Advice on choosing my "day job"

Hi everyone,

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I’m a huge fan of BiggerPockets and am hoping to buy my first rental property within the next year or two. I’m stuck between two very different career paths and would appreciate some advice from people who have been in the industry.

Job 1: High-paying role outside of real estate

Pros:

• - High income potential; I could realistically save ~$60K–$100K within two years.
• - More personal capital to put toward my first investment properties.

Cons:

• - Completely unrelated to real estate or investing.
• - Very demanding hours, leaving little time to learn the industry or actively search for deals.
• - I would likely need to rely heavily on brokers and turnkey providers because I wouldn’t have the time or experience to thoroughly analyze deals myself.

Job 2: Multifamily real estate development role with a large institutional company

Pros:

• - Direct exposure to the real estate industry, specifically multifamily development.
• - Opportunity to learn underwriting, deal structure, construction, financing, and the development process from experienced professionals.
• - Build credibility and relationships that could help me later when raising capital or working with lenders.
• - I’m genuinely interested in the day-to-day work and could see myself building a career in this space.

Cons:

• - While it pays well, I would likely only save around $50K over two years.
• - Less personal capital available to invest immediately.

The way I see it, Job 1 gives me more money to invest but less knowledge and fewer connections. Job 2 gives me the knowledge, experience, and network but delays how much capital I can put into my own deals.

For those who have built a real estate portfolio or transitioned into development, which path would you choose? Is the industry experience worth sacrificing some initial investment capital?

Thanks in advance for any advice.