I am older than my bosses and I'm embarrassed!
I joined a new PE firm as a VP - I am older than one partner by 1 year! I am the same age (35) as another other partner! The other VP is a year ahead of me career-wise but 3 years younger than me! To be clear they deserve to be where they are and I (probably) deserve to be where I am, but I find myself very embarrassed and humiliated when I think about it or the conversation between us touches on college graduation date or the like.
I can tell they've thought about it too and think it's weird even if they haven't expressly said anything. Anything to say that would make me feel better or deal with this better?
Why even worry about it? You're in a great spot yourself and Im sure there's thousands of dudes older than you who would be just as "embarrassed" by you. But really who cares? You do you man.
Become super healthy -> raise life expectancy -> overcome them in % of life left
What about them beta genetics? Not saying OP has them, but it's a factor in play due to his whiney message.
Who cares? There is nothing to be ashamed of you got a solid job and are going to kick ass. I doubt they are going to look at you and think of you as a failure. Learn from them and work to maybe one day surpas them.
delete
Who cares, at my firm we have 3 Fixed Income Analyst who are in their 60s being managed by a Team Lead who is 35. Some people are made for management while others do not want to be in management or are not made for management.
Wow. First world problems
I took a year off during undergrad and took another year to work on a business before deciding to go the finance route. My peers that started in the same year as me in undergrad are now being promoted to Associate and I just started as an Analyst, so I can relate on some level.
I am not sure what industry you are in, but on my end, in private equity its all about how many deals you have seen/been on, so its only natural that people that started younger/have been in the industry longer will be ahead of you in terms of titles. Your situation is probably much more common than you think. Seriously don't worry about it.
If it makes you feel any better, in my firm, we recently had a new partner join the team that is under 40... he is much younger than the MDs here, but he sold a business for over 200M EV before joining us.
I know you truly feel that this embarrassing. But to put this in perspective, you are mostly like in the top 1% of America (especially for your age) and will be in the top .1% by the time your kids hit college. There is absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about, most finance professionals couldn't even hope to get a FO role in PE!
Relax. On the buyside you're routinely dealing with corporate executives in their 40s and 50s as a mid 20/ mid 30 year old. Everyone is a professional. No one cares. You are at the same place now. You can't compensate for not having gotten the same fast start
If it gets awkward I would laugh it off/ constantly crack on them for being young (i.e. you whippersnappers don't even remember the days of cassette tapes, dialup, and telegrams or something).
Hire some hit men to cross off all the partners --> you are now the alpha of the pack
Fuck, I think most people working at FB should be quitting. How dare some young punk is leading the firm?!?!
After I wasted the majority of my early and mid 20s I have been playing catch up to my peers with a decent handicap. But in the end who cares I can't change that now.
Hey man it’s not where you start – it’s where you finish that counts.
In OP's case he never finishes because he's a virgin. Ain't that the truth OP? What an un-American post. Trump is 70 and he just became the fucking POTUS.
Are you sure you are a VP at PE firm, I say Bull.
How would you feel if your boss is younger than you? (Originally Posted: 09/22/2016)
Maybe he has an MBA and you don't or he went to an ivy league school and you didn't. Or he got the position through connections of family/friends/colleagues...
What do you mean by younger ? Is it 1, 2, 3 years or more than a decade.
IMO if the boss is younger but got all the competencies expected for the role and is a good leader, there is no matter about his age.
As long as he was qualified and competent then I wouldn't mind. If anything it tells me that I'm doing something wrong if someone with x years less work experience is able to get a position ahead of mine.
There are always going to be challenges associated with generational differences in the workplace, but some people find dealing with a younger boss to be especially difficult. If you’re older than your boss, here are some things you should keep in mind.
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I think this inevitably happens to many people. It comes down to his characters. Competencies and leadership is of course a key point.
It is only OK if it is a woman, since you know that the firm is doing everything possible to bring diverse ideas to the table
I wouldn't care if my boss was 18 as long as he could do his fucking job right. That's the only thing that matters to me.
dgaf, all i care about is competence.
As long he is better at his job than I would be I think it's fine! However if the guy is incompetent, I would hate it and probably display his weaknesses to the board of direction? Wouldn't want to work for a young boss without ambitions/drive.
This is a hard one ...
It is hard for us humans to get orders from somebody younger than us, as naturally we do associate experience with age ... Since being kids, we "listened" to the older, to the wiser and we "bullied" the younger.
When you see a young person in a management position, younger than you, in a way you can't respect them the same way as you would somebody older.
It is a challenge ...
I think MBA's and connections can only get you so far, so on the long run if the person can't prove they can do the job, if they don't have the skills ... they will eventually fail.
I give everybody the benefit of the doubt, and me, as a person in charge of my life and career, have the responsibility to prove myself and show i have competences and that i am valuable for the company.
Somebody who would have a younger boss and wouldn't want to prove themselves ... should stop bitching about it :)
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