Real Estate MBA
Has anyone here completed their MBA in Canada/US? Do private equity firms recruit from MBA programs? Starting to study for my GMAT but I really want to understand if this would be a smart decision for my career. I have worked as an analyst for two years and am having troubles finding that next role.
[{"id": "ftb3614", "text": "They do not recruit from MBA programs, it's all about who you know and your network. I highly highly highly recommend you network with companies in real estate BEFORE you get your MBA and ask them where they recruit from and let them know who you are. \n\nThey only place where you can guarantee a role is investment banking real estate and that's if you go to a top 15 school, and that's because they do ON-CAMPUS RECRUITING! No real estate program does on-campus recruiting at the associate level because they don't grow that fast and don't have much turnover.\n\nhttps://www.adventuresincre.com/mba-real-estate-program/\n\nClick here to learn about MBA programs: https://www.adventuresincre.com/re-education/graduate-education/mba-profiles/\n\nClick here for Masters of Real Estate https://www.adventuresincre.com/re-education/graduate-education/school-profiles/", "replies": [{"id": "ftb3man", "text": "Helpful. Thanks", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ftb8ntv", "text": "I went to a top 5 MBA and the mega funds did OCR. They hired like a handful of people across all of the schools but they do come - the barrier to entry is crazy high though.", "replies": [{"id": "ftbfo9h", "text": "I do remember seeing a few mega funds at Harvard and Wharton on the employment stats but didn't look at OCR. That's pretty good to know though", "replies": [{"id": "ftbl8e4", "text": "They come on. They also look at Kellogg and Columbia but hiring tends to be HBS / Wharton / Kellogg. Other schools don\u2019t have as much of a presence for CRE. \n\nAlso just because they didn\u2019t hire from a school doesn\u2019t mean they didn\u2019t do OCR / targeted recruiting from the resume book - again there are like maybe 5-6 seats across all mega funds for any given MBA year. \n\nAlso like I was hired by a name brand mega opportunity fund but it was thru them combing the resume book, not traditional OCR. For some schools if they do OCR they need to play by school rules and don\u2019t want to offer interview slots to people who aren\u2019t qualified.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ftbo7i6", "text": "Another thing that\u2019s worth mentioning is that at the top MBA programs there are a bunch of people in CRE who\u2019s family owns a massive amount of real estate - those people aren\u2019t looking for PE jobs, they went to like HBS to gain management skills to go back and work for the company they\u2019ll someday run. I had a handful of people in my class who were going back to work for dad as a VP doing like corporate strategy or something for their family interests that own like $1bn+ of multi / office / whatever. Looking at just pure placement to mega funds isn\u2019t the best barometer for CRE outcomes because of that. \n\nAlso MBA programs are by nature more entrepreneurial so a lot of people want to go work for a developer with the end goal of starting their own shop 5-10 years out. I\u2019m 5-10 years out now and am starting to see a lot of that happen.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ftb47in", "text": "Yes, they do if you\u2019re at a top school. Check out the website Wall Street oasis which is a much better place to read about/ask this type of question than reddit. As the other commenter said though, networking will still be important but if you\u2019re going to Wharton you have a decent shot at the REPE firms.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ftb6jnc", "text": "Make sure to really dig into the curriculum. It will be important to select a program that will cater to your career path. Some schools specialize on the development side, while others are focused on the investment. Albeit it is hard to teach the development aspect. Adventures in RE helped me a lot when I was looking at schools.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ftb6pz1", "text": "My buddy got a math degree and went to work directly at Barclays.   He's job jumped ever year for the last five years.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ftb8eh9", "text": "I got my MBA from one of the 7 top 5 schools. They do come and recruit, but your mileage may vary - unless you\u2019re at HBS / Wharton / Kellogg you probably won\u2019t get much of a look for top funds. I interned with a mega fund and then was hired FT by another mega fund both through on-campus recruiting. The OCR process only picks up people with who came in with a background with another CRE PE firm or who have desirable niche experience (I worked in investments for a best-in-class operator in a niche sector prior to MBA) that gels with the PE funds platform / spaces they\u2019re looking to enter. It\u2019s a total crap shoot though, most people from HBS / Wharton / Kellogg / Columbia end up working in development / with a smaller operator. Mega fund