Real estate pathway I could take from Colliers/JLL/CBRE

So I’m finalizing an opportunity at colliers to work in advisory and wanted to get an understanding of what pathways I could take. I’m coming from an IB background, the firm was trash so colliers is a significant upgrade in terms of brand recognition and quality of deals. Also, I have an interest in real estate and would like to do real estate as a career either on the buy side or sell side. As I’m young and eager to learn, I’d like to learn about what exit ops I could get while working in their advisory team.

I have a few questions about what paths I could take here: 1. If I worked in advisory, if I had an interest in investment banking on the corporate level, could I lateral to an IB coverage team? 2. Do many people go from a colliers capital markets or JLL in advisory to let’s say a REPE firm like starwood, blackrock kinda like how one would do IB then exit to PE? 3. What are the pathways I could take if I were interested in REPE later on in my career from one of these places? 4. Is an MBA really needed to break into REPE at a Starwood or blackrock?

6 Comments
 
Most Helpful

1. You could go to IB from a CRE advisory role if you so choose to in the future. You might need an MBA, but its certainly possible to do. 

2. Yes and no. It's certainly not unheard of to exit to a top REPE from a top brokerage, but it's also unlikely since they are the Starwood's of the world. Coming out of a top brokerage it wouldn't be too hard to exit to a middle market or other institutional group. A lot of people make the move from brokerage to REPE/Dev so you're on the right track if that's your end goal. 

3. If you're dead set on Blackstone/KKR/Starwood then I would suggest getting on a brokerage team that deals with high profile groups and are top producers. From there you could apply directly or go work for a smaller but well known group and then lateral to one of those shops later on.

4. "Needed"? No. Does it help though? Definitely doesn't hurt.  

 

Accusamus ad maiores accusantium soluta minima odio ut. Aliquam rem repellat iste doloribus autem. Et facere saepe necessitatibus quia officiis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”