How do I respond to people asking for my resume while networking?
I've been reaching out to people in the industry to network with and talk to about what they do, how they got there, etc. How do I respond when they ask to see my resume? Yesterday, I had a guy on the phone and he said I should send him my resume so he could pass it on to his MD. Now, another guy today said he wanted to see it, review it, then set up a time to talk (first time reaching out to this guy through cold email).
I wouldn't have an issue with any of this except that I'm going into my senior year of college (they know this) and my resume isn't nearly where I want it to be. I have no relevant internships and have only worked retail. My "skills" section would also be lacking as I am not an expert with anything that has to do with CRE yet. My GPA is also not where I want it to be atm. So how should I go about reconstructing my resume to send to these guys? Or how should I respond to them?
Tf? You're gonna have to send a resume to move forward at one point or another. You obviously can't make up experiences or change your GPA, so I'd recommend just making it the best you can and bring out the positives, and maybe include a note in your email explaining what you are working on to improve your skills. But you aren't going to be having any serious conversations with people unless they see your resume.
Also, if you aren't an expert with CRE yet, or have any experience, how do you know you want to work in it? I'd recommend proving your interest via completing a real estate modeling course, taking an online real estate class, etc. etc. Otherwise, the only thing you have going for you is an "interest" in real estate, which doesn't go too far.
Hindsight is obviously 20/20, but you should have had your resume ready to go with listing things like BIWS RE or the fact that you've taken relevant coursework on the subject PRIOR to starting your networking rounds. Obviously, the next step in the process would be to get your resume out there to industry pros.... You shouldn't be viewing this as a negative, this is what you should want to be happening.
Going forward/to be constructive, even if it's "in progress", there's a way to tactfully incorporate it into your resume. With your GPA, you could either go the route of not listing it or putting your major GPA or some other fudge factor on there if it's higher/more favorable (as long as it's clear which it is and you don't misrepresent).
You should become involved with as many CRE related groups/clubs as you can, take as many courses as you can, and get as many programs under your belt as you can (excel, DCF modeling, etc.) so you show some legitimate interest in this as post above mentioned.
The reality is that you were unprepared for this level of networking and had more success initially than you probably anticipated, which is a good thing, but now you've got some make-up work/catch-up to do.
You're unprepared to interview and you're in your junior summer and don't have a polished resume or any internships, you need to get into gear or you'll be left behind . From my point of view, if I was networking I wouldn't take you seriously, work harder to get prepared for the job market