Recruiting Advice | Valuation Associate -> Investment side analyst

Hi WSO - I've been working FT for around 2 years now as a Valuation Associate at a CRE firm in NYC. I'm looking for advice on how to navigate towards the next step in my career.

For a little background on my career so far, I graduated with a degree in Finance and did internships in college in IB (MM), PE (search fund), and investment management (equities). Valuation has been great in the sense that I feel confident talking my way around asset level underwriting and have familiarized myself greatly with CRE concepts, deals, etc. However I find the work unfulfilling in the sense that I am not actually on the investing side of CRE and I know I want to make that jump. In preparation for recruiting, I have familiarized myself with more investment related concepts (LTV, DSCR, equity ratio, bridge lending, financing structures, etc.).

How would you guys recommend going about making this jump?

I have recruiters reach out to me, however nearly all opportunities are for similar valuations roles with an occasional private credit thrown in there for very small shops/family offices. I'm personally looking at roles such as Investment Analyst at private mid-size shops, entry level REIB, private credit at larger name shops, acquisitions at larger name shops, or EDSF teams.

I'm struggling on how to approach recruiting for this. Should I be utilizing LinkedIn and conversing my way into first rounds? If so, what level on the teams should I be targeting. How much of my time should be dedicated to mass cold applying vs outreach. Any insight on how to make a jump at this stage in my career would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!