Career advice for 23 y/o feeling stuck in banking.
Hello! I graduated with a finance degree with a real estate minor from a large state school in the U.S. in December of 2020 and currently working in a 2-year corporate finance development program at a large multinational bank. Long term I’ve always wanted to get into commercial real estate as that’s always interested me and my dad is in the business on the construction side. 

My experience includes a construction management internship on a large hospital project, a corporate banking internship as well as currently in the program full-time. I took the banking role during Covid to gain experience as financial analyst, hoping to leverage it to get into an analyst role for a developer. 

At the moment I feel stuck that I’m wasting my time here and the experience won’t be very valuable when trying to get into a CRE role. Any advice on further education, certifications, or any other resume builders to help me break into the industry?

Additionally, what roles are valuable to transition to for young professionals other than an analyst for a developer? Would appraisal, broker, or property manager be any better?

I’d love to work for a developer or on the buy-side, but I know that it’s competitive which is why I might need some boosters for my resume. 

Appreciate any and all insight given!
[{"id": "icc0s87", "text": "Stay at the bank, keep being an analyst with a steady paycheck. The front end of a recession is not exactly the best time to be trying to break into the less stable areas of CRE.", "replies": [{"id": "icckw0q", "text": "Appreciate the advice!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "icct04o", "text": "Exceptional advice.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "icg1g9k", "text": "Most of the successful agents I know started 06-08\u2019.  \n\nIf you could figure that out you could figure out anything!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iccggqe", "text": "Very similar situation here,\n\nThe only difference is that I\u2019m a 23 y/o working my first full-time after graduation as a data analyst in commercial finance (mid-sized company in the U.K.). My role is 100% remote, I meet with my colleagues once every 2 months in London - mediocre. Wanna break into CRE due to similar reasons (dad used to be a small developer, have a fascination with several RE asset classes).\n\nI believe that you\u2019re in a fair better spot, as you can leverage your working environment to grow your network that will be (even though not precisely but still indirectly) useful once you make a jump to CRE.\n\nI\u2019m building my modelling skill set, but struggle to network - must give LinkedIn Premium a go again.\nI worry a bit about upcoming recession but I\u2019m determined to break in regardless. I believe right opportunities come only if you look for them :)\n\nGood luck, keep up-skilling, networking and applying when you\u2019re ready. Never give up \u262e\ufe0f\u270c\ufe0f", "replies": [{"id": "iccl67w", "text": "Best of luck! Keep grinding and things will work out! May I ask what you work on to improve your modeling skills?", "replies": [{"id": "iccwmyk", "text": "I\u2019ve just started Justin Kivel\u2019s Financial Modelling Bootcamp (bought a single course on Udemy to try it out) - 30% in, great so far! I\u2019ve done CFI\u2019s FMVA in the past so have generic modelling knowledge, just need to learn the ins and outs of modelling in RE. Intuition and habits are similar, it\u2019s the new nomenclature (European, not a native English speaker here) and commercial knowledge that I must catch up with.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "iccrapk", "text": "Hey, im in a very very similar position to you! Feel free to reach out.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iccm495", "text": "Doesn't your bank have a CRE vertical? Learn to underwrite CRE loans - which will help you as a developer - and as another poster said, wait until a better point in the business cycle to jump into development.", "replies": [{"id": "iccnj6h", "text": "Most definitely, I\u2019ve been looking at some of those roles for post-program. Thanks for the input.", "replies": [{"id": "icdn3yq", "text": "Look at Omega credit training", "replies": [{"id": "icdtlmn", "text": "Hell yeah this looks like a great resource thank you", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iccmyaq", "text": "You are 23.  You are not stuck.  Stay and get some additional experience in banking - you can always move jobs in your late twenties and it will help having a banking background for more than a couple of years.", "replies": [{"id": "iccnkgr", "text": "Thank you!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iccvn4n", "text": "CRE seems like it can be brutal. I interviewed at Marcus &amp; Millichap recently and their top guys told me that for their new staff the typical scenario is that they don't close a single sale for at least 6 months, sometimes over a year, and meanwhile you are expected to be in office 40 hrs minimally for prospecting. You have to be comfortable not making money for a long time before it starts paying off. So I realized it wouldn't be a good fit when they implied that it would be an obstacle if I did my side hustles to sustain myself instead of being in the office for those 6 months plus. They really want you to be first one in last one out the whole time you are not making money in order to properly cultivate business.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "icddbh7", "text": "Try to do a lateral move within the bank into their CRE group so that you are gaining CRE experience without leaving the steady job. You will see how other deals, asset classes, markets etc are performing, how they\u2019re being underwritten/managed, which investors/developers are rising or falling, etc.", "replies": [{"id": "icdervs", "text": "Definitely, somebody else mentioned this, too. Started reaching out to certain teams already, I think that\u2019s a very solid route to strive towards. Appreciate the advice.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ice9wa8", "text": "What city are you in?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "icec084", "text": "Buy a duplex or a SFR and rent it out.   It\u2019s like monopoly, buy 4 houses then trade them in for an apartment building.  It\u2019s slow, be patient. It can still retire at 40.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "icgblch", "text": "I was an analyst for nearly 5 years in brokerage and commercial real estate lending before I landed an analyst job with a developer. If you know that\u2019s what you want, keep grinding and keep applying for analyst roles at developers. It will eventually happen. Good analysts are hard to find. It\u2019s all about reps (seeing lots of deals) and learning excel as best you can. Once you land that role, work hard and show your commitment. It will be recognized and you will be rewarded.\n\nAlso does your bank have real estate lending analyst positions? You can try to transition to that which would give you more experience in direct real estate experience.", "replies": [{"id": "ichwdbo", "text": "Thanks for the advice! They do have analyst lending positions, most of which are with a post graduate commercial real estate program. They absolutely won\u2019t let anybody in these programs move around until their 2 years are finished. I got 1 year left and planting the seeds now to transition over there when my role is done.", "replies": [{"id": "icj5bvm", "text": "Sounds like a great plan! Good luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "icm85vl", "text": "What state are you located in ?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]