For those looking, how's the job hunt going in the new year so far?
For myself, started a search before the end of the year, which I saw wasn't the best timing. Since the start of the year, seen an uptick in roles out there landing some interviews, but not secured anything new yet. I'm mostly seeing that there isn't a rush for shops to immediately hire but perhaps with bonuses rolling out we should see a bit more activity over the next several weeks.
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It’s still a pretty horrible job market but there are definitely more postings than there were in the last few months. There’s insane competition per spot though. You can tell there’s starting to be some interest in RE from those laid off from more traditional finance roles.
Bonuses seemed pretty poor across the board based on conversations with friends, family and what I’m seeing online. Most people understand that times are tough but they’re still not happy about poor comp. I expect a big game of musical chairs to start as bonuses are paid out.
I do think things are starting to turn back around and shops that don’t start hiring are going to miss out on the deal flow to come, or have their current staff get crushed by the workload. There’s more interest rate certainty and a good possibility of rate cuts at some point this year.
curious to hear from others as we wrap the first month of the year
Seems like more openings but I don’t see it heating up more until spring at the earliest.
Definitely openings in affordable finance. Affordable housing development is dry, but I expect an uptick with new increases that were just passed.
What's your reasoning for that? Very curious as I'm at a tax credit syndicator. We definitely had a slower year and don't expect hiring to pick up.
If the legislation passes for reduction in 50% test and 12.5% allocation, it will take a lot of half baked projects off the sidelines. One thing that might make it tricky is states with the state credit may not be able to match the increase 1 for 1. Time will tell.
I've seen a number on the Asset Management side, a few on acquisitions, and very little for development (which is what I'm recruiting for). The few I've interviewed for are small shops that have more creative capital than institutional players and can move forward on entitled jobs.
development is just totally dead, trying to look for other roles in the area but not much coming up. As far those who are still playing i did interview with a shop that was looking to use EB5 funding didn't realize the program was still around. I'm getting a little concerned and am thinking about making a different pivot for right now because current shop is just giving me such bad vibes with so many deals struggling to finish.
Seeing more and currently interviewing with a couple, but the more I learn about each of the companies I'm interviewing with the less excited I am. Don't feel like any of them are going to be long term fits as most are new entrants into the market and don't seem to have a clear grasp on what they are doing. We'll see though.
Hi, in a similar spot. Looking to transition but unsure of what to make of the opportunities that are available. Do you mind PM'ing me?
I only see it in AM as many firms realized they couldn't skate by with poor AM when times got tough. Lots of people are starting to look as their severance is ending in a couple months. Roles are opening but seems they are being very particular who they move to the final rounds, aka lots of competition. I think firms know it'll turn and sees the light at the end of the tunnel but the slight uptick in activity doesn't justify a hiring increase. We are only hiring for roles that had people leave or were let go due to performance and filling them only with qualified candidates. I've been thinking Q2 we will see a bounce back, though if bonuses are bad and the market has turned their will be stiff competition from the people laid off and the people that are upset about their bonuses.
I'm gathering this vibe as well. Shops really seem to be hiring in replacement of a seat that was previously filled or if they're growing it's very modest with maybe one person to add at the most and to fill a seat that's mostly on the asset management side of the business.
Connected with a friend who's at a debt shop that i used to work at, he let me know that the total volume of deals originated in 2023 is basically cut in half compared to the prior year. Definitely a tough pill to swallow.
It's crazy in MF Agencies saw a 25% or more reduction in Volume in Originations and CRE/CLO was down even more. There was a solid 4ish month period were a new one wasn't priced in the mkt. Crazy part is many of these ABS and CMBS are in distressed metrics now and people realize if they can't originate or lend other than bridge to bridge they need to make money off servicing and refinancing their current book of business, which requires them to meet stronger credit metrics. I've seen big bridge portfolios in distress due to over exposure to 1-2 borrowers that are defaulting on multiple properties both in their MF and Office.
I even saw a bunch of jobs for bank AM in regards to Auto lending as the first Auto ABS defaulted this year in history.
I think Summer 2024 we will start seeing some turn around as we have a election cycle coming with a stagnant economy after the Fed is slow to react and pushed back against the market over anticipating rate reductions, we haven't even really started the reduction in tapering which usually comes a couple meetings before the first rate cut. Issue is if we have a turn around summer 2024 you have 2-3 graduating classes looking for work in junior level positions plus all the people coming back into the market as severance runs out.
My concern is there are some companies such as Tides and others that are hiring asset mgmt to help with recaps. Seems risky and not a great opp to come into if those assets get taken back by the lender and we don't have rate cuts this year. Could be out of a job.
