REPE Interview/Informational Call + What Should I be doing now?

Hi everyone,

I am an incoming FT BB analyst from a non-target. I have strong extracurriculars, GPA, resume, polish, etc. I have been focusing on working in Finance throughout my undergrad and learned as much as I could about Ibanking. However, I have come to realize that I enjoy the RE industry more. During my time as an undergrad every RE class I took was a lot more fun/interesting thatn any Fin or Econ class I took. RE just made more sense to me and I enjoyed the rationale behind models and the industry.

I have not started my FT gig but am sure that in the long run, I want to have some experience in Real Estate especially in the international space by combining my knowledge in Finance and passion for RE to work in REPE. I am an RE and Econ major with knowledge in Argus, REPE Modelling, waterfall cash flows, building models from OM's, making practice OM's in competitions, etc. However, beyond what I have learned in school, I do not know anything about the RE industry as a whole. As in, as a Finance hardo I read WSJ, Economist, Bloomberg, the IB Book, etc to keep myself informed. But as a Real Estate hardo, I do not know what to learn, read, or look into to maximize my knowledge of the industry.

I have nerworked heavily over the past few weeks and have landed 2 informational interviews/phone calls with Carlyle and Cerberus. Both interviews/phone calls will be conducted by 2-3 people with at least one of them being alumni. What should I do to prepare for the interview and going forward, what resources exist for me to make sure I land a REPE role this recruiting cycle.

I am currently going over previous models and OM's I have made and developing an opinion about the market for Office space in the regions the interviewers are located.