Best opportunity to take right out of school?
Graduating with a combined JD/MSRE and with aspirations to work in development, what would be the wisest first step upon graduation in a couple years? My father is a hotel developer. He and his business partner (the two of them run the firm) want me to work for them in a sort of associate developer-type position (also using the JD to prepare and work with contracts/the legal side of it all). All of my summer internships have been in the industry and I enjoy it, however,  I am wondering if I should start out at a large company (in an analyst-type position) since that seems to be the way most people start out. That being said, working for my father's firm would give me close exposure to the "front-lines" and more meaningful, hands-on experience on projects. The downside is that it wouldn't be experience at a large, well-known company. 

Open to any advice. Would I be an idiot to pass up on the opportunity to work for my father's firm? Or am I better of learning the ropes at a larger company?
[{"id": "e060tzw", "text": "Hey, not a definite answer here, yet i was recently in your position and choose to go with the smaller company (Owned by my fathers cousin) instead of shooting for a larger firm. I interviewed with the larger firms, yet for me i liked being in a smaller environment. Another reason i choose the smaller company is the ability to fill more rolls. the way I thought about it was that at a larger company i would go in and fulfill a specific role that they have laid out, in the smaller firm, my tasks vary much more and i can carve out activities. The fact that there are just less people here gives me the opportunity to diversify the type of work i do within the company", "replies": [{"id": "e064irf", "text": "Having interned at both a large, international company and a smaller boutique firm, I completely understand this. Thanks for the response", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e061dcw", "text": "I like smaller firms. More experience in all of the roles. You get to wear all the hats. That's just me, some people will tell you that you'll get more experience and variety from larger firms, but hey, I think it's preference at the end of the day. ", "replies": [{"id": "e064fr3", "text": "I've thought some of the same things. Thanks for the reply", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e061y42", "text": "If you want to \"work for yourself\" at some point in the future, you'll learn a lot more about how to accomplish that at a small firm than a large one. You'll also get to see the development process from start to finish, which is invaluable when you want to start doing it on your own. That said, some larger companies have larger, more complex projects that will give you exposure to different problems than at a small firm. They will more likely slot you into a specialty role where you can develop real expertise, but specific expertise isn't as valuable as general knowledge when it comes to development, IMO. \n\nThat said, in this case i think its better for you to think about your relationship with your father and how that will play out in a work environment. I work with my father in development \\- it ain't easy sometimes. If you sense  working together could cause personal conflict, go work somewhere else and learn the trade from someone else. Maybe hes got a developer buddy he could hook you up with.  ", "replies": [{"id": "e064kmz", "text": "You bring up really good points. Thanks for the response ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e062m26", "text": "Have you considered brokerage?  See what your dad has to say about hotel investment brokers.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e06375z", "text": "I would work at a large company. Having a large reuptable firm on your resume can get you into any other firm, be it large, small, or mid-sized, however; it is hard to start at a small firm and go to a big one", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e063rza", "text": "This is probably completely unrelated (and turned longer than I intended), and you may not need to read this, but your post really struck a nerve with me regarding something that happened at work last month that I\u2019m still reeling from. \n\nI work for a boutique RE developer (we also develop hotels as well as small luxury condominiums). Our Founders and CEO and CFO are brothers and both of their sons work for us, aged 26 and 29. The fathers do not handle their sons well (read: they don\u2019t handle them at all) and they both have semi-management roles. It causes plenty of friction. Last month one of the two went off the rails so hard over an accounting mistake from one of our vendors that my favorite co-worker walked out of her office, and she was one of the most talented people in our firm \u2013 she was the Director of Development for a project of ours in the Rocky Mountains. She has a law degree from an esteemed school and 10+ years in development. She had an \u201cexit-interview\u201d via phone with our COO who she is still close with and basically said: \u201cI can\u2019t work like this, I asked for CEOSON to be moved to a different project 90 days ago and nothing happened. I didn\u2019t feel like I had any control over my real team.