AIBU to try to steer my DS into a well paid career against his dreams

I don't think AI will decimate these industries. That is too simplistic. it will make it a lot harder to enter but once in, someone has got to steer the AI and use it as a v clever team mate to help them achieve a goal.

I know several well paid bankers, IT professionals and lawyers who are in amateur dramatics and bands or who do photography at the weekends. It works for them and it's the best of both worlds in some ways.

You can't stop or force your son in any way but he needs to own his choices and if he doesn't do well financially from what he chooses he has to cut his cloth accordingly. As long as he knows this, he should be free to make his own choices.

How about a compromise? Surely there must be degrees in theatre and business or theatre and management which give options.

And if you have done well, put some funds aside to allow a future change of direction, if following his passion doesn't work out. What's the point in you doing well if it doesn't buy your family freedom?

Wow, i work in farming but this regime would end me 🤣

6 am to 2 am is 4 hours' sleep! It does brings home the brutality and relentlessness of certain city finance jobs. Looks like you need not just smarts and ambition but also sheer physical and mental resilience.

And a regular supply of cocaine?

Yes it was shocking to me as I thought these types of practices were from the 1980s, but brought home the reality of the 'city' career and what this means. (Including that my DC did not want to do it!)

6 am to 2 am is 4 hours' sleep! It does brings home the brutality and relentlessness of certain city finance jobs. Looks like you need not just smarts and ambition but also sheer physical and mental resilience.

I don't think corporate law is as bad but there will be pockets like this.

Another way for OP's ds to cut his teeth (alongside giving theatre a go) whether the money is worth it. Some people thrive on it.

Two contrasting experiences to choose from.

The basic for the summer was 15k plus accomodation and meals were all paid. The work was essentially 6am through to 2am so it was very intense indeed. But then again, it's the equivalent of 6-9 months "real" work in 3 months at those hours!

@Putneydad7 My DD (20) did the same last year and it brought home to her the realities of working long hours for quite a reasonable wage given her lack of qualifications- but she realized that it wouldn’t go far if she had to pay household bills with it. It’s motivated her to keep working hard to get her qualifications and hopefully have job choice in the future.

City internship - lots offer big money to students, especially with a financial degree and focus.

My dc earned 20k on a summer internship

@Goldfsh 20K for 3 months? Wow please tell us what internship that is.

This.

He could end up resenting you if you push too hard. Nothing wrong with discussing your thoughts with him though.

It's not your call, he is a grown up.

He's not going to get a high flying financial/ consultancy job anyway, unless he's passionate about it. Have you see some of the grad recruits these days? I can understand your disappointment but people have to make their own life choices.

You can do both. Push him to do internships (and hopefully get a job offer) but suggest that this can fund his theatre year, and hopefully he will get an offer that can be deferred for 12 months.

My dc earned 20k on a summer internship and learnt an enormous amount about work and themselves. They also got two job offers. But these could be deferred.

Maybe the best of both worlds?

Thanks for agreeing.

My main thing should be this DS should make a plan to show how he'll be able to support himself in this career. He probably won't be like next Daniel Craig, but maybe he'll be run a stage or something?

I love the word 'exhilarating'. It is exactly that when you work with the most driven and ambitious minds. It takes a certain personality to enjoy running with the wolves. It is fun when starting out but is exhausting over time and can suck you in.

It is fantastic you and your wife are able to provision materially for your dc. I also agree with @MotherPuppr (can I say I agree with everything MotherPuppr said) that a good nest egg is not enough to set up a child for life. The sort of money needed to allow a child to take the risk of not being able to support themselves (in other words 'retire' from age 20) is generally not do-able for most people in one lifetime. And if the parent is such a superearner, it saps ambition in offspring along with the adage from rags to riches to rags in 3 generations.

Anyway, I think you are thinking the right thoughts and support you in trying to strike the balance.

@Chiseltip To that, I will say that whilst you see the progression in AI, you seem to overestimate your understanding about how it is or can be applied in business. Godlike technology is useless out of context.

The people on this thread who say lawyers, consultants and finance workers will be out of business due to AI don't see the judgment calls that are made in the senior levels of expertise. They only have the layman's understanding of the grunt work which I agree can, should and are being facilitated by AI to lower costs for clients.

Over history, the jobs that have been made redundant by technology have resulted in more jobs being created due to the progress made by the technology. It does mean that the skill sets of the future generation will change. We no longer need people doing repetitive tasks of putting together spreadsheets but we need people who will be able to analyse the results of the spreadsheets and AI summaries.

As @Coldsoup says, AI will eliminate entry level jobs but not those with the experience to interpret the results of AI, spot hallucinations and make nuanced judgment calls based on the info. The fresh challenge for organisations is how to train the next generation without the menial work that is being done by AI.

And for those who rub their hands in glee at lawyers, bankers and consultants being out of a job, how would you like your loan application or divorce being run by machines. Be careful what you wish for.

This is spot on

Dead Poets Society.

Yes, I am fully anticipating a different glut of legal work dealing with all the cases when AI fucks things up for people.

I think it will be harder to get an entry level job as a lawyer though, because previously lots were needed to do grunt work that can be automated now.

If you understood my post, which you clearly don't, you would have read the part about the A.I currently in use being several years old.

You need to do some research into both the current versions, and what is planned for the coming years.

As I said, most people are oblivious to the impact that A.I is going to have.

If. If DS is struggling. Anyone going into an arts career knows that there is a good chance they'll be broke but plenty of us aren't once a career evolves. My TV career had paid off my mortgage by the time I was 41. While my parents definitely supported me in the very begining when I was living at home rent free, they've never once had to step in to help me pay the bills or 'pick up the pieces'.
The DS might do the fringe once and never work on a show again. Or like James Graham, Phoebe Waller-Bridge or Richard Gadd he might turn it into a very successful career.

I think at that age he is past the point where you can really steer him.

All you can do is help make him aware of the consequences of his choices, and of course make him responsible for his own finances through that.

IMO the time where your strong influence really ends is at the choice of degree undertaken. As childrens general career paths tend to get set around the ages of 12-16, it starts to become apparent what subjects they are good at and what they might want to take at A level and University.