College Career Groomed for One Industry, now trying to break into a new one. Help!

My resume reads "I am groomed for Commercial Real Estate".

I am vastly interested in commercial RE. I have held two very good internships within the commercial RE industry with a lot of analyst experience. Because of the last two years or so, very few companies are hiring for Commercial RE and those that are have way too many applicants for the one or two spots they are offering for analysts.

I am now trying to interview in a different industry, but time after time I get the "so why are you not going into commercial real estate? You seem to have groomed yourself for that industry". The first time I gave my response I told them basically the economy sucks, no one is hiring, commercial real estate is just bad to be in right now etc. etc. That did not seem to fly. They responded along the lines of 'so if commercial real estate was doing well right now and booming, would you be working in that industry'. The next interview I went to I told them that those were just internships I got and I felt that experience is experience and took them. Same kind of reaction.

What do I do when all my college grooming was geared toward one industry and now you are trying to jump into an entirely new one? I am still seeking analyst positions in CRE, but the reality is I need a job in 2 months until I find that CRE position.

Thanks

 
Best Response

Don't talk about what's wrong with commercial RE (and why you don't want to be there) - talk about what interests you about THEIR industry. Just as an example, if you were interviewing for healthcare (I'm using the example of a totally unrelated industry - hopefully your case will be more relevant) - say, "while my experience has been in real estate, healthcare is well positioned to grow quickly over the next few years. As a junior professional seeking the best learning experience, I want to involve myself in an industry that will see a healthy amount of deal flow over the next few years." Notice I didn't mention a passion for healthcare or a love for helping people, since nothing in your background is related to healthcare and saying you have a passion for it is just phony. The above works well because 1) it shows your eagerness to learn a new industry 2) you stroke their ego by saying that their industry is positioned to grow without pretending to know everything about it 3) it gives a believable, but not desperate reason to leave commercial RE (you don't mention commercial RE positions are hard to come by, just that their industry will see more deal flow).

If somehow you CAN find a way to make them believe you have a geniune passion for their industry, by all means go for it. But judging from your question it doesn't look like you do.

 

i can totally relate, i am thinking about switching out of cre, too.

first off, when asked why you arent pursuing a cre career, DO NOT say its bc the industry sucks right now. instead, i would say that you were interested in cre and that at the time you were offered a challenging and rewarding internship and you took it, but now you are more intereste din other career tracks, specifically whatever one you are interviewing for. say that you find their industry alittle more exciting, more opportunity ofr growth than cre whatver whatever.

ill continue, but i got to run. brb.

--- man made the money, money never made the man
 

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