2 different analyst roles at CBRE - which would you choose?
Hi. So I've been offered two different analyst positions at CBRE (in the U.S.) and I wanted to know which would be better for my career and/or quality of life. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do in the future. But it would likely be along the lines of: CRE broker, analyst/expert at a REPE or hedge fund, or even working in consulting or investment banking away from CRE.

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The first position is as a "Field Research Analyst" covering all CRE industries in the local market - a midsize city (500k population) on the West coast. I would be "on the ground" (but at a desk) collecting and tracking market information. Bachelor's degree required but no experience needed.

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The second position is as a "Research Analyst" covering the office industry in the national market. From how it was described to me, local level data is sent to us and we model the info and make reports, etc. The required experience is 2-4 years and a bachelor's degree.

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Assuming both positions paid about the same and were both work-from-home, which position would you choose and why? Are there any other careers I should consider pursuing besides the ones I mentioned? Or any factors I'm failing to consider that would affect my decision?

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Thanks tons!

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Edit: I also want to learn as much as I can about CRE in my first year or two and get an expert understanding of it. 
[{"id": "hyfkuzr", "text": "Are you generally more interested in your local market, or national? Do you care about office? \n\nI could see being very knowledgeable about your local market as an asset if you plan to stay in you current town. \n\nOffice could end up being a really interesting case study as it seems to be a transitional sector right now. \n\nEither way, you get experience and could transition to something else in the future.", "replies": [{"id": "hylvknp", "text": "I'm not excited about learning my local market honestly, but I think I'd become very knowledgeable about it very quickly (as compared to studying a new market or a whole bunch of different markets). Definitely not exciting to me though. I'm not sure what to make of this situation.\n\nOffice is one of the more interesting asset classes for sure (industrial being the one that interests me the most). As I'm new to the field though I don't know its outlook since, as you say, it's transitioning.\n\nI honestly just want to become an expert in CRE fundamentals. Any idea which position would get me closer to that? Thanks for the reply.", "replies": [{"id": "hyps7y8", "text": "I would see if there are people currently in those roles you can talk to, to get a better idea of the day to day. I think you can learn fundamentals in either, just keep your eyes open for a good mentor who can help you grow in your career. A quick search on LinkedIn shows both are equally entry level so probably either will be a shorter term gig before the next opportunity.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hyfw4s6", "text": "May I ask what your degree is in? I\u2019m currently working on getting BS in finance but am strongly considering moving to business administration. I still want to work in commercial real estate too", "replies": [{"id": "hylxzmf", "text": "I have a liberal arts degree haha! You're in a better position than I am if your grades are strong. I will caveat that by saying I took several high level economics courses and did very well in school. I also have a year of real estate experience (freelance) helping a few retail investors analyze properties and have been managing two of them.\n\nI'm not sure about your decision to change concentrations. I personally believe you can't go wrong with a finance or economics degree + top grades. But I think business administration might give you a better chance to network, especially with your professors who are/were likely also professionals in their industries, and if the business school does networking events/conferences. You're definitely not shooting yourself in the foot by going with either of those majors. Look at me haha.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hygbjtf", "text": "Are you building models in either role? Or just aggregating data? what is \u201con the ground\u201d? Like are you doing costar work where you\u2019re just cold calling and getting rents and vacancy info? Ultimately real estate has a huge relationship component, so I would go local if you can build those relationships/local knowledge, which is invaluable if you ever want to go buy side. You would also get experience across asset classes vs just office which is huge in my opinion. Especially right now when office product isn\u2019t in high demand. If you know multiple asset classes you can survive as different asset classes ebb and flow. But again, it all depends if you\u2019re actually thinking about real estate or just aggregating data", "replies": [{"id": "hylx4ws", "text": "Great, thank you for the different angles. I'll find out more about the roles soon but my impression is that the Field Research Analyst position is more about aggregating data and the Research Analyst position is closer to building models but might include some less technical work too.\n\nGetting experience across different asset classes would be really interesting and rather useful since I don't know what I like/am good at understanding. But I'm also interested in the experience a national scope would give me, especially because I'm not a fan of my local market.\n\nI think you're right that the nature of the work is what's most important to consider. I'll make sure I get a better sense of the roles. Thank you.\n\nEdit: it seems like in the national role I'll be working alongside a team producing \"white papers\" and working on \"thought leadership\". Don't know what to make of that.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hyh3rbh", "text": "Research Analyst. One of the best ways to get to the know the trends in CRE. Handsdown.", "replies": [{"id": "hylvtor", "text": "That's encouraging to hear. Is there a major difference between that and the \"Field\" Research Analyst position? They both seem to be about CRE research... but maybe only in the title.", "replies": [{"id": "hyn77xu", "text": "To be honest, I\u2019m not familiar with that kind of role. I imagine that a \u201cfield\u201d analyst is responsible for walking properties to update existing data points (i.e. the rent roll).", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hyhc9xm", "text": "I think the answer is heavily dependent on if you are planning to stay in the local West Coast market or not. If committed to staying in that market, taking the local position is going to make things easier to get into brokerage on a team. If you would rather leave the market, I\u2019d probably take the national job, not because you\u2019ll connect with brokers in the market you want to be in per se, but because you\u2019ll get a broader level of information to learn from for when you get to the destination market you want to go in this scenario. Good luck.", "replies": [{"id": "hylx89r", "text": "Great advice, thank you. I'm not a fan of my local market so I'm heavily considering the national job at the moment.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hyhhyd9", "text": "Depends on your end goal. If you are planning to segue into brokerage, I would actually say the local role because you can build relationships with local teams. With national roles, it\u2019s hard to do that. If you are planning to stay in research, national roles are a step above.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hyj9lyo", "text": "I worked as a field research analyst for a few years at CBRE before getting promoted out of research on the west coast. I'll be out and about today, but dm me any questions you have and I'll answer tonight/tmw morning.", "replies": [{"id": "i5g6j8j", "text": "Can I ask how much you made before and after you were promoted??", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]