I've made it to 5 final rounds and still no offer. Should I give up?
I currently work at a REPE firm and have 3 YOE. My position is being eliminated in a couple of months due to some organizational changes. I've been recruiting for 15 months at this point. So far, I've made it to five final rounds, but still haven't gotten an offer. I've asked everyone in my network for help, but at this point I'm running out of options.
Here's a description of the interview processes:
- Megafund - 10 interviews and a case. Got ghosted. The person they picked had one more year of experience and came from banking.
- Megafund - 8 interviews and a case. They said I lacked excitement for the role, but I asked around and people said I showed great excitement.
- MM fund - 9 interviews. They said I lacked experience. But the person they hired instead of me graduated the same month as me.
- Investment bank - They couldn't give feedback, but said I was a top candidate.
- MM fund - They went with someone who was earlier in the process. The recruiter must have sent me the job posting in a second or third email blast.
I don't think I'm setting my expectations ridiculously high as I took every interview I received so far. I've been checking job boards daily. And I've even reached out to over 70 search firms at this point. Most weren't helpful, but 10-15 regularly sent me opportunities. Doing interviews and networking has been pretty hard to do since I need to keep up with my job.
My coworkers suggested applying to analyst roles, but I think if I were to start at the entry level again it wouldn't be worth it. All the 12AM nights and Saturdays I put in would be for nothing and my hourly wage would still be shit. I think business school might be my only option, but when I graduate I would still only have 3 YOE. I think it would qualify me to change industries. But would this really make me a more competitive applicant?
Honestly, part of me regrets going into real estate. I love the fact that we get to build communities and each asset class and market is a new challenge. But none of my skills are transferrable outside the industry aside from Excel and writing skills. No one wants to train you if you don't have the exact skillset they want. And the industry is so small that there's only a handful of firms with openings.
I'd appreciate any ideas you guys may have. As well as opinions on if it's probably time to call it quits.
PM me, I'm currently in the same spot
.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, your situation is tough but not uncommon, and there are actionable steps you can take to improve your chances. Here’s a breakdown of advice tailored to your situation:
1. Reassess Your Strategy
2. Leverage Your Current Experience
3. Consider Business School
4. Alternative Paths
5. Mental Health and Perspective
6. Practical Next Steps
Final Thoughts
It’s not time to give up. Many professionals in your position have faced similar challenges and eventually found success by staying persistent and adaptable. If you’re passionate about real estate, consider this a temporary setback rather than a dead end. Keep refining your approach, and don’t hesitate to seek support from mentors, peers, or even professional career coaches.
Sources: Career Advice: Family Office (RE Developer) --> MBA --> REPE, Ask Me Anything: REPE Investment Professional, Q&A - Senior Associate Ex-Megafund (REPE), Miserable in consulting, how to improve situation?, Having serious thoughts about B-school for the first time - can anyone offer any advice?
The job market is hard. Keep chugging along. Something will fall thru. 5 final rounds isn’t that much. You will only have 3-10 jobs in your life. Maybe you get 5-15 job offers. You’ve got to meet a lot of firms to get those offers.
Never give up. I also heard that more positions will be opening up soon in March / April
Yea man just give up right
tf
I feel your pain. Also currently employed but have been looking for new roles for well over a year. Had more interviews than I can count, including prolly a half dozen or more final rounds. The application folder on my laptop is honestly laughable. Can’t seem to lock anything up that’s better than my current role. I have solid full time experience at a large institution, a good internship, respectable GPA from a good but not great school, I’m personable.
The interview processes, especially at megafunds, are quite frankly exhausting. I basically gave up at applying to megafunds. Just sucks because outside of those, comp is so variable. I’ve started asking what total comp looks like before I even interview. It’s been saving me from wasting my time tbh. I’ve gone through too many interview processes in the past only to find out that comp is a big pay cut or minimal bump.
If I were you, I’d apply to a few MBA programs just in case you can’t find any jobs before yours is terminated. Plus, it would only open up more opportunities for you in the future within and outside of real estate. Otherwise, just keep applying. Us job seekers really just need a low interest rate environment again and crazy deal flow. Good luck
My background is exactly the same. Experience at a large fund, prestigious internship (people always ask how I got it in my interviews), excellent GPA, but I went to a state school. Comp is so bad at small firms. Some recruiters reached out with roles paying less than my base salary my first year. And expect me to work as much as I am now and five days in the office. It's a joke.
