Large development company or small REPE

I currently have an offer from a small REPE firm for an internship this upcoming summer. I just had a superday with one of the largest development companies in the U.S. How do I choose between the two if given both offers?

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I haven't heard back from the development company yet but I have a pending offer that I can't extend further with the REPE firm.

 

Assuming you end up with both offers and that both are for an internship, my advice would be to go big to start. It'll be beneficial when recruiting for full-time and will likely be easier for you to either (i) land at another large firm or (ii) go to a small shop. Starting with the small firm (depending on how you're defining small and what their name recognition is like) may make it more difficult if you end up wanting to be at one of the larger firms.  

 
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Always recommend going with the bigger brand name early in career to get the name on resume and know what you're getting yourself into opposed to more often than not, a fear of the unknown with a small shop. More importantly, it's much easier to go from a big reputable firm to a small one than vice versa.

This isn't great advice, at all.

"Brand names" don't matter a ton in real estate in the first place, and second, going to a smaller shop with a lot of growth potential can give better experience and it might be a place to help to grow and rise through the ranks at.  What you're getting at is to not join some fly-by-night shop, or get suckered into joining a couple guys starting their own thing on a hope and a prayer.  And that is good advice.  But it's not that hard to differentiate between a small shop with reputable principals, and a small shop created in the middle of a hot market by some folks who don't have a runway or pipeline or any idea of how to get one

No matter what, your experience will speak louder than the name on your resume.  And make your career decisions based on what you'll be working on, not where you'll be working on it

 

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