Does being at a well known firm that has had bad performances hurt job prospects?
Title.
I started off at a well known firm as a summer analyst and I’m now an associate so the majority of my resume is filled with experience from this firm. The issue is we’ve performed terribly and it’s not a secret. I’ve seen a few WSO comments about the firm’s poor performance.
As someone who’s just doing his job, do I get penalized for the firm’s poor performance when looking for a new job? Specifically referring to jobs at BX and the like. No I’m not fiending for prestige; I have a family situation that requires me bring in as much money as possible without too much risk. As much as I’d like to be an entrepreneur, it isn’t in the cards for me currently.
It’s tough because I went to a decent but not great undergrad so this firm and the experience I’ve gotten here is all I have.
Depends on the firm, but in general, if you're a summer analyst - associate, you aren't the decision maker...you're just being told what to do by senior people. if you're at, say, RXR and you gave back a bunch of buildings you asset manage (just an example) and i came across your resume...no, i wouldn't hold it against you.
i mean, it's not as good as if the firm had performed well, but at the end of the day your interviewer shouldn't / won't hold someone with 3-5 years of experience accountable for what went wrong. Just steer the conversation / resume to the performance of YOUR deals specifically... hopefully they were better than the overall portfolio, or if they weren't you should at least point to some unforeseeable external reason why they went south. Would also emphasize what you learned but acknowledge your firm had shortcomings in [X area that you weren't responsible for] that you're hoping to mitigate with a new firm.
It’s not a big deal at all. Look at all the successful people who worked at CIM group or Goldman’s old REPE fund (Whitehall).
But you should for sure get out when you have an opportunity at a firm with better long-term prospects. Attaching yourself to a well performing company is pretty important in RE
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