Mid 30s and moving to the US
My dear monkeys,
Don't ask how or why, but I'm moving to Indianapolis. I've been based in Manchester for 5 years, born and raised in Sydney before that.
I've spent a lot of time on this forum and I have come to the realisation, that I have no idea what I should be aiming for when I get to the US in July. Though I've worked in RE my whole career I can't help but feel confused by all I see on WSO and Linkedin.
What advice (or anecdotes) would you fine folks have for a person who will for all intents and purposes be starting fresh in the US?
A bit of background, my trade is in valuations having spent the early part of my career at JLL/CBRE before moving onto the public sector and working in Eminent Domain, I then moved to the UK to continue with eminent domain, then shifted to property/asset management.
Also should I be worried about Frat/College culture in the work place? I see memes about it but friends tell me that it's overblown in popular culture.
What part of the sector are you thinking about once you move?
I'm in my 30s and while I've seen some of the bro/frat culture in finance, it has never been as bad as the movies make it out to be. I've always been able to find a contingent of people who are normal in any corporate environment.
That's the question! If I can be frank, I'd like to make money. I can afford to take my time and make the right choices to help set me up in any industry that isn't completely shut out to me (due to age, college, network etc etc.), though I'm also conscious that as great as Indy is, it's not an A+ market. On the one hand I want to be open to opportunities but on the other hand I want a rigid plan! What do you do? Can I do that lol?
Three paths off the top of my head;
Ideally, I'd like to work in public sector, but the US public sector seems drastically less-resourced, less-powered and less prestigious than in Aus and the UK.
Why Indy?
Proabnly going to be a bit harder for you to get an analyst spot since you are experienced. Brokerage/valuations/property management will probably be easier given your background.
why are you going to Indianapolis lol
Americans have a subconscious belief that people who speak with British accents are smart, so you should lean into that a little.
Indianapolis. I bought a car and the salesperson said to me "oh yeah, I thought I detected a Canadian accent"...
It's a bit cheeky to admit; but I have enjoyed the Australian accent privilege in the UK, but something tells me that the average American may not be so easily impressed.
Sadly I don't think I could risk word getting out that I'm using a fake British accent, I'll get beaten up when I return to Syd.
If you haven't spent much time in the US before you might be in for a culture shock about certain things like food (portions, amount of butter/grease in the food, etc.), weather patterns like tornados in the midwest, and things like that. I would just say to keep an open mind and find people in the area that have also immigrated to help you through the acclimation process.
Frat/college culture in finance/real estate is definitely a real thing, but is more localized than it is widespread. Some teams in a brokerage/REPE/Dev might be very "frat" but other teams in the same office could be normal, respectful, and professional. It's more about the figuring that out in the hiring process and hoping for the best. I would say that I know of more cultures like the latter than the former if that gives you any comfort. Also, being in the midwest cities like Indy should help since most of the types of people that would fall into "frat" culture would end up in like Chicago/LA/NYC.
Thank you for your insight. I have spent a significant amount of time in the US but the culture shock is still incredibly real; I'm torn between being in awe and being enraged every day.
I'm not averse to 'bro' culture, after all we all drink beers, and watch cricket then rugby, am I right? I am more concerned that I will be overlooked for roles and denied opportunities because of my not having participated or attended certain frats/colleges. I will certainly like to carry myself with professionalism, it's just good manner and good business.
Nah if your a bro that's down to have a few beers and watch sports you probably don't have much to worry about. If you were a straight up boring introverted nerd then yeah it's a thing.
That's absolutely not a concern whatsoever, when people talk about fratty environments it's just banter and willingness to go out
I think you may be more aligned with the frat culture than you think, NDawg69!
but seriously, every group is different; I think the sales brokers tend to have a more frat-like culture but I even see that falling off over the years.
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