I'm interviewing for an entry level role as a development associate at a mid-sized firm. What are some questions I should expect and prepare for?

Will be graduating from school this spring, I've never had a full-time job or interviewed for one if you don't count internships or retail worker type summer jobs.

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Don't overthink it. It will be very similar to the interviews for internships or summer jobs - walk me through your background, why that job, why you want to work there, etc. All of that should come a bit natural, because you can give honest answers and as long as your answers aren't "idk" it's hard to go terribly wrong. 

What you should prep for and write down, IMO, are the questions you are going to ask them. Ask about their expectations for you. Ask them how they define success for someone they hire in the role in both the short term and the long term. Ask them about company culture and what people have done in the past to really stand out. Ask why they enjoy working there. Ask if they have any concerns or questions about your resume and make sure you know what they're going to point out and how to address it ahead of time. 

They're going to ask the same questions to everyone and honestly it is incredibly hard to stand out with your responses. You are not going to respond to "Why Real Estate?" (answer: "It's Tangible") in a way that is going to separate you from every other 22 year old asked the question. What you need to do is ask better questions than everyone else, and then ask follow up questions to their responses, so that when the people leave the room they think "damn, that kid was pretty sharp and really good to talk to." People want to work with people they want to be around every day for 8-10 hours a day. 

People also walk away from conversations thinking that the conversations were successful if they got to talk a lot - especially egotistical developers. In that way, it is very, very much like taking a girl on a date. You talk about your dreams a bit and your interests (aka "Walk me through your resume" or "Why real estate?") and then the rest of the time you ask her interesting questions, show a genuine interest in her responses by asking follow up questions or sharing your own tidbit if you notice a shared experience, and keep it going to try to have her talk more than you. Your date or your interviewer will be impressed, I promise you. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

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