How to break into commercial real estate without the fluff

Breaking into a top brokerage as an investment sales analyst in NYC (think CBRE, JLL, Cushman, ES) was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I went to a non-target, didn't study finance or real estate, had no previous experience, was a career switcher and several years out of school, and lived on the opposite coast. After a year of rejections, 60+ informal meetings, 10+ rejected interviews, and hundreds of hours, I broke in and now have worked on several billion in high-profile deals since I started in early 2021. Now recruiters are knocking on my LinkedIn and it was worth it.

Commercial real estate is opague on purpose and it's almost impossible to break in unless you know the system. I wanted to share this guide because I have had countless informational interviews with people reaching out on linkedin and all said our conversation was the most useful informational interview they've ever had. 

Here are my strategies and process.

#1) Ask yourself why you want to be in commercial real estate

Seriously, there are easier industries to break in. Do you want to become a broker, use it as a stepping stone to break into private equity or development, what's the why? This journey will challenge you beyond measure. Unless your father (or mother) is a client of the firm, prepare for a long, painful road of rejection and perseverance. 

#2) Set boundaries on firm, firm type, and location

I was dissatisfied in my dead end job, the only one not with the woman he was likely to marry out of my best friends, and my family wasn't in my city. I didn't have a lot tying me down so I was willing to move anywhere. Like most, my top choices were NYC, LA and SF, but I was prepared to move to Arkansas if I had to. You might be locked into your current location because of family, relationships or other reasons. Write down if you're willing to move or not. Maybe you aren't, and that's alright. My advice would be to choose the company ahead of the location. You can always move back home plus future employers will respect that you had the balls to move. 

Secondly, write down boundaries on companies. I decided I would only work for CBRE, JLL, Cushman or ES, in investment sales or debt placement. Why? Because I heard from people in the industry that the most important thing early in your career is transaction volume. Large shops simply provide more deal flow than small shops. They are also the most competitive. Know your boundaries and what side of the business you want to work in.

#3) Find a mentor to hold you accountable

Breaking into commercial real estate sucks. Every guy or gal I met while networking for real estate I took out for lunch to get their advice. It was thanks to one of them that I had someone who told me he believed in me when I was down from being rejected and it kept me hungry. There are countless real estate groups in every city. NAIOP and ICSC are great groups to meet people. 

#4) Get prior experience if you can. All good if not

Almost every other person I work with had at least a year of work experience somewhere else for a lender, operator, or other brokerage, or studied real estate in school and recruited from campus. I got lucky and the 60th person I spoke with liked my story. In hindsight, I would have been ahead working for a boutique developer, operator, or brokerage getting reps while interviewing to break into investment sales. Yes it is shitty to get a job just to leave a job, but it will likely take longer to break into commercial real estate than you can possibly imagine, plus having real estate on your resume will elevate your profile. 

#5) Pick a location

As discussed above, I was willing to move anywhere but would only work for CBRE, JLL, Cushman or ES because I wanted the best brand on my resume, training and exposure. You have to pick a location because following up for 4-8 months is legitimately part of the process. We'll dive deeper into that statement on follow-up that may have dropped your jaw below. 

#6) Get certified

Get REFM levels 1-3 from getrefm.com. It's the most widely recognized real estate modeling certification. See if you can still access your student login or email, screenshot something, and email it to them and get the discount. Kudos if you're still in school and planning ahead. To crush the modeling exam, go to udemy and buy Justin Kivel's Real Estate Financial Modeling Bootcamp. Flip to the end and do the PERE exam. If you can ace that exam in an hour flat, you'll be fine for almost any modeling test. If you have time, also o his Advanced Bootcamp. I also encourage LinkedIn Learning doing Dennis Taylor's excel courses to better understand the tool. Some swear by BIWS and that's great if you do it, but I don't believe it's necessary.

#7) ARGUS

Drop the $2000 on the AE certification or try to get a student discount. Being real, you'll use ARGUS completely differently once you're on the job, but it shows you are committed and is cheaper than going to B-school for a rebrand. I had several MD's along the way reinforce that the certification is a resume differentiator. If you're committed to real estate, get it over with.

