Certifications Worth Pursuing
Locked up in quarantine and looking to expand on some of my excel/modeling knowledge as well as beef up my resume.
I've seen a lot of people completing Justin Kivel's Breaking into CRE courses. They're cheap and have great reviews, but do these classes hold any value to recruiters?
What other classes/certifications will help with the recruitment process?
*Already ARGUS certified
https://www.leveragedbreakdowns.com/product/offerings/
Has anyone taken/heard anything about the courses offered here? Seems like another cheap option.
I’ve taken this course — imo best value out there. Doesn’t come with any type of certification, but great content + a robust technical interview guide.
Justin Kivel's courses are undoubtedly high quality but the certifications haven't gained enough industry momentum to be seriously considered by recruiters. It doesn't hurt, though.
AFAIK there are few certifications for RE that are accepted industry-wide, Argus aside. However, REFM is worth a shot if you have nothing better to do. Ultimately people at my firm (MF REPE) have the CFA more than anything else; I actually haven't seen anyone with any other certification.
Edit: Justin Kivel's courses actually taught me the modeling I needed to break into MF. Though I did not rely on the certiifcation to get me an interview or offer, I probably owe my career to his courses.
Thanks for the thoughtful response!
I'll def be taking some of Justin's courses since they're so well priced. Are there any specific ones you recommend?
Real Estate Financial Modeling Bootcamp was the first one I took. Equity waterfall master class and the pro-forma master class were both very good as well. Was working on the development modeling one but then I signed my offer in a non-developer role so I put a pin in that.
Are the people with the CFA primarily in asset management, or is it valued by other divisions as well?
I would only do those that have value to skill development, the ability to add 'familiar with ABC, XYZ' could help a resume but 'Breaking into CRE' probably won't mean much. Be careful, as you can say 'familiar with' or 'proficient in' so long as you can back it up, but do not conflate with 'experienced in' which implies you have done this for pay.
The type of certification that may help are those that lead to a professional designation. Like passing CFA Level 1, in some markets and some careers (like brokerage/appraisal) the CCIM courses may get some attention (not in the institutional world).
I think NAIOP has opened up their catalog for free to members during COVID, those may impress other NAIOP members and at least carry the name of a well regarded organization.
Bottom line, do them to learn, not dress up a resume.
Thanks for the response. I'll keep that in mind when next updating my resume.
I'm going to need to look more into the NAIOP courses offered. Do you know if they've discounted the rate for non-members as well? Last I recall most of them were around $1,000.
Edit: They're still priced around $1000. No discounts for non-members
I think it is a special benefit to members during the pandemic. it’s a great organization with really good networking benefits as well, I’d highly recommend
I honestly am struggling to think of one off the top of my head outside of Argus if the firm uses it. If I saw a bunch of random certifications on a resume, I'd give you credit for the pursuit of knowledge, but it would hardly be a defining factor in the hiring process.
Take those kind of courses and certifications to learn things, not because you think they will give you a one up to companies. Most of the time, they won't.
I have both NAIOP ones and REFM. REFM is great for modeling, NAIOs are better as like a finance or development course, felt more like upper division college classes than anything else.
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