1st Year Analyst offer - Salary advice
I'm a senior at a top tier college looking for first year analyst roles in CRE. My internship was not in real estate, but I have the REFM levels 1 and 2 certifications.
I have an offer at a medium sized family office in Orange County (real estate team is ~25-30 employees, probably $1-2b range) which does acquisitions and development of large office/industrial/mixed-used properties. The firm has explicit plans to grow aggressively in the coming years. There is no formal analyst program, so my offer was as-needed to round out one of the geographic groups. Hours at the firm are very low (half day fridays, 8-6 otherwise) and the work is very generalist (model everything, work on leases, etc).
My offer is for $60k + 10% bonus. Given that Orange County (specifically the area where the office is) is one of the most expensive areas in the country, this feels quite low to me. The firm doesn't seem to have an established protocol for hiring analysts, so I'm wondering what my negotiating strategy should be to push back on the salary. Does anyone have any insight? I have until the 31st to decide.
Take the offer. Experience trumps everything. You are still young. Work there for two years then lateral if you are not happy. Constantly network regardless if you are happy with your job or not, it's part of the game. I've met plenty of people who would do anything to get a foot in the door (including going to a MBA business schools">M7 school).
agree
I would negotiate for sure. Ask for 70 and they'll give you 67. If they are 25 employees managing 1.5B then they should be able to afford a 10k increase. Do some research on what other companies are paying if you can and use that to support your reasoning.
Thanks, yeah I was planning on asking for 75 and working our way down from there.
Check your PM - I have some info
I understand it may not be exactly what you want or expected, but this is not low. You're not in SF or NYC, and the offer isn't IBD. It also appears you don't have related experience, which they will probably see as a risk. CRE comp, especially at the entry levels is much lower than Banking and other "prestigious" industries. With that said, definitely negotiate, I'd push for 65 or 70, but I would certainly take the offer if you want to be in CRE.
Here's why - Considering they have plans to grow, you'll be a generalist across multiple product types, in a family office, plus desireable hours and location, this is ideal for a new grad. The biggest thing you need to look for in your first opportunity is exposure, and you'll have plenty of it.
Grind hard for a year, get in early, make sure they're telling you to go home early afternoon on Fridays as opposed to taking off right at lunch. After a year or so they'll probably bump you closer to $80m and increase your bonus to 15 or 20%. Like some of the others have said, after 2 years you can probably jump to REPE, IS Brokerage, or wherever you want/are able to network to. You may also do well and stay, family offices can be great for developing a foundation.
This is exactly what I did, worked in tech sales for a few years out of undergrad. Wanted to switch to CRE, got an offer for roughly the same comp in a similar market. Got a couple increases in the first 18 months.
I plan on taking the offer if I don't get anything better by the 31st, and hopefully getting base closer to 70. I realize that the job is pretty cushy and desirable coming out of UG, so worst case it's still a pretty good offer. Thanks for the advice.
Sounds like a role/firm where you'll get good experience, I'd take it, do a good job for a year and then push hard for higher comp.
I'm not recommending this, but if you do find somewhere that will pay you $100k in the next few months then you could always renege on this firm...
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