#8) Resume

Get it into one-page. I know you're thinking it's impossible but it's not. Andrew LaCivita on Youtube has a terrific ultimate resume template. Have no more than three bullets and ensure you use numbers. 

#9) LinkedIn

It's annoying having to get a crisp profile picture done by a professional photographer, but it's a requirement. Consider it an investment in your career and dating app profile. Suit pics f*** especially in the big apple. 

#10) Leverage mutual friends, family, alumni, your neighbor, clients of these firms, anything

Here is the harsh part. On my journey I spoke with an MD at one of these top firms. He flat out told me that 50-80% of the time you see an ad posted on their websites, they have already selected a candidate from a pre-existing relationship. They post the ad so they don't get sued for discrimination. You read that correctly. How you break in is by creating relationships with MD's and hiring managers in the LOCATION you want to work out of, and then respectively follow-up with them every three or four weeks providing updates on the courses you've completed, the meetings you've had, etc. Breaking into commercial real estate at one of these firms is a lot of being in the right place at the right time. Because the job is like this once you're a broker or owner operator, they make the recruiting process excruciating to weed out the weaklings. 

#11) Create friends inside the target firms

At my firm, no one got in without a referral. I was lucky that during my networking, I met a client who liked my drive and introduced me to an MD who introduced me to the hiring manager. Expect rejection. Expect to send five or more, tasteful emails (and spaced a week or so apart. Don't be annoying.)

#12) Prepare for the interview questions

Have a compelling answer for why real estate, why that firm, and why you. I was obsessed. Once I got an interview request, I went on glass door and WSO and wrote down every interview question asked. Then I wrote down and role-played answers to every single question. In the end, real estate interviewing is mostly conversational. Be able to explain those first questions plus whatever technical questions you see on glass door and you should do fine. 

#13) Follow-up after the interview

JLL Capital Markets is HFF legacy. At them and CBRE, follow-up is everything. I even heard of a guy who followed up for two years to break into ES. You need to follow-up once a week or so following your interview. Send everyone you meet with a handwritten card, seriously. 

BONUS #1: Know the differences between each firm

CBRE and Cushman are the most specialized, JLL is in the middle, and Eastdil is the most generalist. At CBRE and Cushman, you join a specific team doing a specific product type. For example, multifamily debt in LA, or office investment sales in Atlanta. JLL does a pool scenario where you are either on the debt team or equity team, but you work on multiple product types. It is worth noting that JLL capital markets analysts can earn the most. At HFF Legacy, analysts can earn commissions from the deals they work on. Eastdil is the most generalist and some say the best training. Those guys work exceptionally hard (expect 50-80 hour work weeks), but their exit ops are insane. 

BONUS #2: For Internationals

Virtually no top firms will sponsor you for a junior role. This is the harsh truth. I found this out from MD's at various shops. Their rationale is there is so much good talent in America they don't need to. I recently spoke with a Canadian and my advice to him was work like hell to break into a top Canadian firm with an American office and do a lateral transfer. Same logic applies to if you're from Europe, Asia, Americas, etc. 

Conclusion

Commercial real estate is pretentious, exclusive, and 95% of the people you do an informational interview with won't give you actionable advice nor do they care. The cold-hearted reality is this career path is for the wealthy and well-connected. To reconvey my point above, the odds of breaking in without establishing a relationship with key people in the firm is next to nothing. 

But once you're in... you're fucking in baby. 2-3 years at these shops and you can go anywhere. If you made it this far, congratulations. I want to acknowledge you for taking up the challenge of breaking into commercial real estate. Justin Kivel is a phenomenal resource and I've spoken with him personally. Believe it or not, if you sign up at breakintocre.com and email him, the dude actually replies. And no, I am not getting paid by him. Let's just say in one of my first weeks on the job, our firm had us do one of his courses. Enough said. Please comment and I'll do my best to reply.