Full time analyst 2021
I’m graduating in May 2021 from a target school. I’ve had a few internships in capital markets in top markets and top advisory firms. I’ve gotten five interviews so far at top REPE firms and REITs and have been rejected from all.
One thing I’ve noticed throughout all interviews is that all interviewers have asked questions such as “how did you get into real estate/how are you so successful so far/where are you from?” along with telling me “we look for candidates with a strong education and great backgrounds/the culture of our firm is to get to know everyone, and their families”. My family is not in the real estate industry, and I feel like this may have been holding me back in my interviews.
Am I naive for thinking I could excel in this industry without family connections to offer?
yeah you are naive. it certainly gives you a leg up at certain types of firms/interviews, but don't sweat it. keep pumping and recognize that this is an extremely tough job market for anyone looking to break into a nice analyst role straight out of school. people with 1-2 years experience in these roles are being laid off right now, and you are competing with kids who graduated in May that still have yet to find a job. be thankful that you are still in school and can wait this one out a bit.
Thanks for your input. I see you're a current intern - does anyone who is in the industry have any input?
Don't worry, also from target school and interviewing has been tough. Firms that are hiring are only hiring like one analyst per class, definitely try to expand you options / expectations when it comes to hiring because you can move firms in 2-3 years anyways.
Nice to hear I’m in company. Great advice - thank you.
Piece of advice I would give would be to obtain any RE job you can in this market. If it's what you want to do, then great. If not, don't sweat it because any job right now is a good job - there are no bad options in this environment.
Take what you can get and try to recruit for your goal position after 6 months to a year. Firms will understand the situation.
Got it - thanks for the advice.
I'm also a senior at a target school and recruiting had been pretty rough on my end as well. I was able to score a few interviews but after a few rejections ended up taking a return offer I had from the past summer. As for the background question, you definitely don't need a family background in RE to pitch yourself well. I've been networking with some analysts/associates at some prominent REPE firms and most of them just enjoy real estate due to their interest in urban planning or the fact that its a tangible asset (although in an interview you should go beyond the typical "tangible asset" pitch). I haven't talked to that many firms but I'm surprised to hear that some firms directly mention caring about family background. Perhaps the firms are implying that they like to get to know the families of their workers but don't necessarily prioritize candidates with RE family backgrounds?
Best of luck in your recruiting, I know it's tough but if its any consolation, the recruiting process for RE is pretty stretched out so you have a still have a lot of time to recruit for firms as the economic situation improves. I've personally seen some big name RE firms recruit for analysts even in late spring/summer so while stressful, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities opening up!
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