Anyone who works for larger firms (CBRE, JLL, Colliers, M&amp;M) - I have a few brief career development questions for you.
I am wondering what entry-level analyst positions these companies have to offer for someone who wants to learn the business and enter brokerage (Investment Sales, or Leasing).

The realist in me is thinking that if I jump into brokerage at the age of 22 with little to no experience I will be eaten alive.

I know CBRE has market researchers, financial analysts, etc....

1) What else do larger companies have to offer?

2) What kind of salary could you expect for them?

3) Do smaller firms offer similar entry points?



Thanks!
[{"id": "crhi77r", "text": "I would recommend working under an established agent. If you can join a team and do administrative/databasing/back-end work. You'll learn a ton, make connections in the office, and have an easy transition to becoming an agent when you feel ready. ", "replies": [{"id": "crhichw", "text": "That is something else I have considered, but I do not know how to build relationships with a team without working in their office. More specifically, I am planning to move to a new market, and would not know many people. I feel that finding an analyst role would get me into the office and start meeting people.", "replies": [{"id": "crhktv7", "text": "It will be very difficult to find someone to hire you as an analyst if you have never analyzed anything, are new to the industry and don't know the market.     \nIf it was me, id look on Craigslist or whatever, find a broker/agent who needs an assistant, and sign up. You will get paid and learn a ton. \n\nJust my 2 cents.", "replies": [{"id": "crhlirl", "text": "I am currently an analyst in a smaller market (my title is Business Development Analyst). I mostly analyze trends in the market for office users, and track movement to develop leads for our brokers.", "replies": [{"id": "crhnfig", "text": "Oh that's great, I don't know why I assumed you didn't.  Well that's a great position to have held at 22, and I imagine you will have similar opportunities in larger firms. Good luck to you. ", "replies": [{"id": "crhvyqr", "text": "I appreciate it, I think it's a great position but I've pretty much maxed out what I can learn through it and I am yearning to switch markets, which is what brings me here, lol", "replies": [{"id": "crhxlll", "text": "What kind of position do you see yourself in in 10 years? ", "replies": [{"id": "cri0wqm", "text": "Office or retail Brokerage is my goal - either leasing or sales. I know - very broad, but looking to move that direction", "replies": [], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "crhkrkw", "text": "The larger companies can offer you a great, well known name on your resume and will probably have more resources for training and working on the more lucrative deals in your market. It would be much easier to go from CBRE to a smaller boutique firm than the other way around. I suggest going on glassdoor to look at salary ranges though, because that can vary somewhat market to market, though I would *guess* if you're in a big city you could start somewhere around $55k, give or take a few thousand.\n\nSmaller firms also have good things to offer, like tighter knit offices and you might have more responsibility sooner just because there are fewer people. It also might be less competitive to get a job at a smaller firm. I'm sure many smaller firms have analyst positions, but then again because they're small they may have their agents/brokers doing all the work.", "replies": [{"id": "crhq60m", "text": "Why do you think the transition from a boutique firm to a large machine in more challenging than the other way around? ", "replies": [{"id": "crhryia", "text": "Its really different cultures and responsibilities.  \n\nIn most boutiques the mindset is more \"welcome to the team, here is your office, Sally here is the person to turn in commissions/paperwork too.  Good luck!\".  You want to list office one week and multifamily the next?  Really no one cares typically.  You want to be SVP of Whatver?  Yeah ok man whatever.  Want a personal assistant/analyst?  Hire one and figure out what you want to pay them.  \n\nThe larger firms are much more structured.  They will give you more support, but you also have people looking over your shoulder all the time, and everyone has their hand out.  Want to list an industrial property and you on the multi family team?  No you might have to just refer that.  Want to list a multi family property and you are on the multi family team?  Great, you can put your name right under the head multi family brokers and he is taking a big chunk of your earnings here while if you are lucky he might show up to one meeting and shake the clients hand.  Now when you deal closes don't forget the analysts and marketing people have a cut coming etc.  You bringing tons of business but your team leader is still bringing more?  Welcome to being a junior broker for fucking ever land.  Its like all the shit you see in normal office politics but everyone involved is 100% commission and overall us CRE people tend to be a bit rough around the edges so expect confrontations.  Most people don't do well to move from a very free flowing environment to a very structured one.  \n\nThat said, I've never worked for larger firm so my impressions may be off.  This is what I've always heard from people who did though.  