How competitive are Capital Markets roles at big brokerages?
Been interested in going into development long term as an undergrad and the no. 1 piece of advice I get is to go into capital markets and then make a lateral shift. I’m curious how competitive roles like CBRE, JLL capital markets teams are. Coming from a top 20 LAC with past internship experience at Related but no internship opportunity for this (sophomore) summer (fell through last-minute), top 2 percent of the class with math and economics double major.
For any of the tier one markets it’s going to be pretty competitive. Unlike traditional analyst roles at other large firms, these types of offices JLL/CBRE will only hire as needed in order to keep the teams as small as possible. Let’s say you’re wanting to work in the CBRE Miami office, they might only hire an additional analyst or 2 when the previous analyst leaves or becomes a broker, so that might be one hiring cycle every 2-3 years or so. As far as the caliber of kids they want, you will have to be extremely personable and have a solid finance background. It’s definitely doable and a lot of kids get into analyst roles at these places every year, but like you mentioned in your post, all real estate kids get the same advice that big name brokerage is the best way to start out so you will have a ton of competition in getting the role. Good luck man!
Any advice for ways, when going through the internship search process, to add in some roles that deliver a lot of the same benefit but that round out the odds to make sure you’re not in a rough position? What I mean is, are, say, real estate PE roles more approachable? Is adding in a bunch boutique firms a good idea? Choosing 2nd or 3rd tier cities? Real estate consulting? 2 years out, seems like the economy could be booming or could still be in a rut…
Not 100% sure what you mean, but the best thing you can do when you’re looking for internships is to network your ass off. Any big shop will set you up for success regardless of the exact discipline it’s in within CRE. Try out a few different areas within the industry and then decide on which one you like the best for FT recruiting. I think capital markets at any notable shop is a great way to start just because of the sheer amount of deals you are seeing live
These roles are competitive in the sense that a lot of people apply for limited roles, and it will take some combination of networking/connections/timing/luck to land a role, especially in the current market. They are much less competitive than other roles in finance in that you don't need to be highly pedigreed or check all the boxes in terms of internships or "target" undergrad in order to break in -- I've seen tons of IS analysts (myself included) who have random majors from random schools and didn't even have internships/experience in CRE prior to being hired..
Everything Ricky said is correct. Emphasis on networking, financial modeling classes (online or on campus), Argus certification (I did a 3-day class for ~$1,000). Any kind of real estate related internship or part-time job while in college in addition to completing the modeling courses will make you very competitive. I have seen plenty of post grads with only apartment leasing gigs on their resume in addition to modeling courses get analyst offers from top firms because it shows they are willing to hustle.
Second this, student leasing + argus modeling certification (which a lot of schools will offer a discounted course for) is a great formula.
Any other tips on how to differentiate to try to land in the best possible spot? In lieu of an internship spending this summer working with a mentor at a prestigious development firm in skill- building a couple hours a week, including Argus. Plus hoping to land something at a boutique firm for January to get some experience then plus be able to list it as an “incoming” role when applying for next summer. Been focused on CRE for a while and made some great connections in the industry, but nervous my options get a lot more limited since my opportunity for this (sophomore) summer fell through since I see so many people at CM desks had one.
Possible for you to get a fall internship
Sounds like you are taking this very seriously, which is good but don't forget the personality part of the job. At the end of the day you are trying to get a job in brokerage (sales). Your bosses want to hire someone who is capable and has potential for business dev / to be client facing in the future. So make sure to be cool.
Depends on where you want to be - I cannot speak to culture in New York / North East. My experience is limited to Texas and Colorado but most of my peers (CB/JLL/Berkadia Capital Markets both IS and D/E) did not have crazy internships in college and landed those gigs by networking and having decent enough grades. Spend some time on linked in looking for folks you have connections to with those jobs and put in some effort to be friends with them so they can help you get an interview down the road. Getting an internship with a leasing team (any asset class but probs ind. is the best) during the school year would be really helpful experience.
First, if development is without a doubt your career goal then you should be directly pursuing it. Your pursuit of brokerage should just be another avenue you’re considering.. not the sole or primary target.
Second, given that you seem pretty set on CRE, you may want to decide which property type you’re most interested in so you can try to tailor your internships/certifications/networking around it. If you don’t know yet then that’s totally okay.
Right now is a difficult time to find an internship or full time role in CRE. Next year will hopefully be better. With that said, if I was heading into my Junior year and felt that I needed to strengthen my resume I would do the below:
The two key things that helped me break in were:
1) I took some online RE financial modeling classes (Breaking Into Wall Street + Adventures in CRE). I was by no means an expert modeler, but capable enough to do well on basic modeling questions that came up during interviews. This stuff is simply not taught in school but pretty easy to learn with self education online and basic excel skills.
2) networked my ass off, and not just specifically for the role I wanted. I ended up getting an IS role in my 1st choice city because I networked with a developer in a 2nd/3rd choice city who happened to be close friends with a broker in my 1st choice city and knew he would be hiring soon and made the intro for me. Casting a wide net will be extra necessary in the current job market, so be open to a variety of roles/locations and start blasting off 50+ cold emails in the next couple weeks.
Idk if I got lucky but I’ve never really heard about pivoting as necessary to break into development. Feels like you can directly go into it without having to do so.
CBRE hired a person with no real estate experience other than leasing to a top senior analyst position recently.... I would say the roles are as easy as possible to get--just be prepared to deal with 20+ huge egos, as brokers will be your boss on underwriting assumptions.
I was an analyst at a brokerage, and I left because you have 20 people nitpicking your assumptions and getting pissed that you don't know what they're thinking about each and every deal. It's a bullshit job to be honest.
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