Looking Forward
As someone who is looking to enter CRE within the next year, I find myself thinking about the next step in my career. There are entry level opportunities, which I will take, but what comes after that? 

At a brokerage firm, I enter as either an analyst, a researcher, or an associate (*new broker*), then off to brokerage. 
At a bank/lender, credit analyst, then loan officer, and up the ladder..
Capital markets, good luck getting in green. 

I understand DCF pretty well, and I am soon going into Argus, but I also realize that this is the bottom of the totem pole. I know some people who earned a name at a company, then started their own PE gig and have done quite well. All of these people have MBAs. Point is, I see two paths, 1) start from the bottom and move up in the traditional structure, 2) start from the bottom and make your own future with skin in the game. Full disclosure, I am more drawn to the lending end of the business (stable, clear career path, etc.)

I am sure there will be a number of responses telling me to focus on what I can get now, but I am of the mind that the next move deserves a fair degree of thought before committing. 
[{"id": "daxj108", "text": "Commercial real estate appraiser. Not the glamorous brokerage life, but pretty steady no matter the economy and the industry is quite grey with few young people entering. With DCF and Argus background, you definitely have a leg up. ", "replies": [{"id": "dazfccr", "text": "I would say this has the highest barriers to entry though because people get those jobs and stay there. Tough cracking in, although I haven't been looking at the field for a number of years.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "daxu91x", "text": "If you want to be in lending, look at leadership development programs with big banks (I am assuming you are going through recruiting while still in school). REITs also have a lot of entry level jobs and look good on a resume.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dazwsy6", "text": "I agree about people getting the jobs and staying. There is definitely a barrier to entry in that there are minimum college requirements AND additional required education discussing to appraising. Also it is difficult to find someone or a company willing to train you. It's expensive and very time consuming to take someone under your wing and it's a multi-year process before you can set them off on their own without having to watch everything they do. Also, many are hesitant to take them on because what often happens is the trainee leaves once they become certified and then the senior appraiser lost someone they worked years to train. It's a risk. The education and licensing requirements are very cumbersome to recent college grads with student debt who want to hit the ground running but will only achieve modest salary at first. \n\nThat being said, I think it might be easier than trying to break into brokerage world for different reasons. The industry is VERY grey. The average age of appraisers is around 60; 62% of appraisers are older than 50; and only 10% are 35 or younger. It's not as glamorous and high profile as some other commercial real estate areas, but it does well pretty much always, even in a bad market. You become more valuable there longer you're in the field and you get to wear many hats. If you can find willing trainers and work hard, the future is looking good because demand will increase as these guys retire and fees will have to go up to make it worth an appraisers time to meet the demand. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]