Family Business vs Corporate World (tech, investment banking, consulting)
Hey WSO,
Right now, I am at a crossroads in my life and I am looking for an advice. I am a second-year student and in two years time I will graduate with an MEng (Master of Engineering) degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management (in one of the top 10 universities in the world). I am considering different options for my future career and each of them seems to have its advantages and disadvantages. I can work in the family business or start my own career. For a corporate world career, I consider going to investment banking, management consulting (MBB) or a tech company.
A bit about my background:
I had one IB internship at a boutique investment banking firm in London and for this summer I got a management consulting internship (strategy) at a Big 4 company. I am highly involved in many different things that interest me. I am not a "stereotype" engineer, who lacks social skills and is interested only in CS and maths. I am running for a president of a finance society, working on engineering projects, founding my own business/cultural society this year, involved in charitable organisations and speak 4 languages.
I am interested in a fast career growth, interesting job and good money. I was considering management consulting for a couple of years, getting an MBA and then go to a tech company for a business development/managerial role. Investment banking/PE seems interesting as well, but I am not sure how good the exit opportunities are.
All those options seem interesting, but the career growth seems pretty slow compared to a family business. Initial salaries are not that high and I will need to work very long hours (IB/consulting). I am not sure where I will learn to earn more money faster. Big names like Google/Goldman/McKinsey sound cool, but as someone straight from college you are given a small portion of work and you are not allowed to see how everything else works in the company, while at a family business you have an insight into all areas of the company and are given more resources to succeed. On the other hand, I feel like I need to learn something elsewhere first and then go to a family business to bring in useful information and skills.
Maybe anyone else was faced with similar life choices (family business vs starting your own career path)? Which one did you choose? Any regrets?
At similar crossroads here OP. Bump.
What do you mean by family business? I don’t know of many family business that pays $100k+ to students right after undergrad.
Also, IB is one of the highest paying jobs you can get (albeit with terribly long hours) so I don’t know why you would be complaining about low salary.
And IB has one of the best exit opps no question about it.
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Ah, well as the bottom poster said you could do both. Work for a couple years, develop some skills build more credibility to your resume (working for a BB/EB or even MBB) then go work at your family business seems like a win win.
As someone who currently works for their parents I would choose the other route first. As stated above you will learn from different mentors before (if you decide) to come to your family's business and take it over. It will be a notch on your CEO path and another branch of networking.
If you can do it, I would recommend doing the 2 years (IB, consulting, tech) for skills and the brand name. I don't know what your family business does, but as long as you have the opportunity to join after 2 years, I think this is kind of a no brainer.
Best choice for future career (BB vs. PE vs. Family business) (Originally Posted: 03/01/2017)
Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I am finding myself in a fortunate situation and would like to ask some input from the community regarding next steps.
-I have an SA IB offer for a BB in NY, an FT at a Lower MM PE shop in my home country (AUM 600 million), and the opportunity to join the family firm, also in my home country, with the intention of taking over within 3-4 years (stable old-fashioned industry, approx. 5 Meur in revenue).
My long term goal is to move into the family business, as I believe it is possible to grow through intelligent acquisitions and hopefully move into other industries somewhere in the future. In the meantime, which of these opportunities would offer the best learning ground with the end goal in mind? I feel that lower MM PE would be more practical and thus beneficial, than working at a BB.
Thank you for any comments!
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After reading into the situation further, this is definitely the move. Not only does it give you skills and the very real benefit of having a well-known brand on your resume, it also mitigates some of the potential issues of joining a family business. With 2 years in IB / consulting, you will be able to actually add value from day one instead of just being there because your parents started a successful company.
Now, to be fair, you mentioned that the company is growing fast right now, and the opportunity cost of missing out on that growth is absolutely something you should carefully consider. Because of that, I think that (like a lot of career decisions) it really comes down to your personal risk tolerance. I see the 2 years as a hedge against all of the things that could go wrong with the family business in the future (not just business failure, but also conflict, etc). As long as you can handle the FOMO of watching the company grow while you're slaving away in IB hours, it's definitely the safer route.
Don't think it would be such a bad idea to spend a few years at a BB firm, maybe until the Associate level, get that experience and then move into the family business. Just my 2 cents.
I'd do IB or PE for a few years just to see where the business goes. A lot can change in 3-4 years and 5 MEUR in revenue isn't exactly a huge business. If things go well for the business you can walk into a more advantageous situation in 4 years, if they go poorly, you can still fall back on IB/PE.
This.
Going into IB or PE will be the most risk-averse choice. You will still have the option of going into the family business and you could still try to get involved in it from afar. You might not be able to drive any acquisitions of the family business while you are abroad, but you can still help it grow and learn about the specific market and its customers.
of the 3 i would probably go with the local MM PE shop. 600M AUM is decent enough size that it provides a safety net but you will be well-positioned to do what you really want to do and jump back to the family business in a few years
BB then maybe PE then home. Family business will still be there. You need the training.
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