real concern is the long term viability of S&T

I can't offer much advice but assuming this isn't a troll congrats for being a good parent ....I wish my parents took more interest in my career like this.

Assuming you're not a troll, there are too many parameters to consider to give you a good answer as to whether this was a good move for your Son - e.g. Reputation of firm, team culture, specific team / sector / product etc.

But I will say this: if your Son received both IB / S&T offers, he's a smart kid - and if you're absolutely unfamiliar with finance, the odds of you giving him good advice are very Low. I'd let him do his thing.

Edit: Agree with other posters, the worst thing you can do is make him second guess himself. You're a caring parent, I get that, but right now - the only thing in order is a celebration of his new role (for both of you)

Part of me wishes my parents had given enough fucks to post on a forum about my decision making - although it probably would have been on some yahoo “is smoking weed bad for you” thread.

Sounds like he’s got a good head on his shoulders. The worst thing you can do is to not back him/her 100% and make them second guess themself.

Give the kid a fat hug and let him/her know how proud you are. They’ll be fine.

Respectfully, don't think that it is fair to gauge his decision on how "prestigious" one is over the other. S&T and IB require different skillsets and personalities.

It is all relative. For example, I find S&T work far more interesting and dynamic. I would even argue that getting a seat as a trader is less likely than landing one as an IB analyst. But that doesn't matter. It is all about fit.

Maybe he's a star and makes $1m bonus before he's 30 (unlikely but technically possible). I would just be happy for him and not second guess his decision. Whatever answers you get from us won't change the fact that he's going into S&T.

Lol @ prestige. If he takes real interest in s&t & is any good at it, he will make a fuck ton of money. If he's an eat what you kill type of guy, then you're good.

Being an S&T guy is very much so baked into someone's personality fwiw. I'm sure anyone on this forum will agree that you can tell someone is in it within 10 min of speaking to them.

OP - congrats on the kid. He/she is smart. He/she will figure it out (or he/she won't since most of us never really figure it out anyway).

Prestige... Finance doesn't, in general, have the sheen (nor the pay) it used to. That is not to say that it is not very well paying, especially considering what we do (across functions) is not the most intellectually challenging. However, it is fast moving, pressure-packed and full of smart/driven/accomplished people. You kid will meet lots of people, be exposed to a lot and probably won't be doing the job forever (changing interests, life getting in the way, bear markets, politics etc).

Different personality types will thrive in IB vs S&T. I now understand that given my personality, that I would have absolutely hated every minute of IB, had I done it (or gotten in). The nature of the work, the people and (what I believe to be meaningless) nonstop minutia that the sell side seems to spend way too much time focusing on (formatting a pitch, 100 page decks that clients don't look at), random little model inputs etc.

I can't say I would have loved S&T but I'd enjoy the whole open desk thing (which is how my previous fund was set up), and constant personal interactions, and markets moving. Would I hate the politics and constant cutthroat nature of it? Probably, but hey, it's financial services and politics/cutthroatness are often the name of the game.

Likewise I have a number of friends who would hate markets moving everyday, sitting on the phone with clients, taking them out and in general doing people stuff and making significant decisions on not a ton of information on a daily basis.

In other words, kiddo will do just fine. Just make your kid buy you dinner when he/she gets that first bonus check :)

Good Luck

9/10 troll.. the “parent” talking about “tiers” and “semi-target” is just too much lol

The fact of the matter is most people talking here about "prestige" will never end up in a BB S&T or IB role. Both are very prestigious (from the prestige point) and your son getting into either has him in a good shape. Attempting to compare the two on a prestige level is like arguing whether Stanford, MIT or Harvard is the best school to attend. As you can see, quite silly. Just be happy for him and what he has achieved.