Summer Associate Advice

You are a development graduate studying development. Don't settle for an Asset Management internship. Communicate this to the recruiter and get in contact with the development team. If you have to go to a smaller shop then do it. Assuming you have solid grades and good grad school brand you should be able to get your foot in the door of most interviews. Good luck.

I'm with capratecompression talk to the recruiter about seeing if you can interview with the development team. In the end, the real reason to take an internship is because you hope that at the end of the summer they make you a FT offer for once you graduate. No point in wasting a summer/the AM teams time if it isn't what you want.

If your goal is dev, go for broke. If you think you could have gotten an AM role without grad school, then that sounds like a fallback option that you'd likely be guaranteed post MSRE, regardless of internship(hell half of the MSRE's are only a year and dont have internships anyway, or short ones if anything). Don't accept something just to have a job if it's not what you want. Be patient and make the right choice when it's presented(February).

Edit: Thank you again

Do you have any clue how involved AM is in the development process? Is it two distinctly separate groups, does the AM team oversee development once a project is underway (some shops hand off dev deals once construction has started), or is AM only for developed projects?

If you have an interview with a finance guy and a head of AM, I could definitely see your predicament in not wanting to burn a bridge, especially if this is a good company.

There isn't anything wrong with gathering more information if you don't have enough to figure out if this is a job you want. But if you do, then I say don't waste anymore time and just politely decline the next round.

If they're flexible, maybe try setting up some sort of rotation between the groups rather than just one or the other. May help you resolve your dilemma.

First and foremost, as others have already noted, find out as much as you possibly can about the position. It is important that you do not miss out any opportunities in life, let alone your career. My current boss was an asset manager after he graduated from B-school. He thought it was very useful during the recession when there were many loans to work out.

Nevertheless, if you really want to be a developer, there has to be something you like about being a developer. Do you think you can find what you like in Asset Management? I personally really like making deals and in particular loan making. Deal making involves problem solving, negotiating, and people skills that I personally think are empowering and fulfilling. If you don't think you can find whatever empowers or fulfills you in this role, I would recommend having this as a fall back if you are unable to find a suitable acquisitions or developer position. At this point, I always recommend guys our age (twenty somethings) to just find a job that exposes you to as many deals as you possibly can. We are far too young to be pigeon holed as the "[insert asset class or role] guy".

I can assure you that if you work at your current position post graduation and then leave a year or two into into it, no one will hold it against you. People change there minds all the time. My shop recently promoted someone to associate, and a month later, he quit to join a PE shop. So even if you take this position in the summer and then look for another one in the fall, no one will care.

I hope this somewhat makes your decision easier.

I have a similar story. PM me if you'd like to discuss.

Ended up getting an offer with the same company for the position that I wanted due to a wide variety of factors including shifting company need, alumni support within the company, and me speaking my mind, albeit diplomatically, about the situation.

Things have a way of working out, I suppose. Thanks again to everyone.