Breaking in to multifamily with non-related major

Currently a senior graduating in December at a non-target, with a math and computer science major. Does anyone have any advice for breaking in to CRE? My first choice would be multifamily, but I'll take anything I can get. I have been targeting Fannie/Freddie, and big firms like Cbre, JLL, Cushman etc with no luck. Is there anyway to get my foot in the door with my unrelated major?

 

Hard to give advice in this competitive job market, but I can share my experience. I was a history major (yikes I know, first in my family to go to college, had no guidance). I joined brokerage as a researcher. Job fucking sucked (literally data warehousing and low pay), but i met all the brokers, learned the market, learner the asset types, met our clients, and became close friends with a lot of the people there. Eventually joined a team as an analyst after 2 years.

 

Definitely can happen. Network like crazy. I was a sociology major with no internships and a 3.0 gpa (granted I did play a d1 sport for 4 years at a top 5 school), taught myself how to model in excel and paid for an argus training class. No family in real estate. I had a teammate, his dad is the head of one of CB's bigger offices. I started meeting and gameplanning with him. He introduced me to some people, who introduced me to others. I started reaching out to alumni. Over time i was able to figure out what i wanted to do. Became an analyst for a major brokerage firm in investment sales and then jumped ship to buy side when one of the 3 companies i targeted reached out about joining. The importance of networking in real estate cannot be overstated. Along the way, i have never had anyone ask me what i majored in or what my GPA was

 
Best Response

I transitioned into real estate development after completing my MBA. I did not have prior real estate experience. My suggestion would be to take advantage of your current student status; as a second year MBA student, I networked constantly and was on my school's alumni webpage every night. I thought of this as an additional class, and I studied hard.

As an unemployed student, you pretty much get a free pass to reach out to people with limited downside. Moreover, you can de-risk this process by being smart in your outreach approach. For me, I started by talking to current students; I realize you are an undergrad, but if your school has a graduate business program, perhaps you can reach out to someone at the school who has access to the student database. Try to connect with real estate guys; buy them a beer and pick their brains. Cast a wide net - talk to anyone in real estate regardless of focus as they will likely know people who are in MF. This is a low risk setting. Yes, there are questions you should not ask, but you are just getting your feet wet and trying to figure things out...these guys will understand and are likely to help with perhaps less judgment. From here, you can reach out to their contacts or recent graduates; young guys with still fresh memories of the recruiting process know how crushing it can be. Again, likelihood of them helping is greater, and as these guys are more junior, it is a good place to start building a knowledge base. As you have more conversations, hopefully you can detect a pattern with regards to industry/roles and the conversations that you enjoy. Additionally, as you build more knowledge, you should have better quality conversations. At this point, you should become more comfortable getting on the phone with more senior guys (i.e., the guys who could hire you).

Note: I played away from my target geography on the front end of my job hunt. Being less confident in what you want and less informed, there is no need to waste a good opportunity. Regardless of how large your target market is, there are only so many people who can offer you a job that aligns with your aspirations. Moreover, real estate circles are small and people talk. A bad conversation (i) eliminates a possible job opportunity with the guy on the other end of the phone, and/or (ii) eliminates you getting a referral to their buddies at other shops. With regards to (ii), this is how I landed my gig; I spoke to someone and had a flawless conversation...their firm was not hiring, but he opened his Rolodex and became an advocate for me by proactively reaching out on my behalf. Prior to me picking up the phone to his buddies, I had buy in and good will from a trusted friend and industry player. I was not starting from ground zero and made the most of that.

Hope this helps.

-SD

 

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