Career advice on new job
Hey guys,
So I’m newish to real estate and in desperate need of advice.
I recently accepted a job with a public REIT and relocated to a different state. I’ve been in my current position for a couple of months and can already tell this isn’t going to work out long term. The duties of my new role are extremely different from the actual job description and I have absolutely no interest in the job that doing.
I’ve reached out to headhunters and was basically told I’m stuck here because of my short tenure. I’ve casually brought it up with my manager, but he brushes it off. What do I do?
The job market is very good right now. Apply to job postings directly rather than going through headhunters.
Also my answer may change depending on how hard they bait and switched you. What are you doing at work?
Also what size REIT is this? In addition how long have you bee in the workforce prior to this. What position are you and what did they say you will be doing?
Really kind of vague given lack of description but hopefully we can help with more color. If the pay is good I would just stick it out for a while and then move to another firm when you gain some experience.
The job was supposed to be doing acquisitions underwriting, working with the acquisitions team, but turned out to be straight up asset management. My day to day is basically looking to see which tenant has an expiring lease and forwarding it to higher ups. The REIT is huge, north of $10billion assets under management
Not all headhunters are created equal. Whoever is telling you that you're stuck is wrong - had plenty of friends make moves 6 months into analyst gig - and the economy/job market was in a significantly worse spot back then.
Keep blasting out your resume too, but best bet is going to be networking (especially if you like the market you moved out of state to). Be active in ULI, NAIOP, NMHC (whichever is relevant to you and your market) and get yourself out there as much as possible. So many jobs are filled by knowing the right person - or finding out about it through connections before it ever makes it to a job board. Put yourself out there, let people know you are interested in what they do and - as discreetly as necessary - that you are open to a move.
Regarding the bait and switch, are you actually working on the asset management team or have most of your duties thus far just been asset management related. REIT acquisitions can be a volatile place with your ability to compete for deals being dependent on a variety of factors outside of the merits of the deal. (Your stock price, amount of development in the pipeline, geographic/industry concentration, balance sheet health - or mgmt.'s goal of altering leverage profile, etc. are just a few examples). So if you are on the acquisitions team, but just not doing deals right now, it could actually be a good sign that they are finding things for you to do. Layoffs aren't exactly common right now, but if that is the case it's not a bad thing that your company isn't one to just roll up the acquisition team in between the good buying times... If that's the case and you end up spending a little more time at this REIT, try to think strategically about the owned assets you're working with. They are investments too and hold/sell and strategic re-positioning work can be interesting...
Thanks for your comment. No I was put with asset management team day one despite my actual offer / title. Unfortubetly this team doesn’t handle dispositions, more so collecting rent and administers leases.
Does your manager not work in the acquisitions side at all? If this is the case they definitely bait and switched you. I would start looking at other opportunities or try and network with the acquisitions team within your firm if acquisitions is where you want to be.
Odd that they said this, is your title still "acquisitions analyst"
Are they doing any acquisitions? If not, maybe that's why you're doing asset management right now.
That being said, if it's the wrong fit it's the wrong fit, I know a guy that jumped after like 2-3 months at a firm he thought was the wrong fit. How long were you at your previous company? You can't change jobs every 6 months, but a 3 year tenure at one place, followed by a 3 month at another isn't necessarily bad.
My manager is in asset management and yes we’re in heavy acquisitions mode. Unfortunately this is my 3rd job, followed by 1 year in brokerage and 1 year in brokerage on a different team, so my resume doesn’t look great from tenure perspective. Although I do have 2 internships at top brokerage firms (HFF/CBRE/JLL)
I can sympathize, in a very similar spot. Not ideal that is for sure.
my honest advice to you, stop picking jobs and prove yourself at work an analyst who is willing to do the tedious work and do it well is the best analyst
this guy is right. You work for a $10B REIT, and your title says acquisitions analyst. You can spin that however you want 1-2 years down the line.
Title won’t mean much if I can’t underwrite a deal / have worked on any here
technical skills are not as important as you think Many junior analysts afraid of falling behind in technicals, but just picture yourself 10-years down the road, you will not be doing excel modeling anymore in management position
I never underwrite a single deal in my life, and I know my peer who was real estate lawyer for a long time also never underwrite anything, but we were placed directly to oversee and manage underwriters because we ascend through the ranks in other roles/functions
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