Dead Ends in Job Search, Looking for Advice
Just for some background, I graduated in late May with Finance( 3.84 GPA) and Marketing (3.67 GPA) Majors and a Real Estate (4.0 GPA) minor from a non-target school that is well known for its engineering program. Back in my freshman year, I secured an internship offer for the freshman-sophomore summer and thought I was on a great track until the offer got rescinded in the onset of Covid. Being back home for remote schooling, I got a job at a well-known retail company working as a cashier and customer service rep in conjunction with a team that primarily handled material orders from contractors. This job paid rather well due to covid-bonuses and I thought the best move for myself at the time was to just save as much money as possible while stuck at home. I did not look too much into remote internships because I was already working a 40 hour work week and attending online classes. Last summer, I got to late rounds of interviewing for several different companies but was unable to secure an internship and ultimately missed out on getting industry experience during college. I have now been applying for positions since this November with no promising opportunities developing, so I have enrolled in a reputable post-grad Real Estate Investment certificate program to try to improve my resume. I am at the point where I am preparing to accept an offer to work in a a different industry while I continue my education, but was really hopeful that something would pan out in the near future in the real estate industry. Does anyone have any advice as to how I can better position myself to find opportunities in the industry without having 1-3 years of experience right now? Also, does anyone think that hiring of entry level analysts in the real estate industry will pick up in the near term? It seems like every "entry level" position calls for experience working in very specific business capacities and I know that given the amount of layoffs recently the market is rather competitive.
P.S. Does anyone have any recommendations for positions I should be shooting for if I am looking to break into commercial real estate analysis/underwriting?
Went through something similar as I graduated during Covid. Took my 7 months post graduation to get my first job. I would argue now is actually a tougher time to enter the industry. Transaction activity is very low and it will be like that for at least another few months, so no reason to hire right now. I would target asset management roles. Might not be the underwriting role you are looking for, however it is good experience, you would work close with the transactions guys, and it is easy to move over in 1-2 yrs (likely within the same firm).
Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. I've been applying to asset management roles so far but will definitely continue to do so and try to use my network to find an opportunity.
You will get a job, it just takes time. I graduated in early COVID and it took me ~5 months to get a relevant role in the industry (Fortune 100 REIT). You need to ask yourself, how badly do I want to land my first job in real estate. If your answer is "I don't know" or really anything less than "I'm 100% committed to being in real estate for my first role", I would accept an alternative position - it isn't easy.
Network in your target markets and take as many interviews as possible even if you're not psyched about the job. I would look into asset management, property management, and any form of brokerage at a reputable top real estate services firm (think CBRE, Newmark, JLL, etc). There are still need based hires occurring in the market specifically for cheap junior level employees. Ping me if you want to discuss further, happy to help.
PM me. I’d skip the cert program though and try to shoot for an MSRE/MSRED.
I would highly recommend including capital markets at a brokerage in your job search. Either "investment sales" or "debt/equity placement" at a place like CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, etc. (bigger the better). These roles are an excellent starting point and relatively easier to break into than some other CRE finance roles. As a bonus, brokers are pretty plugged into the local CRE market, so even if you network with them and they aren't able to hire you they could still be a great referral source.
Ok, I’ll definitely be on the look out for those roles. Thanks for the advice.
I would 2nd that.
Of all of the folks I've been speaking with, debt/equity/structured finance brokers are the busiest. I would hit up all of the big players in your market.
Right now the industry is having a tough time. With rising interest rates, people aren’t moving around much causing less openings.
with that said - you’re 22 - you’ll be fine. Keep searching. Are you networking? Networking will be your best bet in. 100% do the certificate program. But leverage the program and create a network thru it. Can you also access the job board of the school?
If you're not dead set on commercial real estate, applying for an Acquisitions Analyst position at a Homebuilder could be a great option. There's way less competition for these roles than commercial and you'll still be underwriting, conducting due diligence, and, depending on the company, presenting deals to the CEO and CFO.
You'll likely get paid less than your commercial counterparts, but it's a job and you're getting experience.
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