How to Switch Career from Civil Engineering to Commercial Real Estate
Hello Redditors, 

Let me share my background 

I passed my bachelor's in civil engineering in 2021

worked in a real estate company for a year as an engineer 

Right now moved to Canada for my master's in civil engineering

From my sophomore year, I had a very strong affection for finance. I read a lot of books related to finance. when I do some work related to finance, I can work straight for 5 hours and still enjoy the work. I want to make a career in the real estate finance sector, but don't know where to start.

My questions are:

1) How to Switch from Civil Eng to Real Estate Finance ( Can't do MBA, it's too much expensive) 

2) Will Completing CFA level 1 will help? 

3) Should I stay in my field, work as an Engineer in a real estate company &amp; then try to get into the industry? will it be easier this way?
[{"id": "ik054cj", "text": "Why are you right now starting a MSc in Civil Engineering, doubling down on time and lost wages, if you want to be in real estate finance?", "replies": [{"id": "ik05zr0", "text": "TBH, I wanted to leave my home country ( Because of the lack of opportunity in both financial sector &amp; Engineering Sector)  The only way for me to leave my country was to do a masters in my related field ( Scholarship Opportunity).", "replies": [{"id": "ik07nnq", "text": "Ok fair enough. The answer may depend on where you want or are willing to work. It sounds like both money and opportunities are in short supply in your home country. \n\nI recommend using your Civil Engineering degrees to get a work visa for a larger US or Canadian company, assuming you would like to live in either of those countries. Civil Engineering is a good skilled degree that sets you apart from others trying to get entrance. \n\nTake the EIT exam (or equivalent) ASAP if you have not already. If you want to be employed as a Civil Engineer in the US it is fairly important to have started that path toward Professional Engineer License. \n\nOnce you are working for a larger company, they may pay for you to take MBA part-time. Or you can try to shift to roles within the company, such as project management, that slowly work you toward finance without getting the specialized degree. \n\nTo be honest, the jump from engineering to finance is not necessarily easy in my experience, and usually I would recommend someone to just switch to finance right now. However, given your possible immigration status, I suggest sticking with Civil if it will help you solve that problem first.\n\nSource: Engineer with PE license, then got Masters in economic field and switched to business. Now real estate development.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ik09d6l", "text": "Thank you! So much valuable information here.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]