What responsibilities to ask for (RE internship)?
Hi,
I've managed to get an internship through a connection in the real estate division of a big financial conglomerate. The HR today called me to ask what I'm looking for and my response was somewhat like " I don't know... what do you suggest. I would like to do some financial modeling". My connection is president of the group/company so I didn't care much about how I sound.
He went on to explain that since I'm available for only 60 days and only 40 of which will be work days, learning and getting to do financial modeling and stuff is just not possible. He asked what other responsibilities am I looking for and I couldn't come up with anything.
He proposed me to analyze all their present real estate investments, ongoing price, the competition and target group market. This sounds like marketing/strategy nonsense which I'm not keen to do at all.
(inb4 negged for my sense of entitlement)
Should I bother? My other alternative is to spend the summer learning a language and study for the CFA.
I don't contribute much here so SB's to everyone with a legit response.
Bullshit. Don't listen to that guy. Stay up all night combing through one of their models and I bet you can learn something.
Sad reality is that the "marketing/strategy nonsense" is part of the real estate job. it's important. you'll have to do market research very often to make sure your assumptions are correct. what if a building is scheduled to go up in the near future? how will it impact the market and what type of rent can the developer expect? if you buy an office building with 35% vacancy, inject capital to renovate the property, and lease it up, what will you list as the selling price when you're doing the modeling? modeling is part of the job. it's important, but you need to realize that is real estate driven by the local market. you should understand how it works.
Why not look up someone who you think has an interesting job, and check out what their responsibilities are. Write down the ones that you think you can: learn in the 60 days, enjoy doing, can benefit from learning, and can use to contribute to the team.
Don't get mad at HR for making a suggestion when you gave him what sounds like no insight as to what you want to do, other than "financial modeling". Although this is certainly important to know and learn there is more to IB than just the numbers.
Good read, and should give you insight on what you should really be trying to learn:
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/misguided-efforts-a-cautionary-tale
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