I'm working on my GMAT and I think I have a great shot at getting into M7. Not sure how much funding I'll manage to get yet though. I hope you find something that's a good fit soon.
What’s your comp if I may ask?
Job market in real estate has been brutal since ‘22, so very few people have left roles by choice, and very few new roles have opened up. That’s expected to change this spring with transaction activity ramping up. Thus, you’ve been competing with the absolute best of the best for those roles, and yet you’ve been in several final rounds for what sound like top tier early career roles. Something will hit this cycle most likely, so just be patient. Usually takes a year to find a new gig as you hit midlevel roles. So yes might be after your job wraps, but you should be using all your time to network so you can use referral(s) to seal the deal on that next final round interview.
The funny thing is, I've been having better luck at the biggest companies than small and mid-sized ones. Which is strange because during my internship and analyst search I got almost no traction at the biggest funds. You're right, I'll start putting more of my time towards networking for the future.
really relatable which is kinda insane.
Super relatable, also have been recruiting for close to a year now for senior analyst / associate 1 level roles in major U.S. markets and no luck.
Background: Graduated from strong Canadian school (I know this doesn't hold much weight in the U.S. which is frustrating) | Currently at a UMM investment manager as a REPE / dev analyst with 2+ years experience. Recruiting because of mediocre comp and lack of upside potential. Role + team itself is solid, learning a lot but the RE market is tough and deal pipeline has slowed considerably.
Investment Bank - rejected after 5 rounds + Superday and dinged since their "needs changed", looks like they haven't filled that role yet.
UMM PE - ghosted after final round (7 rounds total + case), haven't filled the role yet.
Pension Fund - ghosted after final round (5 rounds total), passed over for an ex banking analyst
Have been networking constantly and calls seem to be going well, but the rate of cold calling -> actual interview is really low. I've already exhausted my currently network. Recruiters are unreliable.
Wondering if I should try to pivot to a more generalist role to diversify (real assets + infra? project finance?) I get that RE is about being able to do it by yourself eventually but step 1 is to actually accumulate capital first ...
We've probably been competing on a few roles. Most recruiters suck, only a handful know what they're doing. Most keep sending bullshit.
I'm thinking of pivoting as well. Aside from career growth and opportunities, I feel that I've learned most of what there is to know. If you're buying existing assets, most of them are cookie-cutter. There's not much critical thinking needed to buy an apartment in Florida.
Real estate investing sucks compared to other areas if you're not already rich, work at a megafund, or can raise millions of dollars. It takes so long for your investments to pay off. And most GP's I've worked with live off of management and acquisition fees. How is that sustainable? You don't need to work in CRE to house hack or buy non-institutional properties. So anything you'd learn after your first few years wouldn't really be helpful.
I started CRE investments for a number of reasons.
Thought by joining a large institution with strong capital backing and an active mandate would put me in a position to get compensated well, but turns out not. It’s a joke how little CRE pays compared to other asset classes that are writing similar sized cheques. Just extremely frustrating that I’m falling behind my peers who are in stronger performing sectors
I made this move - the only way I could make it happen was with a US MBA. Managed to get into a T20 with 3 YoE and moved to a MM credit shop in NYC after graduation.
You're doing yourself a disservice by discounting how difficult it really is to move down here. The reality is that 50% of US companies aren't open to sponsoring. For some reason, it's even more prevalent in real estate, whether it's MM funds, or household names like Oaktree and Eastdil. Today's market makes it even more challenging.
Keep your head down and don't let the rejections get to you. It's 100% possible, but you have to be far and above the best candidate to get hired for a decent role down here. The only way to make that happen is by outworking the competition and staying relentlessly focused on the end goal.
This is the unfortunate reality of our industry right now. One open position has 100’s if not thousands of people interested and it takes a lot of luck to break through. Honestly though you really have no choice but to keep going unless you’re just going the MBA route. It’s rare any other industry will take a shot on a RE person and definitely not at worthwhile compensation.
Keep it up JB
Sunt et occaecati nesciunt ducimus. Vero nostrum dolore alias maiores iure. Nobis consectetur sapiente earum quis nostrum. Sed et sed voluptas eos consequuntur autem doloremque.
Perspiciatis harum vel illo blanditiis. Explicabo cum sit qui itaque reiciendis totam quo.
Possimus non et labore reiciendis voluptatem et hic voluptatum. Voluptas illo quidem libero.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...