Hi all,
Just need some quality advice on my predicament. I just recently graduated from a non-target UG in the west coast and majored finance. I have been actively recruiting in my desired location of work and have had a lot of traction with various opportunities (about 5 in the past couple months). I accepted an offer to work as an intern for a development company while I was still on the search for that glitzy full-time gig.
I have experience interning for a boutique PERE firm that also does debt placement where I primarily worked on the debt placement side of the business. (I didn't continue to work there for full-time even though they wanted me to because they were too far from where I live/ want to work.
Long story short I now live and intern for this development company in my desired location and I should be happy right? I have mixed feelings though as those opportunities that i have had traction on, more align with what I feel i wanted to do within r/e.. which was primarily being an analyst for a firm that does debt placement. I made it to the final round in most of those interviews and all of them didn't pan out or hit. Which naturally you all know is discouraging, but I tend to bounce back very quick and get right back out there till the right one hits.
My predicament/need of advice:
So the current place I intern at mainly focuses on r/e development but they also do some property management and construction management. They have a financial sponsor with 2B+ of cash to go in on deals that they prove to be profitable and they go out and build them. The only reason i got this opportunity is because I cold-emailed the CEO and got an interview and he hired me the same day because he liked my character and work ethic(there was no formal opening nor in place intern program). Now moving forward, I am graduated and recently sat down with him and some key execs about my roll at the firm and what I can expect or what I want to do. Basically they told me I will work under both the CFO and the SVP of development which I am very cool with. They told me straight up not to stay here if I am not committed to learning as much as I can towards real estate development because they are going to spend a lot of time tailoring me and teaching me while i work here. The relationship I have with the CEO is very strong though and it almost feels like he is trying to mentor me and wants me to stay here long term.
My questions:
Should I be grateful and commit to this company? Is it valuable starting a career in real estate development for someone who essentially wants to be an analyst/own his own firm one day? Since they want commitment from me should i ask for commitment from them in terms of pay once I get fully integrated and have a more definitive role? (I currently get paid okay but not what all of the other 5 roles i almost got were potentially going to be)
No one can really tell you how to feel. But if you don't want your job, set me up ha
Only you know what's best for you.
It seems like a good opportunity that would afford you lots of learning and skill development. Just because they invest time and effort into you doesn't mean you owe them your career. Maybe stick with them for a year or two, and then go from there. I was in a similar situation as you and took the offer and have now been here a year and a half. I still see myself transitioning into more of a finance role soon but am glad I took this opportunity to be mentored by a well respected professional in the industry. As a side note, I've put my feelers out there for acquisitions/Asset Management roles and have had a pretty decent hit rate due to the experience I've gained. Just haven't found the right one to pull the trigger.
This is a joke right, they (the company exec's) want to mentor you and the deal sizes seem to be pretty large. What are you complaining about?
financestudent49 each person will have their own opinion on this, however I think you should stay at the position you are at. There are plenty of individuals out there that would do (almost) anything to be in the position you are in. Being that you are younger and new to the workforce it may be difficult to find a better situation that you are in. Read the following articles as many people have expressed feelings towards this topic and you'll see were it got them. Best of luck regardless of your decision!
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/millionaire-sidney-torres-intern-and-don…
thank you for sharing this, my dad always preached, you have your whole life to make money, seek quality knowledge while your young and set good foundation for yourself. I guess its time to put that into practice and really come to terms with what's best for me
Thank you all for the advice. Just to clear things up I don't mean to come off ungrateful, I really do see the value in this opportunity and it being instrumental in my growth. My only bone to pick with it is the pay isn't great and I just graduated UG & have other expenses. So I guess the real questions are: 1. Should I stick out this sub-par wage (hoping they bump me up as I prove myself and gain more responsibility) and essentially survive off ramen noodles for a while. 2. Ask for a raise or potential raise if I am committing to this position and responsibility(mind you they brought me on as an "intern" hence my low pay right now but now are exploring a more definitive role with me.
I just don't want to be to pushy to early without proving myself and ask for x amount of pay to survive but I also do need the money and if other opps are coming up that do provide that pay, I essentially would want to take that but don't want to sacrifice my reputation of being a flake. hope that makes more sense...
First off, I'm sorry, I know this probably isn't how you intended this to read, and I might get some MS thrown at me for this, but this is coming off as a humble-brag/naive to me. It sounds like you haven't really worked in debt placement all that long except for an internship, but somehow know that this is where you want to be? Be careful here. Internship =/= FT.
Let's look at this objectively:
Most people would kill for a situation like the one you have. The reality is that you don't have any full-time/marketable experience, and it takes most people a significant amount of time (read: 1+ years) to break into the industry even with relevant full time experience (Big 4 accounting, Banking, etc.) and with killer UG background. You were able to land what sounds like an awesome gig in spite of these points. Congrats, this is a major accomplishment.
You do not have an offer for debt, but you have a bird-in-hand for development. Go with the bird-in-hand IMHO.
Back to the income: The pay in your first RE gig will be de minimis at most places you go, no matter the shop or role. If you are at a shop where you are going to learn a ton (which it sounds like you will in the shop you have the offer from) you can basically write your ticket elsewhere afterwards if you decide to do so. Go somewhere where you are going to max your experience and value-add later on, this is where you will make your money. If you have good experience, the money you'll make at later stages of your career will trump any incremental pay you get in your first couple years at any analyst/associate level.
In development you are going to see almost every aspect of a deal from acquisitions, ground up construction, leasing, permitting, zoning, entitlement, etc. and yes, DEBT. The only thing I think you could make an argument for is you probably won't get a ton of exposure to Asset Management if they are a merchant builder/short term hold shop, but this can be learned later. Bottom line: you will have options if you put in 2-3 years here.
You have a situation where the big-whigs/people who are directly responsible for your career trajectory and pay ceiling have basically told you they are going to place you on a golden toilet as long as you don't F it up. This does not happen often in this industry unless you have some serious family relationships. Again, you worked your ass off presumably in the internship to earn this, so major congratulations. Do not discount this. Mentorship / Apprenticeship in this industry is make-or-break.
Finally, you seem like a thoughtful person who has a good head on their shoulders, so good luck!
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