How to get into commercial real estate during college?
Im a Finance student who is interested in commercial real estate and am looking for knowledge/ideas on how to get into commercial real estate with an internship or pretty much anything else but just don't know where to start to get into the business. 
[{"id": "cng1acw", "text": "I was lucky and got in by applying for a mapping internship, then moved to the research department. A friend of mine was sending tons of emails to companies while still in college. He managed to get an entry level job at my company when he made a lucky call to the HR department. They were looking for someone to fill a new position and he called before they even had posted the job so they gave it to him. \n\nStart by putting together a list of the 5,10,15 largest commercial real estate companies in your target area. Once you have that, email or call their respective Finance/Capital Markets/Human Resources departments and tell them about your situation. All the contact info you will need should be available from the company websites. Contact all these departments and anything related, your chances of hearing back will be much better.\n\nI just re-read your question and realized you are probably looking for more of an internship. The same strategies can apply to an internship search. Don't be afraid to call or email once every two weeks. If they see that you are serious you will be much more likely to get attention. Don't wait around for an internship to pop up on craigslist. It is a tough industry, you must be proactive to stand out from the other potential interns.\n\nYou could also try looking for internships in the research department, they often have one. This can be a good way to learn a lot about the business in general and to move around within the company. It also gives you the advantage of seeing jobs you may want before they reach the public.\n\nAlso, if your college has a real estate dept. try asking them about intern opportunities.\n\nIf you only take one piece of advice it should be this: In this industry, don't wait for the job to pop up, be assertive, put yourself out there and go get it.\n", "replies": [{"id": "cngejem", "text": "&gt; If you only take one piece of advice it should be this: In this industry, don't wait for the job to pop up, be assertive, put yourself out there and go get it.  \n\nYep.  Forget getting a job.  Once you are in the industry thats kind of what you have to do on a daily basis to get shit done anyhow.  Sounds a bit condescending I guess, but if you can't get a job in this industry you probably wouldn't of made it anyways", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cng8hfz", "text": "If you are able to, take an unpaid internship. Very few people will turn down free labor. I was able to work for a brokerage shop for a summer helping with analysis of various types as well as get some Argus exposure.\n\n\nThey let me tag along on property tours and other networking outings. I was able to get another part-time internship after that during the fall using my connections I had made and just like that I had two jobs to put on my resume that were commercial real estate.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnged7s", "text": "Our brokerage seems like it routinely employs college students (to be honest most are relatives of people who work there) to do stuff like deal files, answer phones,and other admin work.  The ones that want more than a pay check typically just ask and agents are glad to let them go on property tours etc.  \n\nHonestly most people in brokerage don't bite and are pretty social.  The first step is probably just asking not waiting for some ad to pop up.  Figure out who does business in your area and call them up, say you are in college and really interested in this business and wondered if you could stop in and talk to someone for a few minutes to learn more about it and get a better feel for it.  Honestly no one is saying no to that.  You may not get some great internship or job but at the very least you will get face time with someone and you can see where it goes.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnhucz6", "text": "get an unpaid internship in anything related to real estate. most schools may allow academic credit for this. This could be urban development, GIS, zoning, city planning, hell even residential. Basically anything that will get you exposed to your market and companies in the market.\n\nDo you want to do brokerage? Real Estate Management? Finance side of things?\n\nIn either case - you have two avenues:\n-Work for a CRE firm\n-Work for a company's RE department (example - Starbucks' real estate department)\n\nA firm is ideal IMO - but there are not many entry level holes in these places unless Daddy can get you in. They may offer you to become a broker with no salary and no team backing - I would not recommend this if your experience and connections are lacking.\n\nFeel free to message me if you have questions. I was able to jump into a firm research position after a lot of calling, meeting for coffee, reaching out to the big guys.\nGood Luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnjsmbp", "text": "Where are you located? You need to use your personal network to find an internship. That's really the best(/only?) way to get an internship in CRE these days.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]