Advice for getting an entry level job in Commercial Property Management
I'm looking for advice from commercial property management professionals about ways to land an entry level job in this field. I am specifically looking for jobs in Los Angeles, CA.

Right now I'm studying for my California Real Estate Salesperson's License, but have no prior experience in the real estate industry other than a summer internship at a brokerage firm. My educational and work background is in urban planning.

If I can't get a job in property management upon obtaining my license, my plan is to start working at a commercial real estate brokerage firm, with an eye toward moving into property management down the line. 

So I have a few questions for any commercial property managers reading this:

1) Do I have any chance of landing an entry level property management job with my limited resume (a CA salesperson's license and virtually no real estate work experience)? 

2) If not, what do I need to do to beef up my resume so that I can get my foot in the door with regard to property management? Are there any other courses that I should consider taking?

3) Is it possible to start out as a commercial real estate broker, then transition to a job in property management? If so, do I need a minimum amount of experience as a broker before I can make that switch?

4) Which area of property management do you recommend that I target? Retail? Office? Something else?

5) How do you enjoy your work? Is it stressful? Challenging? Rewarding?

6) What is a typical entry level salary for a commercial property manager in Los Angeles? And what is the upper salary range for senior level jobs?

Thanks in advance for any insight.
[{"id": "dfoxkx1", "text": "I work in property/asset management in Orange County. I work in Class A Office/mixed use/industrial space.\n\nFirst off, brokerage and property management are very different. Think of brokerage as sales and property management as operations in the sense of a traditional business. Brokerage, if you are successful, will pay more than property management unless you are an upper level asset management exec. Moving from brokerage to property management is not unheard of but not a \"traditional\" path. \n\nNow to answer your questions:\n\n1) Yes, but if you want to work for a reputable company you will likely need to know someone. I truly don't know a single person at my company that did not know someone in the company before being hired. Look into BOMA and IREM for networking opportunities. \n\n2) Beefing up your resume will be tough considering you are looking for entry level opportunities so you have little to no experience by definition. The real estate license will at least show that you are committed enough to real estate to go through the process. Otherwise, like I said before, nothing will help you as much as knowing someone at the company. \n\n3) I know I touched on this before as well, but will elaborate here. Starting off in brokerage and moving to property management is certainly possible but not a typical path that is \"planned for\". This is because traditional brokers make very little money when they start out and property management offers a steady paycheck and high job security. If you manage to gain traction as a broker, it would usually make more sense to stick with that unless you hate it. \n\n4) Office and retail are where it is at. The higher end the product, the better. I would avoid apartments at all cost. \n\n5) I truly enjoy my work but look forward to moving into a higher position where I can focus more on strategy/numbers. There can be a lot of tenant issues to deal with at the lower levels, even in class A office, and truly entry level property management is basically customer service. The good news is that there is a pretty clear career path in office/retail management.\n\n6) A truly entry level position will only pay around 50-60K. Not much in LA. Property managers at my firm make 100K+, Directors pull around 150K+ with bonus and VP's/senior people can make much more. Again, the good news here is that there is a fairly well defined career path in commercial management and if you are good you will move up quickly. \n\nHappy to answer more questions if you have any. ", "replies": [{"id": "dfpsa4n", "text": "Thanks so much for the extremely detailed and informative response, priceandtime!\n\nYour post has given me a lot to consider. To elaborate on my personal circumstances, the original plan when I decided to take the real estate courses was to become a commercial real estate salesperson. But I started to have doubts when I learned about the fairly high rate of failure in commercial brokerage and the fact that it can take months to earn your first commission. I then started researching other areas of specialization within commercial real estate, and property management stood out to me as being an interesting line of work. Not to mention, I'd obviously rather have a steady paycheck from the get-go since I'll be moving to Los Angeles from out of state. \n\nI do have enough savings to last me a while and will be bringing my car with me, so I believe I will be able to weather the prospect of little-to-no income during my first months as a broker, if that's how things end up. But I'm definitely more interested in property management and will look into the networking opportunities you mentioned to see if I can get my foot in the door.