Why are you still working there?

Im honestly lost at how some of you analysts on institutional teams at brokerages continue to show up to work everyday? I was talking with a JLL analyst out of LA today, and he said they work until midnight or later every night of the workweek… and all that time making OMs…? I would quit so fast lmao.

 
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Ok I'll bite, for some they didn't come from the "right background". And while it is true that real estate doesn't have a traditional path like IB>PE, for some of us institutional teams are the quickest way to grow your network and meet the major players in the market and then exit to the buyside. If you are on a solid team with high producers you can also make a large amount of money (getting tipped out through a percent of each deal closed) than a comparable role 1-3 years out of school (with the exception of IB, but again some of us didn't go the IB route). It also is the only path to take if you eventually want to be an investment sales broker, which some people are striving for and can be highly lucrative. Working on an institutional team can also land you a gig on the buyside at one of the firm's clients if you decide that investment sales isn't your jam. The lucrative pay, and optionality to either be a broker or exit to the buyside are what keep the analysts grinding away.

 

It is 100% this. JLL on your resume will do a lot for you, plus there's a chance they actually want to move up in the JLL brokerage ecosystem, in which case they're busting their ass to do so. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Sorry but working until 12 every night is a little soul crushing and not worth it IMO, especially in brokerage. I get working hard, having to grind through the night sometimes… but every single night until midnight or later? There are other ways to go about finding success in CRE. Maybe it’s just my jaded personality type after being in the industry for a few years now, but to me that is just not worth the “brain damage” experienced doing that job for x amount of years.

 

I'm the biggest proponent of work-life balance and the last person to want to be a broker (again), but you can't just flat out say it's not worth it simply because it is not worth it to you. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Honestly, first jobs suck, some suck harder, but you aren't working for the present but the future. So those stay in those jobs to get to the next job, people respect that and part of why people seek them out to be hired to other jobs (or get promoted at the brokerage). Quitters... well, have fun being second tier! (kinda kidding, but not really, there is a true "survivorship bias" that benefits those who stick it out with these roles). 

I will observe, this is not just a feature of the finance/real estate world... it is equal in law, medicine, academia, and military (and I'm sure more). Those in the entertainment field would probably agree as well. The "paying your dues" stage of a career is common in many, if not most, highly paid fields.  

 

Interestingly, quant research/trading (and to some extent software engineering) is the opposite. Fresh grads are in high demand and paid very well, but often get marked as too old in their 30s.

 

Some of that is due to sheer demand vs. supply of the skill (with the software engineers and quants for sure), so they get paid more immediately as an inducement to stay at work (and its easy for those people to get hired away as their skills can be more easily transported than others). Since pretty much any college educated douchebag can format power points and build excel models that can be taught in a weekend (pretty much all CRE IS, D/E, and even most if not all of traditional I-banking), then the pay is only  a reward for the punishment. That is the truth of these roles, analysts are the white collar equivalent of psychical laborers in this biz, worked to death as that is really only way to justify the pay. The upside, you due to time... and you can get a ticket to big leagues (or at least a chance). 

The "too old" get pushed out thing is kinda interesting... I think those are more "up or out" scenarios where either you get promoted (as you have proven your value and seen as a leader/rainmaker), or get recycled per se. That is true in a lot of fields as well. 

 

Two words- Golden handcuffs. I work to the bone but get paid $160K all in. And I am not at an Eastdil type place that is known for high pay. I am just at an above average bank and I only have 3 years experience with one year being virtual during a pandemic and another half year worked part time while I was in grad school so it barely counts. as 3 years experience. On WSO, working 60 hours is seen as nothing. Thats 8-8 or 9-9 5 days a week. Forget going to happy hours after work, or putting your kid to sleep or have the energy to spend quality time with the people you like. You are often a zombie because of the lack of sleep. And crazy part is I routinely work way more than 60 hours a week. You can imagine my mental and physical state. I have been looking at other opportunities for the past 6 months. It is easy to get a job- if I want to get paid 80K all in. Regardless of how miserable I am everyday, I am not taking a 50% pay cut to leave lol. But off late, I realize that I cannot have it both ways. If I want to a  better lifestyle and WLB, agencies, life co's etc offer that but a pay cut comes along with it. Might have to bite the bullet. Once I get my foot in the door (and it is pretty fucking competitive) I feel like those places have people who literally never leave and get rewarded with pay bumps the longer you stay. I am still hoping for atleast a max 20-40% paycut though. I can live with that, it wont affect my quality of life much but my work hours would 40-60 instead of 100+. . 

 

You make a great point about the competitiveness of leaving for Agencies and Life Co.’s. Many people here say, I’ll do REPE for 2 years and than I’ll go to a Life co and have a life (or agency). But the Life Co’s are super hard to get into because they are still great jobs. And the Life Co’s don’t view themselves as any different from REPE shops. The competition is fierce and while many people want their life and these firms as generally known as lifestyle, people still are motivated by money and want to make more while working there. They are still tough seats to find. 

 

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