Happy New Year, Everyone.
New user here and figured I’d give WSO a shot as I have quite a few friends who swear by it. I’m looking for some insight on switching gears within the CRE field and would appreciate your feedback on my desire to jump ship. My question has a few parts: (1) how do I spin this experience (below) and is my level of responsibility believable to prospective employers given that I’m in my mid-20s? (2) Where do I turn next and what’s the best way to get there? (3) How do I manage the reputational risk to my employer and myself in approaching current clients or counterparties? I’ll try to keep it somewhat brief, but I’m sure you’re all dying for some light reading material to break the monotony of Monday after two mid-week holidays.
After working as an Analyst for a successful investment sales group at a large regional firm (250+ employees, 30MM SF in principal and 3P assets in management and a few hundred million in annual brokerage volume) I was offered an Associate position on the team. At the time I was exploring other opportunities and declined the offer (based on comp, limited near term mobility within the firm, limited brand recognition outside of our primary markets and I was hell-bent on moving to a geographic location far outside of their reach ). Long story short – they asked how they could keep me on board and I told them that I need more upside and a new location figuring that would end the conversation. They then offered me the opportunity to expand the firm’s third party practice lines into my desired region (the first time the firm has attempted such a feat).
Now, two and a half years later and I’ve been responsible for overseeing both our turnaround management and investment sales assignments in our new region and also assisting in other transactions for the firm throughout the country on an ad-hoc basis where they felt they could benefit from my skill set (acquisitions for our own portfolio as well as dispositions for third parties). I’ve seen some pretty interesting deal flow with an emphasis on office and retail (a 1MM SF suburban office portfolio, 600,000 sf lifestyle center, a few 300,000 sf CBD office assets, a few enclosed regional malls as well as your average grocer anchored strip centers). Clients have included several BB banks, famed PE firms and CMBS special servicers.
I’m looking to make a jump to either a pure transaction related role (principal or brokerage) or a loan-level management role (as opposed to asset and property level) but have a strong desire to stay in south Florida, which may be my downfall. I’ve previously reached out to a few higher ups at large brokerage firms regarding positions within their capital markets groups which has yielded a few vague email responses with a bunch of people cc’ed on the email as well as a few in-face meetings in which I’m told there really just isn’t anything available at my level (I don’t even know what my level is given my un-orthodox path thus far – in what place do I try to position myself within the corporate hierarchy).
Any suggestions on the above three questions? Apologies for the length of this post, but wanted to put the details out there in the hopes of painting a vivid image of the situation. I would appreciate any and all feedback.
