I got invited to interview with a commercial real estate boutique firm in Dallas. What should I prepare myself for?
I've been told this industry is people based, which I'm fine with. I don't mind chilling out on the golf court or whatever, but what should I be ready for when I go? The firm is small, so the one who owned it called me up and spoke with me because he said I looked "interesting" on paper. 

What do? Besides the obvious stuff like dressing well and "Why CRE"? Am I going to be basically tested to see if I get on well with the other guys there? 
[{"id": "cnhbncm", "text": "is this brokerage? Investment? Development? Makes a big difference. Is the job working with clients? Analysis? Asset Management? Also makes a big difference. CRE is quite varied.", "replies": [{"id": "cnhc17d", "text": "Brokerage, corporate tenant rep, working with clients. Position to shadow a broker eventually working my own book of business. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnhec3f", "text": "&gt; I've been told this industry is people based, which I'm fine with. I don't mind chilling out on the golf court or whatever,   \n\nYou should be ready to not say stuff like that.  I can pretty much assure you for every 1 hour you spend on a golf course (double so when starting out) you will spend 1000 on the phone cold calling and prospecting.  If you are expecting your job to be to entertain people on an expense account that is not what we do.  Maybe some day if you are a senior broker with a handful of very good accounts you basically maintain while you shovel the work off to people under you, then yea you might get away with that, but dear lord do not say that at an interview.  \n\nI work for a boutique and for our new associates we generally are just looking for a few things:  \n\n1.  They are willing to work.  When folks ask how new guys are going the best compliment that can be given is \"oh he'll be fine, he is knocking on doors and making calls like crazy\".\n2.  They have some plan and aren't going to be bankrupt in 4 weeks with out a pay check (we tell them like 6-12 months).  \n3.  They have some knowledge of CRE.  Most new associates come from property management, just got an MBA, were construction managers, were financial planners, or have some other semi related experience.  \n4.  Its helpful if you understand CRE and can discuss things competently.  I'm not saying memorize a bunch of buzzwords but if they start talking about their recent deals or something you should understand the basics.  When I got hired (We are a general boutique but I mainly was going into investment) the person I was working with called me up after the interview and said he considered fiscal analysis for his clients one of the most important things and asked me to explain to him the difference in a cap rate and discount rate, which is higher and why, and asked me a few questions about reserves and how I would model/view different situations, just as an example.  I don't know how that corresponds to corp tenant rep.  Are you talking office/retail?  For office I'd sure make sure I can explain things like load factors, expenses, expense caps, and other common lease components.  For retail you should be able to explain gap analysis, traffic counts, and that type of stuff.  Someone else can probably tell you better on those, thats just not really what I do.\n\nGenerally speaking, if you are going in as an associate you are going to be asked a lot less and they are mainly thinking \"is this person going to be a pain in the ass or can they make some money?\".  If you are going in to 'shadow' someone and work their book, they are thinking \"can this person justify their split and help me service my clients\".  \n\n", "replies": [{"id": "cnhesjg", "text": "&gt; I can pretty much assure you for every 1 hour you spend on a golf course \n\nOkay good, because I don't play any sports in my free time nowadays.\n\nI have some...very general knowledge of CRE, but I'm coming straight out of university in an only tangentially related field (think urban planning or Geographic Info Systems). I don't have much CRE knowledge about...anything deep, really. Will this hurt me? \n\nI don't think I'll go bankrupt because I have a small side business that nets me ~$1000 per month to cover basic living expenses. But they do pay salary as a option (I assume starting out to cover general living expenses?) How can I justify my split, I guess, without much going in? I only have very general business experience from my internship at random places to parlay, nothing else relevant. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cnk0xku", "text": "This is all great advice, take it to heart. In my opinion the best thing you can do is show that you are hungry. Also, start reading everything you can from trade organizations and other industry related news. Brokerage is really an information game. You want to know everyone and everything about your market and you just so happen to be a broker of real estate too. I can give you more advice when/if hired, but for now you want to do what NumNumLobster said with an emphasis on hard work and hunger. \nFYI, I will be competing for our top listing leader for the month of Jan, and I have been a broker for since Dec 9. All I do all day long is call, prospect, join related organizations, schedule coffee/lunch with industry professionals and pick their brain. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnhj98f", "text": "They will prob offer you a position. no pay, all commission. If you know little about real estate and just graduated college then I would suggest joining a big firm at an entry level research/support position.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnmtbtq", "text": "/u/NumNumLobster summarized it very well. I started out as an office tenant rep about 4 years ago after starting out in property management. I am with one of the large firms, so I was given a draw to start. Most boutiques don't offer draws for obvious reasons, but you should see if that is possible. Its a nice way to stay alive during the first year or so.\n\nI would highly recommend [this site](http://astudentoftherealestategame.com/start-here/) as a good starting point for information.\n\nMost important thing, as others have mentioned, is to show how hungry/scrappy you are. Have the fire in your eyes and tell them you want it. Bad.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]