Anyone feel insecure about starting their career later than others/not getting enough done in their 20s??
I recently graduated in may, had to take a fifth year cause I took time off to work. I am turning 23 soon and I feel like I will be a bit older than most other juniors starting out. I have been interviewing for equity research associate positions but I feel like I have missed out a year of experience compared to people my age. I know a year isnt much but I have this insecurity that I need to accomplish a bunch of things by the time im 30, 4 years of ER/investment management and get my MBA after than, and then have a kid or somthing. I guess it comes from my dad having kids in his 40s and 50s (he will be 75 when my sister graduates high school), I do not want to be old like that an have kids, but other than that I have noticed that allot of young people have this insecurity of having to get a bunch of stuff done by the time they are in their late 20s/early 30s. Would like to hear from others about this
Dude you’re turning 23.. not 33
You're 23 and on the right path 1-2 years isn't much in the grand scheme of things. As long as you get there. that's all that matters right?
You need to focus on yourself and what you want and stop comparing yourself to other people. You need to live your own life.
This isn't being dismissive of your concerns; this is objective advice. You can't go back in time or change how old you are, you need to do the best with what you've got.
My guy you are ONE year late, that’s literally nothing.
To put things into perspective, Mormons have to volunteer 2-3 years in a developing country, Koreans have to do 1-2 years of military service, US military background guys do 2+ years for GI bill.
Compared to all of them you are in a prime spot, and there’s no shortage of immensely successful Mormons/Koreans/Ex-Military guys on the street, cheer up.
Like everyone else is pointing out, you're not "behind" by any stretch. All the stuff you listed out? Stop comparing yourself to everyone else. It sounds trite, but the only person you should ever compare yourself to is who you were yesterday.
You thought there was a plan you had to follow? Guess what? "Man plans, and god laughs". You'll find out soon enough that plans change, and they can change really hard, and really fast.
This isn't some "I told you so", it's just that to take a deep breath. You're in a great spot with a totally open future ahead of you and there aren't any "requirements you have to meet or you're a failure at life" (unless you decide to become a drug addict or get into violent crime, but that's different).
3 years from now youre gonna read this post and cringe at your past self.
You are interviewing for equity research, which is a better job than most people are ever gonna have in their life - relax
Bro just look at Steve Bannon. Man joined IB in his early 30s and is richer and more successful than 99% of people on this site will be. Just look at it like this. You have 1 year more development than other people starting your role. You're going to be more mature and smarter. This is gonna make you more likely to do better than them in your job and increase your chances of reaching the higher levels.
Had a lot of the same insecurities over the years, but I got a much later start than you. Graduated college a year late because I fucked around too much. Had no idea what I wanted to do afterwards and after a year of working an entry-level job decided to go to grad school. Fast-forward two years and I started my first professional job at 26. I don't want to rehash too much of what everyone else has said so I'll try not to do so. My biggest regret was spending way too much time stressing over where I was in comparison to others and stressing over some arbitrary life timeline I had created as kid. It was all unnecessary and took up more energy than it should have. Time and energy that could have been put into more productive things. Like others have said, it's one year. You're in a great place.
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