Graduate Level Internships
Hey guys curious in general what are some owner/developers people have interned for while on school. Obviously names like Related, Hines are well known. I’m curious if there were any you worked at that were smaller or you cold emailed someone there and landed a great role. Specific for cities like NYC and LA.
Going into a masters program in one of these cities and it seems it’s not the exact time but also tough to find one place with smaller names where people have gotten experience as an intern it seems there are only full time roles out.
My best advice would just be to continue networking. I know that's boring and expected advice, but it's really the best think you can do. Meet people, and get your name out there. Learn what exciting opportunities are out there, and what cool projects people are working on.
There are so, so many small RE shops, and whether its $1M or $1B, RE Deals are all going to have a lot of similarities, and thus any exposure can be valuable. Go to local offices or departments, and regulatory agencies. Yeah, it may not be REPE, but a job at a county or state agency involved with real estate will give you a lot of exposure into parts of the deal and RE process that most wont get the chance to see, Housing Authorities are one example.
You're going to have to willing to offer your services for less than is probably worth in return, but the more you start saying to people "hey, if you ever need a hand, or are looking for some help on X, I'm currently going through this program and can help with modeling/budgeting/market studies etc."
I know it's cheesy, but it works. As someone from a non target school, I started working for CBRE part time my senior year of college, and I was able to get an "internship" my junior year from an alum who worked at BAM that vouched for me and I helped model some consulting work he was doing for a family friend- it was enough to land me a full time job at a DCM UW shop.
Thanks, appreciate the comment. So part of me feels I’ve done that, out of undergrad I worked at a smaller IS firm for a few years and then a developer. So I’m targeting more brand names for internship opportunities in the program now. I see what you’re saying but if I keep taking the smaller roles I’ll never get to the bigger shops with a name brand. I’m also getting some looks from those firms now, which is why I’m feeling confident in saying that. I know it doesn’t come across as willing to do what it takes and humble/not the right thought process, but on the flip side if I have 3-4 years of experience in IS/development and have already sacrificed to get those roles why should I keep doing that and not aim big when people coming from this program with no RE experience landed at big names. It’s definitely not my overall thought process because I am reaching out to people and willing to work for free right now to get the opportunity but also I’m trying to think when is the time to put my foot down and be demanding to get those more coveted roles. From my POV I’m trying to widen my opportunities, so going through a well known/respected masters program will do that. I get experience matters but so does band name. I feel I’m at the point where I can push for the name brand side and start adding that along with the skills.
All your points are valid, friend. Although, I'm curious, why at this point are you pushing for the big brand name, which will likely coincide with less authority and more grunt work? With the background you're describing and the completed masters program, you should be a hotshot RE brain! My advice is to not limit yourself to a big brand name - my personal thought is that the more you have control over a deal/asset/investment decisions, the better. Here's why:
Unlike other finance industries, RE investment and forming your own company is very achievable and accessible early in life (23 and buying a rental property rn!) without too much luck/capital. There's a lot to learn before you'll be running your own firm/big deals, but being at the big vs the small shops don't necessarily help you there. There's absolutely value in the big names, and you'll learn some pretty complex tokens of knowledge. But, you may have to sacrifice a lot more than you expected. The bigger the company, the bigger the BS. More time is spent on reporting to every which person imaginable, or bending backwards to make someone appreciate the cool cap rate research you did (PS, they wont).
If you get the more tangible, deal maker experience, even at a smaller shop, I guarantee that would help you leaps and bounds to getting to your envisioned end goal, than coming in as an Associate/senior analyst at a big name. when promotion time comes, the big name is probably going to hire the guy coming from a small shop with legit deal experience and a principal mindset, rather than take the internal model bois.
So, my question to you is: What is your end goal with RE, why did you choose this field? Remember this reason as you're moving forward.
Understood, I agree. As mentioned, I was in a similar spot and learned a lot at a smaller shop. From what I've seem though you aren't working on a super complex Hudson Yards ground up development project and building relationships with major funds/other people at top developers.
Where I was no one knew our name and we didn't even have the cash to buy deals outright we were ground leasing them. The principals had significant NW (based on subjective NW they put together so who knows if it was true) but when you look at it 95% of their NW was tied up in real estate and they had a few mil in liquidity so if anything serious happened they were fucked. Also it was their own company and they treated the employees financially and personally like shit, which moved down to the others having the ability to do that. No one was appreciative of the work you were doing and they had a Jekyll and Hide attitude of freaking out on you then being nice in the span of a day. As the junior you got blamed for everything that went wrong even if you weren't there and the guys above you did not really know their shit even a few years into the job and could not answer many questions I had on certain situations or what is xyz to learn and had not even dealt with that.
So sure you got a range of experiences, but there were drawbacks. Now even if that is the case at Related, Tishman, Silverstein which I highly doubt is all true you get a name, work on sick deals, and are compensated better than that. I would gladly work 60-70+ hours a week for someone who went to top schools, was a wealth of knowledge and experience that I could hopefully ask questions to but also learn from on the job worst case, and build relationships with that caliber of people. Vs the group of40 year olds who built a small real estate company (congrats good accomplishment), but are way more focused on their money/their lives, have no incentive to help the younger generation, and do what ever they want so that you have to walk on eggshells due to the fact they can fire you at any second. I'm sure there are great smaller shops, but too many are run by crazy psychos who hold all the power and wield it how they want in an unprofessional environment/a place you don't want to be if you have aspirations for a polished/more institutional career in the long run. And the top owner/developers will gladly promote you internally.
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