Career Switch to Development
I’d appreciate any feedback that anyone is willing to offer. I’m looking to make a career switch into development on the west coast and would prefer to be in California if possible. Do you think this switch is feasible given my background? Do the paths I’m considering make sense?
Background:
Athlete @ West Coast State School (think Boulder/Oregon)
Masters in Management (think Georgetown/Duke/UVA)
Experience:
1 Year Tech Consulting
1 Year on investment team @ SM HF as an analyst
1 Year @ Large Credit Hedge Fund on investment team as an associate
3 IB Internships during UG (2 at name brand firms and the other at a local boutique)
Reason for wanting to switch:
- Work is more entrepreneurial where I’m able to build relationships
- Want to leverage my problem solving skills and build my project management skills
Options:
Accelerated MBA from where I got my masters (Duke/Georgetown/UVA)
MSRE/MRED (Berkeley, Columbia, San Diego, and USC)
MBA (Haas, Marshall, or Anderson)
Main concern with the MSRE/MSRED and Accelerated MBA path is the inability to do an internship. Additionally, on tuition on the MSRE/MSRED is pretty steep without the engrained networks and branding of an MBA.
Main concern for MBA is my 3-4 years of experience being on the lighter side compared to peers that I’ll be competing with for roles.
OK, so as someone who came from a non-finance background, got their MBA, and then moved in the SoCal development, I'll say I think it's entirely possible to do this without a masters. It might not be easy, but definitely doable, you'll probably come in at an senior analyst/associate role since you don't have any real estate background and need to learn the ins and outs of actual development (which is way more than just underwriting). There will be a learning curve, obviously, but it's nothing that you won't be able to overcome, just expect to spend the first 4-6 months in learning mode before you really feel like you have a good grasp of the process. At this point, if you just try to make a lateral move, you'll probably still be working mostly on finance/underwriting for a few years before getting into serious PM roles. Depending on the firm, you might get pulled into development related items earlier and they'll slowly bring you up to speed, or you might be doing 100% UW and then switch to 100% project management.
Getting the MBA is your best shot at propelling directly into a development role, but even that will be tough since you don't have any real estate background. It was tough for me to make the transition because I didn't have any of the finance experience (I came from construction), but someone took a chance on me because I did have a lot of project management and construction experience, which is valuable in development. I'd recommend the full MBA for someone making this big of shift, if you were doing REPE beforehand an accelerated or single-year program might make sense but I think you will seriously benefit from the internship opportunities and extra year since it's gonna be tough for any developer to be expanding in the next 12-18 months.
As far as experience goes, you'll be fine. I started my MBA with a little under 3 years of experience. Even if you decided this very day who you were going to apply to and take the GMAT tomorrow, you'll still be in R3 which is not a good place to be, so you'll be applying in the 2023 round (R1) to matriculate in fall 2024, giving you another 1.5 years of experience, putting you at 4-6 years experience which is the sweet spot for MBA admissions: not too green so you can't contribute and understand, not too senior that the MBA is beneath you. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions, I was on the real estate club board (at one of the schools you mentioned) as a director of admissions helping people like you make their MBA decisions.
Really appreciate you getting back to me and for your thoughtful response. PM’d
I'd say getting right into a development role based on your work experience so far is quite small. Going for an MBA or MRED aren't bad ideas considering that's where most of the institutional shops are picking up candidates, but there are obviously some serious tradeoffs to consider. If I were you, consider going into a sell-side role for a little bit, mortgage brokerage, investment sales, origination, etc.. Get some deal/transaction experience first and those places have many more roles open than developers do. This experience isn't a must, but with the experience you have, it's hard to feel convinced that you'd make for a good hire in development and not leave after a short period.
I would recommend a regular ‘ol MBA. MSREDs don’t have nearly the prestige - basically, no one gives a shit if you have one or not, whereas an MBA opens a ton of doors. Should that be the case? Probably not, but it is.
Obviously the programs you listed are most logical and would put you in a position to get a job in development.
I am going to disagree with this comment. I got my MBA from a top 25 program and found it very tough sledding recruiting for development gigs. Generally people I talked to thought that an MBA did not add much value (their opinion, not mine) for someone wanting to go into development. Anecdotally I know more people with MRED/MSRE degrees from Cal or Columbia than MBA students. Those programs (also probably MIT, and USC for west coast) have great branding in the RE world.
This may change somewhat if you're at a M7 MBA school looking at larger developers (Hines, Trammel Crow, Tishman) with established MBA recruiting programs.
The poster who mentioned doing sell-side, brokerage or investment sales makes a good point. I would've had a much easier time getting my gig with 18-24 months at Eastdil under my belt. Most small to mid-size developers would much rather you have practical real estate transaction knowledge than a degree in my experience.
I would agree - I got my MBA and wish I did a MSED instead. I think if you want to do portfolio management/accounting, MBA is preferred but developers rather see a MSED.
As someone at one of the top devs (Hines/Tishman/TCC). MBA is by far the best way to get your foot in the door here. Almost all of our hiring is done through MBA recruiting. Chances of getting in without one are slim to none without extensive RE experience (pre-MBA hiring is effectively non-existent and very ad hoc)
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