\u201d\n\nI have been with the firm for 2+ years and am looking for any way out right now because of these two, and it really, really bums me out. I love my company (25-30 full-time employees and another 10-15 freelance consultants/marketing people), our CEO, and CFO, and because of our small size I truly believe I have gained more experience than most at a large company because I am involved in almost every phase of development: entitlements, acquiring the land, land planning, inventory, phasing, pricing, product design, selecting brands for our hotels, hiring golf course architects, and on and on and on. We also are very successful, work hard, and all receive substantial and consistent bonuses. But the writing is on the wall: CEO and CFO are 60 and 57 and want to transition the business to their sons in the next 5-10 years.\n\nNow to the point: I very much doubt you\u2019re as big of a jackass as these two, and I don\u2019t know the size/dynamic of your father\u2019s company. \n\nHowever. \n\nEveryone in the office will know how and why you got your job. Most of your coworkers will not assume you deserve the job. If you are not a 100% Rockstar at your job and the picture of cheerfulness, helpfulness, and positivity-like Dale Carnegie coming back to fucking life-there is a good chance most of your coworkers will resent you, even to the detriment of their own job and yours. I see it all the time. For example; people \u201cforgetting\u201d to CC the CFOSON because he will start a 10-email chain, and in turn CC his own father, for a simple yes/no, and then everyone gets reprimanded for poor communication; or to the extreme, my coworker walking out of a killer job in a market on fire in Colorado. I\u2019m not really into the whole idea of \u201chappy hour with coworkers\u201d and like to completely segment my real life from work, but those times I do go to happy hour with coworkers 90% of the conversation is shitting on the bosses\u2019 sons. This in turn makes me feel like a piece of shit for wasting my time knocking other people down. \n\nWhat I\u2019m trying to say is look for a job somewhere else. Even if you\u2019re Jesus Christ I believe nepotism creates many downright nefarious situations at work because of human envy and greed. You don\u2019t deserve to be hated just for walking through a door, but I think it\u2019s very likely. I think your father will be proud of you for going out on your own. And if you do go out on your own, you can always come and work for your father later; if this is the case, most of the hate will not be present because they recognize you were competent somewhere else and are now just taking a better job. The two sons in my company have both worked for their fathers since the day they graduated college and most people in my firm think the company will fizzle out as soon as they hand the reins to their sons. Just my two cents, and, like I said, your post just struck a nerve because of my friend and coworker who left last month.\n", "replies": [{"id": "e064wm7", "text": "Thanks for the response. I understand where you're coming from and it is something that I have thought of myself quite a bit. In fact, it's probably the #1 motivator to me beginning my career somewhere else. My father's firm right now is very small; him and his business partner, and maybe a couple support staff in the coming year(s) with the number of projects increasing. Does the firm being that small affect the dynamics of nepotism that you bring up (in your opinion)? ", "replies": [{"id": "e07ftbw", "text": "IMO it does because of the intimacy. The main issue with them is assumption. I didn't know them before joining the company, but from what I understand neither had ANY plans other than working at the company. The fact you're considering the issue separates your work ethic from them. It sounds like your father's company is around 3-10 people right now which is probably better for your work relationships than my slightly larger company. If you're involved in the growth of a growing company, nepotism would be less assumed than a partnership. \n\nI don't want to sound too drastic (which my first post comes across looking a day later). Plenty of commercial real estate is local and real estate has always been a \"family\" business. When the relationship starts to interrupt business and other employees is when it becomes a hindrance. As someone else commented, reflect on your relationship with your father and what it would be like to work for/with him. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e066clh", "text": "At a larger firm you\u2019d get exposure to a lot of \u2018best practice\u2019 methods that you only see in institutional settings.  I\u2019ve been at a small development company for 15 years and have had to teach myself things that would be standard practice at larger firms.  While you get more hands on experience with a small shop, you\u2019d have exposure to things at larger firms that are more industry-standard.  One example of this is on the financial analysis/modeling side.  The first time I dealt with larger institutional investors I noticed that our valuation methods were not quite as sophisticated as what the NY banks typically see.  We typically dealt with local banks so this was pretty eye-opening.  There are definitely advantages on both sides but thought I\u2019d chime in with an argument for the large group... not necessarily saying it\u2019s the way to go but something to consider.  2-3 years at a place like that would give you valuable experience you could then use at your dad\u2019s company and have some real value you can add to their day to day practices.", "replies": [{"id": "e067046", "text": "Great points. Thank you", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]