Long time reader, first time poster. I've worked in acquisitions and asset management for the past year. A summer of project management and development prior to that. I have an interview for a development analyst position Friday and was curious if anyone had any advice on how to prep? My current company focuses on multifamily, but the company I'm interviewing for does mixed use/hospitality/retail and I have very little experience underwriting. Any help is greatly appreciated
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Many shops are willing to work with you and train you up if they think you have potential. Obviously you're going to talk about your summer of PM and Dev - just remember to think through your experience there so you can provide good examples of what you learned/did - and how much you really enjoyed the complexity of it, etc. If you have helped underwrite or been involved in the underwriting of a few multifamily properties at your current gig, just talk about that. You just have to sell the idea that you are decent with excel, and that this opportunity seems like a great way to continue learning while also satisfying your desire to be in development. Do NOT describe the fact that you have limited underwriting experience. You are simply going to describe what you can honestly speak to. Don't let your impression of what they're looking for shape your thinking, you have no idea. If they're looking for someone with killer excel skills who can underwrite things in their sleep, then they'll ask you a ton of technical questions, figure out you're not the one, and move on.
But, if they're looking for an analyst they can train to their way of thinking and can start to pick up some of the work load pretty soon, then it sounds like it could be yours.
Ended up getting the offer and am super happy. Really appreciate the help
Like most interviews, try to translate that what you've learned could translate to this future role.
For example: "I'm not 100% versed in all the metrics highly scrutinized in the hospitality industry, etc, but real estate always comes down to a few metrics such as levered/un-levered yields, cap rates, revenue/expense assumptions, bigger picture is Metro/location analysis, tenant/operator analysis comes down to business/credit analysis., ..."
Don't be afraid to be humble and ask questions, don't pretend like you know how to answer everything. If your think of your interviewer as someone you met at a networking event and had intelligent questions to learn their industry, they would totally respect that. They would not respect you trying to pull something out of your ass to sound like you know what you're talking about. If you do go down that route, at least pre-qualify your explanation saying you're not sure of exact analysis, but my experience makes me think XYZ.., etc.
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