Development - Career Advice

First time in my career I've ever been looked at as anything below top of my company / group.

So, it may be worth noting that many firms have a general ethos of not easily giving glowing feedback, and actively resist the "trophy" culture idea that leads to giving everyone above average/outstanding ratings (after all... if everyone is above average.... then the meaning of average is what exactly?). Thus, worth talking with firm peers and even your boss about how level setting occurs. This is cultural firm by firm, and important to try and understand where your firm is (ie... before even trying to assess your own performance on a relative basis).

That said.... development is one hell of an industry to learn on the fly (not sure if you mean this is your first job in CRE period, or if switched post-MBA from another CRE field or something closely related). Honestly, in six months, you may not even get to see that much (the pace is not that fast in most situations, slower the bigger the deals too!), so feeling a bit deer in headlights is not surprising at all. Of course, being post-MBA comes with higher expectations (and hopefully a higher comp package), and thus the stage is set for what you are experiencing. Being straight up honest, it's not surprising given context, and thankfully, probably not indicative of much of your ability. 

To the question of how to fix...... is it correct that you had essentially two points of improvement? 1. Boost RE knowledge and 2. Boost overall throughput of work (ie. do more/faster?).? That's what I'm interpreting., so if otherwise, say so...

On point 1. Read, google, and maybe even do some online course (if that really would seem to help), on the material you feel deficient. Also, find some trustworthy internal mentor (maybe your boss, or just a helpful person) who you can ask your "stupid questions" to (or come ask on WSO... lol... there are posts like that!). I'm guessing you probably said something, asked something, or just clearly didn't know/understand something easy/basic in a meeting or whatever, and that stuck out when compiling the review (FYI... I see this happen with new associates and even new dev. managers at my firm sometimes... I TRY not to judge them for missing something that I find painfully obvious, but it's easier said than done, and most of the time, if I look back at it, they were on a new type of project/job than they ever had been before, so really, not surprising as I said). The key is really figuring out what you "don't know" (yeah, that's a tough one....), but clearly they seem to know. I think it is fair to ask your boss what areas you should improve upon, it seems they are helpful by the comments (you judge any risks there). 

On point 2. Eh.. work more hours? Double check your work product? Again, this is too vague to be tactical, but I'm guessing you maybe took a week to do something they think should be done in a day or something along those lines? OR is it more like you should have done something that you didn't, missed a key step, didn't do something to completion, or otherwise look like you failed to take the initiative. These are different issues, and maybe you were dinged for both, but worth figuring out exactly what was missed and why (like you didn't know it should be done, or didn't do it timely, or just didn't think it was your job). Personally, maybe worth seeking out more feedback on work product from your boss... I think seeming "proactive" is smartest step. If they think you are working diligently at doing better, it makes it easier to see this as "corrected/fixed". While it is NEVER good to constantly asking your boss what to do next (or today, now, etc.), I may be good to set more clear work agendas, timelines, deadlines, and check-ins. At least in short period, seems like an obvious think to do in context.

So, overall a final point... it doesn't seem like you got tagged with the "lazy, stuck-up MBA, I'm better than this" tag (FYI, there was a really funny FedEx commercial from like 2006 or something that really nailed that joke, go to YouTube and search FedEx MBA ad, it will come right up). BUT, you have earned something similar in structure. Again, don't know your background details or circumstances of your hire, but it sounds like they expected more "experience" than you can provide (I mean, that is basically re-stating your post). Being humble and seeming open to learn is important, I gather they didn't say that, but it may be something to be aware of just in case they are thinking it. To be clear, I may be totally off base on that, since I'm not you and not there... but the context of it made me think it. Career switchers with big degrees face the highest risk of this for sure! The truth is..... people are amazed when 23 year olds don't fuck up the coffee order, even if they graduated from Harvard summa cum laude. If you are closer to 30/35, they just expect you to be a 10 year veteran like your boss says. Just part of life!