Hello All,
Currently a rising college senior looking to recruit for a real estate private equity role (interned at a top real estate investment banking team, received an offer to return but want to move to the principal side ASAP). I was wondering if anyone knows which top real estate private equity firms / investment firms recruit out of undergrad? I know Blackstone has its REPE analyst program but the process is already completed - would be interested to see which firms of a similar caliber have analyst programs.
PM me and I can give you a few names of shops that currently have postings up at my target school
PM me. Happy to chat and help.
I'm in the same boat as OP. Where are you located? Assuming CREation is at a northeast Ivy.
I think Starwood is open for their 2019 analysts.
I'm in almost exactly the same boat, did my internship in merchant banking and coming from top school. Having a really hard time finding 2019 openings, most of the ones I see are immediately needed. Applied for the big boys like goldman RMD, blackrock, starwood. Not sure where to go from here. Message me and lets talk (I can't send messages lol)
Recruitment timeline of REPE, Development companies (Originally Posted: 10/03/2017)
Has anyone noticed that the average time from looking at a job offer to getting to an interview to getting an offer is significantly longer in the real estate industry, compared to other finance & investment-related firms?
Long story short: finishing up my RE MBA at a solid university in the US, have ~4 years of ownership-side experience and several internships (all real estate).
I have noticed several big employers (industries like banking, manufacturing, financial services, business departments of IT companies etc.) that directly recruit at my school start their initial contacts for finding interns and full-time positions ~9 months before the proposed start date. Graduating soon, I honestly feel as if I am wasting someone's time trying to search and interview for REPE/Development/Acquisitions/AM roles 3 months out. Outside of this notion, it has quite often seemed as if real estate firms' hiring process focuses on very immediate need, and an otherwise well-qualified candidate such as myself is simply pushed aside as I cannot start in a week or two.
Any insights appreciated - thanks a lot!
While I can't provide solid answers for your questions, I can second the trends you are seeing. As an intern in REPE and graduating in May it seems many companies are not concerned with hiring, much like corporate finance or IB would be at this time in the cycle. I've had 3 preliminary interviews and upon learning I will be in school till May, the process has halted. This can be a positive though, as I now have internal touch points for when jobs become available later in the school year.
My theory, which I believe is supported throughout these forums, is that the industry is generally very fragmented. Many small firms with differing investment strategies/projections for need/ understanding of future work load
I can speak to #1.
Development / REPE Firms are incredibly lean and hire completely based on need. Unless you're targeting large institutional shops, you probably wont find a specified recruiting cycle. I've also found that interviews are really fit focused. I've been through the interview process with a REPE fund for almost 2 months now.
Hilariously long, as you mentioned. You have to remember that most real estate firms - ESPECIALLY development - are purposefully lean. This means no HR, or one small HR team in the main office halfway across the country. This means no one driving the internal process to hiring someone.
In development companies, things have to be driven to completion. Often, executives will come up with ideas or recognize issues and then pass it to a mid or lower level person to execute and complete. When it comes to hiring, however, the executives will finally realize that they needed a new person six months ago, perhaps talk among themselves about that need, and then it immediately goes to the back burner because they spend most of their time putting out fire drills across all of their deals.
What this means is you have to be the person, as the applicant, to drive your hiring to completion - almost acting like a lower level employee trying to get his or her boss to do something. There's a tact to this, as anyone who has to manage up can tell you, but it's essentially being relentless without being annoying. These guys have 2394823984283 things they're thinking of daily. You are number 2394823984282 on that list, and you'll stay that way until you bump yourself up. Keep following up.
Why would you be disqualified for the next position if the current position is full? That doesn't make any sense.
Of course you should apply for current postings, and you should then immediately reach out to various people in the firm letting them know that you applied and asking to speak with them about the opportunity. Sometimes, you can get a jump start on the next opportunity.
Consider this - a company is growing in deal flow far beyond their personnel's capacity. They realize they need to hire a few people, but because of the lack of time and no one driving it to the finish line, they're going to do this one step at a time. They put a posting up, went through the resumes, picked a handful to interview, did the interviews, found one they really like, etc. right when you contact them. They might have already offered person #1 for role #1, but boom - they know they need more and you're right there in front of them without them having to re-do all the above effort if you're a good fit.
Easy - you ask "When are you looking for this position to be filled?" or "What is the timeline of this interview process?" Interviewers aren't people to be feared.
Network endlessly. Network, network some more, and network more after that. You meet with people, tell them you want to work for them, they tell you no, then you ask or they just tell you other people to meet with. You meet with those people then, and they all tell you no, and then you ask or they tell you other people to meet with. You meet with those people then, rapidly expanding your network by now, and they all tell you no, and then you ask or they tell you other people to meet with. By the end, they're going to be telling you people you've already talked to, and they'll be impressed you've met with everyone they know.
Then, out of the blue, one of the people you've talked to or have had recommended to you will be interested. When you meet with the interested employer, you'll have an absurd list of people that have met with you, and liked you, that can go to bat for you as a reference. Real estate is so small - chances are a few of the execs you've met with and told you no, if you've stayed in touch with them correctly, will literally be best friends or old co-workers of your potential bosses.
Keep networking. Go completely overboard with it. It works.
Firstly, SB'ed all of you who responded, this feedback has been most valuable!
Wanted to try to expand on the point that I previously mentioned:
I think that in a grand scheme of things you're very correct. I didn't initially place enough weight on the fact that a positive contact with a person responsible for hiring may be substantial enough to keep me in consideration for the next upcoming role. Guess I really went with the less probable logic - that someone sees my application, interviews me, finds out that I'm 3-5mo from hiring, and deep down says "why am I wasting my time on this guy who should subconsciously understand that we need a position filled now?" I still believe that this may still come up, but in retrospect this shouldn't even put a dent in the confidence of someone looking for a job.
Veniam consequatur vel sunt quo ut voluptatem quas sed. Nisi aut amet omnis totam laborum voluptatem accusamus.
Magni blanditiis numquam pariatur omnis qui. Aut quas a enim dolore. Et provident consequatur minima et. Voluptates itaque repellat rem cum. Sapiente et aut qui ad aut.
Rerum fugiat odio occaecati eligendi iusto ut. Placeat magnam eveniet voluptates molestiae ut culpa sequi. Deleniti autem aspernatur hic nobis consequatur et in omnis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...