Civil Engineer Student Looking to Transition into Development
I’m a senior graduating college in a few weeks. My goal is to get into CRE development. I have two options as of now, a job with a large broker as an analyst or a civil engineering development services role. The engineering compensation is tempting over the analyst role but I want to make sure I have the best exit strategy moving forward. Any advice is welcome, thanks.
[{"id": "i60z4gq", "text": "Today, I would recommend the engineering services role, which would not be something I would recommend in the past. The boom/bust cycle is not advantageous for you right now, and a massive bust is on the horizon. Once that happens, the whole industry will be wrecked; perhaps a key client on the engineering side will keep the work coming, and you can learn the business from that scope.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i615ki1", "text": "I think a few years working in civil engineering would be very valuable and make it easy to transition to development. Civil engineers are usually the most important consultant in a development and if you bring that perspective to a developer you\u2019ll be in good shape.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i628npa", "text": "Go engineering route, learn as much as you can. You wont make any money in development working for some one unless on the extreme off chance they offer you a 10% of the profit off the development. I worked as a development manager for 2.5years at 65K helping this family company develop some STNL's at 10 CAPS they'd sell the asset after 1 year at a 7 cap and give the head of development a Bottle of Wine. THey'd profit 2.5M. \n\nAfter 2 years look for someone to help raise capital to fund your 1st development, start small, and work hard to find a great piece of land and go for it.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i64bj3n", "text": "Use your degree, forget the broker", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i668ja8", "text": "I would go the analyst route. And I graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]