Small Shop Developers

To those of you that work in a small-med size development firm...

Are there such things as interns?

How did you land your role?

How do salaries differ from the large developers and national corporations?

15 Comments
 
Most Helpful

To those of you that work in a small-med size development firm...

Are there such things as interns?

We and most other small shops I know have an army of interns that are woefully underskilled and under qualified doing work they shouldn't be doing unsupervised. Most of them are hired as favors to people, a handful have reached out directly and gotten roles. The ones that have reached out directly have been usually far better than those that haven't. Our development team is like 8 full time people and 4 interns.

How did you land your role?

Job posting, but mostly we hire from referrals

How do salaries differ from the large developers and national corporations?

This depends, I'm way underpaid based on my title, but I probably wouldn't have the same title at Hines. I do think salaries and bonuses are usually way less in one of these shots unless you have Partners that value their employees/culture, in which case I think it can often be hire once the promote is taken into account.

 

I worked for a regional multifamily and student housing developer, our firm size was 6 people (including me). We did not hire interns. I landed my role by emailing the principal directly asking if he ever considered hiring someone entry level to support and grow with the firm. I am not sure how comp compared to larger developers, I had little experience so was not worth much at the time.

 
"TheWildMan" I worked for a regional multifamily and student housing developer, our firm size was 6 people (including me). We did not hire interns. I landed my role by emailing the principal directly asking if he ever considered hiring someone entry level to support and grow with the firm. I am not sure how comp compared to larger developers, I had little experience so was not worth much at the time.

How did you find small developers? Have been wondering how everyone is finding these small boutique shops. I'm in Houston, TX for reference.

 

Qui voluptas ut eaque. Quisquam porro vero qui ut voluptatem placeat.

Molestias repellendus ipsa ea dolor molestiae rem. Dolores aut excepturi et ipsa in sapiente.

Commercial Real Estate Developer

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”