Is there anyone here who has worked on the financing side?
I'm just about to graduate with a finance degree and I was offered a Financial Analyst position at a commercial real estate mortgage company. Everything sounds appealing about the role except for the starting salary. This is how it works:

1. Start as an analyst for 1 - 3 years for a relatively low salary ($35 - 40k) to "pay your dues" and during that time you want to impress the full commission brokers
2. after one of the brokers likes you enough you get chosen to be his personal junior broker where you earn your salary + part of his commission (I was told that compensation at this point can range from $100k - $250k because of the commission you get)
3. After a while, if you're good enough, you become a full broker with 100% commission and the earning potential is basically limitless.

Has anyone been in a situation like this and could provide some insight? Is this type of structure fairly common in brokerages? It seems like there's a lot of potential but the low starting salary is a bit of a turn off.
[{"id": "cpmrg5v", "text": "What you're describing is brokerage. ", "replies": [{"id": "cpmwtd0", "text": "I think \"Financial Analyst\" is a common job title before you start as a junior broker. Mostly doing research tasks, putting together marketing materials, etc. There are different titles, but I don't know how much difference there is between \"analyst\" or \"business analyst\" or \"CRE analyst\" or \"financial analyst\" just \"analyst\".", "replies": [{"id": "cpn0uch", "text": "You're right - this position will be mostly market research, some marketing, and assisting with paper work. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cpmwvsm", "text": "I'm curious, where and what kind of firm (small private firm or large national).  \nAs /u/apalm8 said, this is a route to becoming a broker.  \n\nThe cool thing is, most firms won't pay a salary up front - it's straight commission. This is giving you the opportunity to have a salary coming in while you learn the game. I have seen this structure at some big national firms, and I would say that the salary seems low.  \n\nIf you're in a smaller market, or with a private firm, that might explain the salary. It's a good opportunity, but you have to really want to go on the path of becoming a CRE broker.", "replies": [{"id": "cpn0qbn", "text": "It's a private company and quite small. Being a commercial mortgage broker seems appealing to me and it's definitely something I could see myself doing. I really don't know what it's like but, as you said, this can be a way to learn the game. Thanks for the insight.", "replies": [{"id": "cpn0zhg", "text": "Also, I don't know two many junior brokers who are making $250k/yr. That seems very optimistic, unless you are working on a team with some very large clients.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cpngqwi", "text": "What's in the pipeline? How's your access to originators?", "replies": [{"id": "cpni9dn", "text": "I'd be working closely with originators. Its a small company.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cpr4ewc", "text": "Hi DUDEworld and everyone else. Im from OC CA and Im trying to get into the CRE world. I earned a BS in Communications from ASU. Its a handsome business to be in because of astronomical pay but its work that takes a savvy person to master it, and I recently inherited money from a massive wearhouse my grandfather sold after he deceased. And I thought I bet the man who brokered the sale on it made a huge amount of cash, he brokered both the sellers and the buyers side. It sold for 7 million dollars. I'm assuming he made about 5% of that number which is around 3 million USD! I have a 3.3 GPA and SPSS coding skills.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]