Okay so I’m doing a 5th year so technically I’m a rising sophomore. I’ve had two real estate internships. One at a developer my freshman year. And another at a major REPE firm this past summer. I’ve come to the realization that I want to do banking because I do not want to simply be limited to real estate career options. I am aware that it is late in the game for IB recruiting but I do not want to do a RE internship next summer and be further stuck in the real estate hole. Is it too late? I’m doing an extra year so next summer would technically be my sophomore summer
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You can leverage your real estate experience to get into investment banking.
Use your next internship as a transitionary opportunity to find more relevant work experience. An example could be a real estate commercial banking role, a small boutique private equity firm that does real estate deals and would value your previous internship experience, or any other work that is close to what you would do in investment banking. In your internship after that (if you have one) you want to aim for summer analyst roles at a boutique investment banks so you can position yourself for banking. You will need to network very hard for this and go on many coffee chats with random bankers you don't know personally. Hopefully with the relevant experience, good grades, strong ECs, and some networking you'll be able to land a gig in banking and escape real estate.
Do you think trying to land a gig working for a Real Estate based fintech company such as Cadre would be a solid start?
I ideally want to get to a BB or top boutique bank. I attend an ivy target with a 3.7+ so the main issue is just gaining experience that deviates away from real estate and more toward investment banking
No. I feel like it's not close enough to investment banking and that you could do better with a 3.7 at an Ivy. It'll be very difficult to land a summer analyst role the following year if you have to explain to them that your fintech startup role is translatable to investment banking.
Like I said, you really need to focus on positions at boutique firms even if its 5-20 people in the areas of: private equity, real estate private equity, equity research, commercial banking, corporate banking, mid-market investment banking.
You can do it. If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.
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