Normal career progression is to work a larger firm to learn the ropes, then you either move up or ship off to a boutique where you can be responsible for yourself.  \n\nYou can start at a boutique (I did), its just harder.  If you do that do what everyone else said and find a broker to work with.  I started off as an assistant to a busy agent at a boutique then after six months or so he encouraged me to get my own listings too.  After a year-18 months I was entirely on my own.  Outside of what he taught me, no one really was ever there to offer support etc outside of major issues that needed managing broker attention.  I'd not recommend folks start at a boutique as just a general agent, you will never figure out all the shit you need to know.\n\nSomeone posted here the other day about JLL check phone records to make sure new agents were making the required number of calls a week as an example :)  I've been in my office for probably 2 hours in the last 2 weeks (I like to work from home).  No one gives a fuck at boutiques what you are doing really, which is good and bad I suppose.\n\nedit- thats not to say there is no support at boutiques, its just different.  As an example I'm not a retail guy.  I'm just not.  I don't know the contacts to the big franchises, I don't go to ICSC etc.  Guys in my office do though.  So when I get those listings I'll say \"hey buddy, you want to colist this with me?\" and learn what I can from them.  When some guys get investment listings they do the same with me.  We can still be team oriented and cooperative, and we generally all like each other, but no one is really required to do anything.  ", "replies": [{"id": "cri0ejy", "text": "So I focused on only retail in a major us city. Started as an intern right out of college and stayed there for the past four years. A few weeks ago I whispered to a friend of mine at a big firm that I was potentially looking to make a jump and I had a dinner with the office manager the next week. Any idea what's going on behind the curtains? Also, thanks for your really thoughtful post. ", "replies": [{"id": "crictde", "text": "no idea unfortunately.  good luck", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "crhlj3g", "text": "I think most of the larger firms bring on entry-level analysts to do the financial modeling and offering memorandums for the deals they do.  Network hard and try to get your hands on Argus if you can.", "replies": [{"id": "crhxenr", "text": "Hey! do u happen to know the starting salaries for those entry level analysts? atleast an estimate?", "replies": [{"id": "crhyf2z", "text": "I think it may depend on the city.  Sometimes I'll check glassdoor.com to see what's there.  As an example, I tried CBRE in Los Angeles and a financial analyst position there seems to average around $60K.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "crhrpg8", "text": "I was in the same boat as you a couple of months ago. Chances are, if you start in brokerage, you'll be put on a draw. That means that you'll be in debt to the broker you work under until you can pay back the sum he/she gave you as survival money with your earned commissions. I've talked to people who didn't pay back their draw for years and years, though that's not to say that people haven't succeeded on a draw. \n\nThe analyst path is safer. You'll most likely be given a paltry salary, but think of it as a paid internship and a chance to learn the market you're in from front to back. If you start out in an analyst position, you'll have money to live off of, you won't immediately find yourself in $40k of debt, and when you do become a broker, you'll be equipped with a stronger knowledge of your market than you would be otherwise. \n\nI had offers to start on a draw in brokerage in New York and San Francisco, and though there's the chance that I could have potentially made substantially more money as a broker, I chose to start as an analyst for the reasons I listed above. ", "replies": [{"id": "crhvx27", "text": "I agree, and at 22 I would find it hard to compete with most associates who are 30ish (at least where I am now) - not that age matters too much, but it does when people look at you and think you could still be in high school.\n\nI am curious - what kind of analyst position did you choose? Do you work for a specific team or asset class?", "replies": [{"id": "cri1rtx", "text": "PM me - sorry, I'm on my mobile ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "crj4fcj", "text": "In my opinion, I don't see any benefits of putting 2-3 years into an analyst position if you want to go into brokerage. \n\nFind a firm where you can start out as a junior broker. There's plenty of brokers out there who are swamped and need some help. A smart broker realizes that having a junior broker work on the smaller deals with help free up their time to chase the big ones. \n\nThe tough part is finding a broker who 1) will take you on and teach you and 2) is actually someone you want to emulate. Start taking brokers out to lunch/coffee and see what happens. Find your local CRE brokerage association and attend a few meetings. \n\nAnd don't worry about getting eaten alive. I'm young too and started from scratch, you'll be fine.  My motto for year 1 in brokerage was, \"fake it til you make it and try not to get sued!\" \n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]