\n\nI do have a few more questions if you don't mind:\n\n1) I'm currently taking online courses for the California Real Estate Licensing exam. I have already completed two of the required courses and will be finished with the third and final required course in a couple of weeks. I then plan on taking the CA exam sometime next month.\n\nBut I was thinking about enrolling in a fourth class - a Property Management elective - that is offered by my online school. Even though the course primarily focuses on residential property management, at first glance it seems like it could only improve my resume.\n\nWhat are your thoughts? Even with connections being paramount for finding a job in this industry, would completing a course such as this be worthwhile just to have something relevant on my resume? Or would it have little to no impact on my job prospects? \n\n2) Given my lack of industry connections at the moment, should I look into property management internships?  \n\n3) Another option I've considered is to work as a real estate assistant at a brokerage firm during my first 6-12 months in the real estate industry. This way, I'd have a steady (albeit modest) salary and can learn the ropes before deciding if I want to fully commit to brokerage or pursue other avenues such as property management.\n\nWould this option help my resume in any way, or would it be dismissed as irrelevant work experience? The reason I ask is because the job listings I've viewed online typically require at least one year of real estate experience, and I obviously have none.\n\nThanks again for all of your advice, and take care.", "replies": [{"id": "dfqfqqe", "text": "Happy to help.\n\nYes, traditional brokerage has a high failure rate and it's good that you are aware of that. I keep saying \"traditional brokerage\" because there are alternatives like in-house landlord rep leasing for a developer/owner. Unfortunately, those jobs are extremely competitive and the odds of you getting into a position like that are very slim. \n\n1) It won't hurt you and can only help you. Will it be worth it? Who knows. It will demonstrate your commitment which is important when you have no experience. \n\n2) A property management internship could be a good thing if you're in the position to take one on. If working for a reputable company is your goal, make sure you do the internship at a reputable company. It seems counter-intuitive but an internship at a C grade company could actually hurt your chances of getting an entry level position at a top tier company (Hines, Equity Office Properties, ect). This obviously depends on your goals and may only apply to office, but I've seen it happen. Retail might be different.  \n\n3) Not a bad idea. Basically, you need to break into the industry with a real company any way you can. After that, it is much easier to move around. It will absolutely help your resume and will not be dismissed as irrelevant. \n\nI'm sure you are aware, but the job market out here is tough. Coastal Southern California is a major real estate market and competition is real. We receive hundreds of resumes when we post entry level property management positions. It is rare that we interview anyone that doesn't have a referral and we occasionally hire MBA's from decent schools for these positions and pay them 50k. A bleak picture, but that's the way it is right now. Not trying to discourage you here - just want to paint a realistic picture. It is certainly possible to get in without an advanced degree (or even a relevant degree) because like I said, nothing helps as much as knowing someone. Just be sure you know what you're getting yourself into before you head out here. Happy to answer more questions if you have any. \n", "replies": [{"id": "dfrfmvt", "text": "Once again, I'd like to thank you for the thoughtful and detailed response. I really appreciate the feedback.\n\nI'm definitely going to take the property management class since, as you said, it can only help. \n\nShould I also consider learning Yardi or any other software programs? In the absence of real estate work experience and an MBA or MRED, I feel I need to add something to my resume that I can highlight when going on interviews, even if it isn't all that substantial.\n\nAt this point, I guess I just need to work on making contacts in the industry and researching reputable firms. I'm going to look into commercial property management assistant positions and internships as backup options in the event I can't secure the position I'm seeking. And who knows, maybe I'll end up as a commercial broker anyway. No matter what happens, I'm looking forward to the career change into a new industry.\n\nThanks again for pointing me in the right direction.\n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "dfsg9e2", "text": "Do you work for a property management company, or do you work for the same company that owns the property?\n\nMy company uses external managers for multifamily, but internal for Retail, Office, and industrial. I am curious what is most common.", "replies": [{"id": "dfsvol3", "text": "Same company that owns the property. Third party management is pretty common though. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]