CRE PE is very difficult to break into, they don\u2019t really value the MBA as most of their employees are hired out of GS or direct undergrad and don\u2019t leave. Unfortunately as a post MBA grad they generally look at you as a more expensive analyst. I\u2019m not saying blackstone/Apollo/Brookfield/fortress/whoever won\u2019t hire you from one of the programs, I\u2019m just saying they hire like 10 people total a year out of the 80 candidates across the 4 schools with CRE programs. \n\nIf you go downmarket and don\u2019t get your MBA from a top 5 you candidly have no shot at breaking in - all of the big opportunity funds are kind of pedigree snobs, rightly or wrongly. \n\nMy $0.02. Good luck!", "replies": [{"id": "ftbf16b", "text": "What are the 4 schools with CRE-specific programs that you\u2019re referring to?", "replies": [{"id": "ftbm0by", "text": "Wharton / Kellogg / Columbia all have majors in it, Wharton and Kellogg have stronger programs for FT MBA than Columbia (which has an MSRED that I wouldn\u2019t spend money on...). HBS also puts out people into CRE but it\u2019s a generalist program; that being said the opportunity set is the same. Stanford / Booth / MIT don\u2019t really have many CRE people. \n\nAlso in general if you go to one of these schools and have the talent to be hired by a mega fund they\u2019ll find you - at that level it doesn\u2019t really matter the schools are all the same, people are picking schools for best fit / lifestyle so it\u2019s not like Brookfield is like \u201chey this kid went to Kellogg he took a good RE class, we should hire him over the kid at GSB who didn\u2019t take a class on CMBS\u201d. They figure everyone is super smart to have gotten into the school, it\u2019s more of a hire based on skill set / aptitude / corporate fit. \n\nThat being said not sure what the tier 2 school situation is like, I never came across anyone who didn\u2019t have a degree from a top 15 undergrad or a top 5 mba. I don\u2019t think they hire people coming out of like a USC or UNC real estate program - I don\u2019t think HR would even give you a look. \n\nAlso keep in mind that this is specifically related to like the tier 1 name brand real estate private equity shops - if you go to a smaller place school prestige probably matters less. Kind of douchey but that\u2019s how the world spins.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ftd7n0p", "text": "&gt; I got my MBA from one of the 7 top 5 schools.\n\nThis confuzzled me.", "replies": [{"id": "ftdja0u", "text": "It\u2019s a joke the M7 schools all claim they\u2019re a top 5 school....", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ftbg4x2", "text": "I\u2019d recommend real estate programs only if you\u2019re switching careers. If you already have a finance background, you don\u2019t need an MBA in real estate. Just enroll yourself in one of the few decent MOOCs available and network as much as you can. \n\n\nI personally can vouch for Cornell\u2019s program. Great program, amazing professors and a strong alumni base to leverage.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ftbtutf", "text": "There are several solid state schools that have very strong RE ties. UNC-Chapel Hill has a big focus on CRE. Penn State has a very string RE alumni network. UGA and Wisconsin also have strong RE faculty. Haas has a strong RE group. \n\nFor context, I am starting a PhD in Real Estate at Penn State in the fall and had interviews/offers from most of these schools.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ftd2a47", "text": "I worked at a mega PERE firm for over 10 years (top 10 largest).  We didn\u2019t hire anyone straight out of MBA for the underwriting jobs.  All of our hires for acquisitions came from New York IB.\n\nIf you are wanting to get into those firms for accounting or investor relations, then it doesn\u2019t matter if you have an MBA or not.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ftkwgey", "text": "I graduated from Kellogg in 2014 and yes, the PE firms were recruiting....for candidates that can jump into C-suite roles in newly acquired companies.  \n\nWhether you go to Kellogg or another top school, as said by a previous person in this thread--don't rely on the recruiting alone; start reaching out to the alumni base immediately to start the conversation while leveraging your current network.\n\nAnother idea--once you enroll--is to join various committes, clubs, programs, e.g. Kellogg's real estate offering is robust, and the Kellogg's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (KIEI) is excellent for PE....also the Sam Zell Fellows.\n\n...just a few ideas:\n\n [https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/innovation-entrepreneurship/student-experience/zell-fellows.aspx](https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/innovation-entrepreneurship/student-experience/zell-fellows.aspx) \n\n [https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/innovation-entrepreneurship.aspx](https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/innovation-entrepreneurship.aspx)", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]