Market still brutal. Seeing zero acquisition roles only asset management roles. It's tough, been searching for a new role for close to a year and now regretting not taking an offer I had late last year. Not sure what to do, have been close to getting roles with a couple of other companies but seems almost like an invisible force is preventing me from getting these jobs ( I'm sure it's just extremely competitive in this environment). Tough as well when you have very relevant experience and still may not get an interview from some of these companies.
Uptick in roles, but firms are taking their time like you said. Spoke to a few people through connections, seems it's taking 2-3 weeks+ to go through resumes if not longer. Applied to a role the first week, spoke to them a week later and they said it'll be another few weeks before they set up initial rounds (3-4 weeks before an initial interview).
Unfortunately seems like it'll take time and I know a lot of Masters students who graduated in May and are looking for a job so they're in an even worse spot.
I'm seeing that as well, jobs posted for awhile and companies moving slowly. Seems like they are looking for perfect fits or just taking their time/waiting to see what happens and collecting resumes.
Yeah, there were a lot in October/November I interviewed for where they ended up not hiring anyone. Some firms did, but others did not and seemed to be just seeing what the market was like.
Ggggggggggggggggggggggg
Hang in there. What are you thinking about pivoting too? I can't imagine things getting much better until eoy at the earlier.
Finally was able to secure a role. Was laid off Q1 2023. It came down to networking. I didn't realize it mattered until it did.
Networking definitely makes sure you're resume or name gets in front of a human, but i have a hard time even thinking the 2nd and 3rd quarters of last year were a good job market to begin with. it seems like the start of this year did provide a little reset to the market but again nothing significant that's boosting acquisition teams
By networking I don't mean new connections / coffee chats. I'm directly referring to leveraging your existing network. In my case it was the ex-executive where I was laid off from knew the C-suite executive I was interviewing with. My interview was a coffee chat of 10 - minutes after which he asked me to ignore the recruiter who they had originally given the mandate to source the position from.
Getting more recruiter blasts but my feeling is that I walk away skeptical about the opportunity more times than not. The last legit role was a year ago from a solid REPE shop but it was focused on an asset class that would’ve bored to death.
Hopeful that it will continue to pick up for all my laid off homies out there.
How long have been in between roles for? Do you find you get grilled on it in interviews or are they understanding, and how do you usually explain it in interviews?
To be clear, I was fortunate to avoid any layoffs and am still employed. I was selectively looking at roles before the rate hikes went crazy and now just taking recruiter calls to get the comp then say no.
To your question, I think explaining what skills you’ve worked on and hobbies/travel you’ve done during the gap go a long way. As an employed person, I get it shit happens and for more junior roles it’s often out of your control. Prove to them that you haven’t been a reactive job searcher by saying I’ve fine tuned this and this with my underwriting, actively participated in a CRE association (NAIOP, ULI, whatever). Just demonstrate that you’re not stagnantly waiting around for a role.
It's been rough. Was talking with a couple of companies and just found out I lost in the final round for one and late stages for the others. Most likely back to the drawing board. Not sure how it will be perceived as I'm coming up on the year mark, which definitely has me worried, not money wise, just perception wise.
Kinda tough to decipher what’s real and what’s not. I’m seeing postings but not sure if shops are serious about hiring or are only looking for perfect candidate.
Also want to mention that there are a good number of firms who hire silently through recruiters. Basically there are no postings or mentioning of an open role but then you’ll see someone mentioned that they are starting a new role at XYZ firm. Recruiters are ultimately the gatekeepers for those kinds of roles (unfortunately).
Yeah this really needs to be emphasized. My firm is highly competitive / pays really well and we’ve never posted a position publicly. And we also don’t have a consistent recruiter we use so you need to be on every recruiters radar. Sometimes we use random ones.
Recently we hired a recruiter that simply didn’t collect many resumes that were a great fit. If you were in front of that recruiter, your resume would’ve easily made it and you would’ve looked great compared to the other candidates bc the recruiter did such a bad job. So don’t write off the random recruiters - every now and then they’ll get a good mandate
Don’t want to out you but is your firm NY based?
The job market feels far from hot right now. Supposedly there are more jobs in volume in these first two months of 2024 compared 2023. I'm actively browsing the market, but from what i see it looks mostly like entry level or service type jobs that have openings.
Anything in acquisitions and development are totally dead right now. The only things i'm seeing are in the affordable housing space but most of those shops are chasing people with true experience in that arena.
Desperate to leave my current shop, too many deals that are going bad and just generating a ton of work that yields very little return for us. I'll add in to say my shop just has bad management all together and has skated by when things are good.
Other than asset management, which seems to be the area hiring, any of you considering career alternatives until rates drop and the market is hot again? Kind of considering some back office roles that won't kill me mentally and physically, not many pros to staying where i'm at.
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