What field should I get an internship in if I want to pursue a career in RE development?
I am currently a sophomore studying finance & real estate hoping to pursue a career in real estate development after college. I'm looking for a summer internship and I'm applying to all the RE development firms, but if it doesn't work out, what other fields could I intern in to gain relevant experience? Would a summer in property management/leasing/brokerage be the most relevant to future employers or should I apply to accounting/finance roles?
Any of the things you named will be fine. I’d probably look at investment firms (non developers) then sales or capital markets brokers second
I think an important aspect of RE as opposed to a more sought-after financial path (PE/VC/IB) is diversity - both in asset classes, and all aspects of RE Finance. As you stated, I think getting at least ONE developer role is pretty important, but you don't need 2-3. PM, CRE Leasing/Brokerage, and even an AM role are all relevant. If you manage to get all three of those, by the time you reach FT recruiting you'll have a well-rounded stack that'll be appealing to nearly any RE Fin/Dev group.
I received my offer four or so years ago from a huge PE group working on the Infra/RE arm, never worked a day as a banker in my life - was able to do this by demonstrating a well-rounded stack. Have past experience working for a REIT, Development & Cap Markets Team, and Construction Management. At the end of the day, it's how you sell yourself and the different kinds of experiences you allow yourself to be put in front of that will determine where you end up. Best of luck!
Development is a jack-of-all-trades kind of job, so there are a lot of routes in, honestly.
It's also important, right off the bat, to mention that this isn't finance. There isn't a "path" that leads to a goal, and there aren't steps to the dance. Having an internship in RE is great, but that isn't going to determine your career trajectory, so if you end up interning for a company that doesn't align exactly with your goals, you're not hurting yourself.
Back to the point, a job in any of the fields you mention will be an asset when applying for a development role. Again, you need to wear a lot of hats in development, so experience in any one is going to be valuable, since most junior folks won't have experience in almost any of them. Did you work construction for a summer? You can absolutely spin that in a positive way. Leasing is a big deal, so if you can speak in an interview to what kinds of unit layouts move fastest in your market, that's a plus! Maybe you worked for an appraiser, so you can evaluate new opportunities.
At the end of the day, it's an internship. You're going to know next to nothing no matter where you spend your 8-10 weeks, and no one is going to expect otherwise. Plus, you're a sophomore, so you've got another summer after this - take what you can get, do all the normal intern things (work hard, network your ass off, etc) and you'll have put yourself in the best possible position. Frankly, most developers I know don't hire out of undergrad, and certainly aren't going to hire an intern who has 2 years of undergrad ahead of them. So take what you can get, because the pickings will probably be slim just on account of your age
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