Hello!
As with most students right now, I'm trying to lock down an internship for this coming Summer and I am having a hard time. I'm interested in CRE finance, but studying Real Estate isn't an option at my school. I'm majoring in Finance and Economics with an unflattering 3.2 GPA from a non-target, and I am not getting many responses to applications. I graduate in December 2018 after I come back for one quarter in the fall - I'm hoping this isn't a big factor.
My current experience revolves around mutual fund analysis that I do for a boutique PWM company. Other somewhat related experience is working in the Academic Admin. office at my University - essentially HR, where I perform some low level analysis and sometimes I do a little budget forecasting.
Outside of brokerage, what are my entry level options? I've only received one interview with an insurance company that dabbles in CRE (about 6B out of 40B invested, small size transactions) that I have yet to hear back from. Where did you start? How did you get that first position? If you didn't have previous RE experience, what did you leverage to get that position?
look into positions at Freddie Mac Multifamily. they have a TON of open positions and they're usually very lenient when it comes to new grads. you can expect a starting salary of ~$65K
also look into Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae approved lenders. I know that ReadyCap Commercial has an internship position open right now, as well as a couple entry level roles in NYC
Are you familiar with Ready Cap?-Culture, salaries? etc
I checked out some of the jobs and they offer a Small Balance Lending multifamily analyst job. Are you familiar with this role? I will definitely apply, thanks!
yes, apply, but use it as a stepping stone if you can't get any positions with large loans (Conventional). small loans don't make any money. no company profit = no bonus for you.
There aren’t really targets and non-targets in CRE (excluding some very large institutional players). It isn’t like investment banking where it is basically ivy or bust. I’d highly recommend that you get rid of the “I go to a non-target” mindset, because it’s going to negatively affect your confidence, which will negatively affect your ability to get a job. Also, you have a 3.2 - so what? It isn’t like you have a 2.5. Yea it’s not stellar, but I’d be surprised if it is causing you to get systematically dinged. If this is a big concern of yours, you should explore getting a MSRE or MRED to rebrand.
From the context of your post, it seems that you’re submitting applications into the black hole of the internet and not doing much else after that. Because you’re not a 4.0 student from Harvard, you need to try to indentify the hiring manager and get in touch with them as soon as possible. Find someone high up in their team, like director level. Email them and ask to set up a 10-15 minute phone call to discuss their firm and the opportunity. 9 times out of 10 they’ll put you in contact with the person who is doing the initial resume cut, but if instead of passing you off they take your call it’s even better because they are ultimately the decision maker on who to hire. From there it gets much easier to explain your story and be much more than a 1 page piece of paper. If you can nail this usually you can get at least an interview.
Second, you need to be doing more than just applying online - you need to be actively searching for opportunities. CRE openings on the buy side are rarely posted for a variety of reasons. If you network enough, opportunities will present themselves. You need to be talking to people as much as you can while you can abuse the “I’m a student" card, as its going to get significantly hard to build your network after graduation.
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