How bad is getting fired in RE? Any comeback stories?
Anyone have any info/stories for being let go due to performance or similar? I'm a first-year analyst coming up on ~10 months and lately have been messing up a bit. I don't think I will get fired but I'm definitely not looking very good right now and starting to get a bit anxious. Just wondering what the scenario would look like if I were to be fired or let go.
Thanks in advance.
So, first a general observation... You are probably not doing as bad as you think. The bar for 1st year analysts is low, it is expected you will fuck up, it really takes years to get good at this business (i.e. the 10,000 hours thing Gladwell talks about). Biggest tip is to be humble and learn, if you have a good attitude and make forward progress you should do fine. I think everyone has some experience like this in first few years out, really we all suck for first few years in some ways.
That said, to your question. I know of people who literally took down billion dollar companies and managed to restart anew. Thus, I think something that you do/no do in your early career (I'm guessing earlier twenties??) isn't going to matter much at all in your career story. People get fired, for legit and illegit reasons all the time. So long as you don't make a habit of it, it shouldn't change the final trajectory of your career.
Seriously, people don't take linear paths near as much as it seems. Markets take dives, companies fail, positions disappear, and people even get fired. I worked for a small REIB type firm when I was out of grad school in 2007/08, they got nuked (okay, so almost everyone did then...). In all seriousness, it was maybe the best turning point for my career (too personal to explain why), shit happens, and I've found that things you get to that are good worthwhile may not have been findable without the shitty stuff.
Go read Taleb's book Antifragile, should be mandatory reading (and The Black Swan) for the CRE industry.
Just getting around to responding to this but just wanted to let you know how much this grounded me in a time of stress. Really appreciate it and really solid advice. I will look into your book recommendation for sure.
I'll be more candid as anonymous: I was actually recently almost put on a PIP and got out of it, but that's because I did not want to get fired (especially given current climate). If you've been sleeping recently and not before, it sounds like you've just lost interest in your current position. That's what happened to me, but also because my firm's investment thesis doesn't really align with my views (long story with a short answer). I don't suggest looking for other roles yet but definitely think through the following at a minimum: