small shop compensation
just worried this might be too much info along with other posts/comments on my account so posting anon -- I'm currently a senior in undergrad finishing up later this year (coming from a top 15 undergrad school for whatever it's worth here), I'm returning to a small shop in a major market (NYC/LA/CHI) that I've interned with before, it's mainly a multifamily focused development/acquisitions firm
because they're such a small shop (less than 10 people) there's really no set analyst position and I've kind of lucked out through networking and timing to get this spot, over the next couple of months we'll be finalizing what my role will look like
I know the answer is probably something along the lines of "it'll vary", but i'm wondering if anyone has any experience with really small shops like this, and what I might expect compensation-wise? being in a tier 1 market I feel like my pay should be somewhere around 50-65k all in for my first year, but realistically with what I bring to the table it would be hard to negotiate if they were to offer less (35-50ish I guess is the low range here?), because I obviously have no real experience and I'll definitely be doing some learning initially before actually adding value for them -- would appreciate any thoughts, experiences, or insights anyone might have on first year compensation for small dev/acquisition firms like this
My first job was an analyst at similar shop type in mountain west. Lower COL. All in was $80k. Don’t sell yourself short.
It was a lot of learning and doing work that was later reviewed. A lot of excel and Argus modeling. I had completed two internships (one of them was institutional LP RE) and some Investment banking excel self study courses where I learned modeling basics. A lot of time rebuilding already complete models They knew I was green and were very good about taking time to teach me. For more data points, I had an offer as acquisitions Analyst at a RIET in same city for $65k + bonus and Duff and Phelps in second tier city for $67K+ bonus and chose the small shop because broader exposure. I went to a non-target state school. I’m now working for a small Multifamily acqu shop (~5 acq guys). My advice for working at a small shop would be to spend a lot of time learning how your superiors think and operate and buy into their way of doing business
$50k minimum for a major market, and that really should be the floor. First year analyst at our boutique (~45 people) is $70k base in NY. Like Bob said, don't sell yourself short and negotiate if you have hard facts or reasons to increase comp.