Brokerage or institutional Internship?
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on what I should do for my third-year summer internship. I've completed three internships in Accounting, Leasing, and now Asset Management, all with medium to large-size developers. I want to really take my experience to the next level and set myself up to work at a brokerage or large institution after graduating.
I've heard that brokerage internships can be quite bland and involve minimal work, but they offer the advantage of extensive networking opportunities. On the institutional side, I feel like I would gain more technical knowledge, but it seems more like back-office work.
What do you think would be the best path for growth in the early stages of my career?
Bump
An institutional investment sales team doesn’t really need an intern. Interns are taken 80% of the time because theyre a client’s kid and as a trade it will result in them sending a deal our way soon(er). If you do end up on a broker team, your experience could vary wildly depending on the team. You can’t paint it with a wide brush. You might not expand your network at all, but could get great teaching from someone on the team. The opposite is also possible. Just wanted to clear the deck there
With that said, you should be asking yourself what you think you want to do when you graduate and that will guide better advice. What property type(s) are you interested in? Do you see yourself as a broker one day maybe? Do you want to be in asset manager? Etc etc.
I'm considering a brokerage internship in investment sales, but an institutional internship would be either in Asset Management or Portfolio Management. I know it's much harder to transition from brokerage to institutional, which is why I'm leaning towards the institutional path.
Additionally, I like the volume of deals brokers see and the opportunity to build my own personal brand. However, the uncertainty of not making any money for two years in brokerage scares me. Institutional roles provide more safety and progression, but I'm still torn between the two options.
What are your thoughts?
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