A job in the financial world worries many young people. Career counselors like David Döbele from Frankfurt promise support – but also come under heavy criticism.
Frankfurt – Goals are often ambitious, and hopes for a successful career high. Every year, thousands of university graduates want to dive into the shark tanks of investment banking or management consulting. Some rely on outside help when looking for their dream job.
There are some people in social media who offer programs for beginners to help them increase their chances of getting the coveted jobs in big companies. It is clear that this training, as it is meaningfully called, cannot be financed for everyone. After all, the financial industry is always about big money. And that’s what most business administration students are trying to do.
Career advice critique: David Döbele praises the ‘high performer’
David Döbele from Frankfurt is one of these people, who publicly promises to give other people a decisive advantage in the fight for their dream job with his knowledge. After studying at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, he founded the company “carrerpumpkins” together with his colleague Jonas Stegh. Career advice from Döbele and Stegh should cost in the mid-four-figure range. Her community’s favorite question: “Invest banking still possible with 1.7?”
Döbele’s credo: You must be a “high performer”. Deliver performance around the clock. Döbele even has clear ideas for his protégés when it comes to visiting the hairdresser – a gray area between the serious and the satirical, which constantly gives him a lot of criticism in terms of increasing pressure to perform. According to the company’s website, Döbele is “mainly responsible for the highest grades in your studies and written applications due to his experience” and ensures that you receive “multiple interview invitations”.
Reddit user Döbele: “It’s harmful and puts pressure where it shouldn’t be in the first place”
A discussion about the business model is now raging on the social media platform Reddit – initiated by a business administration student. “I’m a business administration student myself, but I can’t stand it at all. I’d even go so far as to say what it conveys (1 before the comma is imperative, work is the meaning of life, high performance living, etc.) is harmful and creates pressure where it shouldn’t be at all. “, writes one user. With that he stabs at the hornet’s nest.
Some users in the comments rate the need for a good GPA as the truth and more of a problem for the industry than for career counseling companies like the one in Frankfurt. But most also see a lot of hot air in the concept. “Especially when studying, many roads lead to Rome, and an internship/part-time job at a high-performing company shouldn’t be a necessary milestone to end up with a successful job,” wrote one user.
Career advice from Frankfurt: “It can be demotivating very quickly”
Another user, who introduces himself as a business administration student at a well-known university, is also critical of terms such as “high performance” and practices at large investment banking houses that Döbele and his team believe are necessary. “The degree programs are huge and the competition is very fierce. (…) If you then constantly come into contact with people online who tell you that you have no chance of getting a good job with an average grade and no contacts, it can become demotivating very quickly. “Especially in the first semesters, hardly anyone really has a plan of how anything works, and this is where David Döbele and co hit fertile ground: insecure students who are constantly under pressure to perform,” writes the Reddit user.
Döbele’s career advice business model not only does not arouse enthusiasm in the network, but also among experts. “If a company advertises with particular emotions, such as fear, caution is advised,” said Micaela Schwanenberg of the Saxony Consumer Center. Welt. The fear is combined here with the pressure to perform, which certainly does not diminish after entering the professional world – especially not if you have to pay several thousand euros for career advice. (me)