Trying to become an analyst, no luck but might be able to get foot in door through brokerage?
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[{"id": "gp44u6z", "text": "If you are looking for experience/resume builder and a small paycheck...don\u2019t discount smaller and medium PERE shops. They can be more receptive to \u201ctaking you under their wing\u201d and you get some solid schooling. Hope they support you when attend grad or study for CFA and make a career move after putting in your 5+ years.  \n\nCaveat: that was my track but things may not be like that anymore. I would say don\u2019t discount smaller shops too. Best!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp4615k", "text": "Analyst is a pretty broad job title. What type of analyst position are you vying for? \n\nI work for a top CRE brokerage in Dallas and most of our \u201canalyst\u201d positions are a training ground for brokerage roles, with a couple analyst positions on the investment/acquisitions side. \n\nIf I was fresh out of college with no debt and could live at home for a couple years, I\u2019d go for a brokerage position, particularly in industrial markets (for my region at least, anyways). The only benefit my company\u2019s analysts have is that they\u2019re not fed to the wolves with a 100% commission structure right out of the gates. They generally work two years making $40-45k and then graduate to being a broker. This ensures they\u2019ve learned at least a little bit to set them up for success. \n\nIf you\u2019re going for a brokerage role, ask A) are you a dedicated enough guy/gal to handle the pressure of a commission job and put in the hours learning, B) how good is your prospective company\u2019s training program and how will that set you up for success (or failure), and C) how good of a name does your company have in the market place? Do they have enough market share for you to get your foot in the door or are the so small that nobody has heard their name before? \n\nAn internship sounds like a low risk way to answer some of these questions and learn a bit. You could even parlay that into a possible job with a bigger company as it gives you an experiential leg up on folks.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp476y4", "text": "Just graduated as a non-finance major and now work as an Analyst(CRE/Banking). I got bunch of interviews with Cushman/JLL/other big names. I had 0 finance classes in undergrad. I had one Investment sales internship at a regional firm(I got through cold calling/emailing local firms). This is what I did for landing my job:\n\n(1) Showed genuine passion for CRE in cover letter for each job, personalized to each job.\n\n(2) With my CV/Resume I always sent 3 of my self made financial models for Multi/Retail.\n\n(3) Took alot of CRE modeling classes in my free time and knew somewhat of what I was talking about during interviews. Internship helped learn alot too.\n\n(4) Emailed people within the specific group for the posted job (be careful with this, but it worked for me).\n\n(5) Apply to as many jobs in/near your State so they know you will actually accept the offer and show up. My interview rate for in-state was 3x higher.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp479z2", "text": "Why do you want to be analyst? Where do you think it\u2019ll take you?\n\nSide - where are you based?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp47dbm", "text": "If you\u2019re looking for an analyst opportunity with somewhere like JLL or CBRE, have you considered maybe becoming an appraiser apprentice with a smaller shop to start? Many will hold the weight of a licensed certified general appraiser even more heavily than they would an MBA.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp489i2", "text": "If you want to become an analyst, I don\u2019t believe going for the broker option is a good option, I deal with brokers on a daily basis, most of those people have been brokers forever, all they care about is their points, money mongers (I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s a bad thing I used to be one of them) don\u2019t fall for the sales trap as it is very difficult to get out of it even more so in this industry where you are either sales or brain, think about your CV and how \u201csales\u201d is going to look on it when you really want to show \u201cbrain\u201d.\n\nBest of luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp49vki", "text": "Why work for a large firm like JLL or CBRE? I\u2019ve always preferred working for a mid-size or smaller firm for the exposure and growth.\n\nI\u2019m also a junior in college, own 37doors. Apartment and duplexes. Im at this stage, because for an successful entrepreneur (for free) and learned the ins and outs. I would not have gotten that at JLL or CBRE. \n\nTo play devils advocate, the disadvantage I have is connections for investors, brokers, etc. I haven\u2019t made big time contacts in the business, and maybe if I worked at a top firm I would have.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp4bapa", "text": "This is unsolicited advice, but if I was 22 again I would focus on getting an analyst job at a local private equity real estate firm or family office. I would not try to work at a big firm and I would definitely not try to start as a broker straight out of school.\n\nYoure going to get much more valuable experience working for a smaller PE group where you see all the aspects of a deal because everyone has to contribute along the way. One guy I know went from starting at a local PE multifamily shop to raising capital to develop his own 100+ unit buildings before he was 30 years old.\n\nRegarding being a broker, the worst brokers are the young guys who dont know anything about real estate yet. They dont know how to model and they dont have any connections so they bother me with cold calls on bad deals and argue with me about poorly underwritten metrics. If you really want to be a broker, start in property management and get to know all the owners in a specific market (Id go as high end as you can).\n\nGoing the broker route is very different from going the investor route so decide which one is the better fit for you. Investors have more risk tolerance but more upside, while brokers have a steady and usually good income but its more of a daily grind to drum up business. Lastly, the sooner you can drop the young guy cocky / arrogance (that we all have after college), the sooner people will want to do deals with you. Be humble, be reliable and always go after deals that are a little out of your league", "replies": [{"id": "gp4kwy5", "text": "100%", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gp6ybxf", "text": "This is the best advice you could get on the thread ^ - I worked as a real estate analyst out in NY in 2015. Fast forward 5 years - I\u2019m brokering MF deals in AZ and my buyers are my old managers from NY. Focus on obtaining some skills - most brokers cant use Argus or even do a basic financial model.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gp72os8", "text": "This is good advice.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp4k93q", "text": "I went through brokerage for 4 years before going on the acquisition side. The reason brokerage is available to you right now is because it\u2019s a very low barrier to entry, and a revolving door at the bottom. Teams depend on young guys right out of college to join and cold call all day at no cost to the firm. It\u2019s all commission, junior guys don\u2019t really make a livable wage for a while.\n\nSure, you\u2019ll learn about real estate but you\u2019ll be in a sales role... doing sales... not deep financial analysis. You won\u2019t develop the micro skill sets that REITs or large PE groups are looking for in an analyst, just a surface understanding of commercial real estate. \n\nMy brokerage skillsets are handy now that I\u2019m in acquisitions, but it didn\u2019t help me finding a job and I had to teach myself a lot of the deeper excel stuff.\n\nYou\u2019re still in college, take the time to find the right job rather than taking any job available to you. \n\nBest of luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp4t93j", "text": "I'm in California, working as a reseaech analyst at CBRE. Honestly, at a lot of offices here, potential broker talent usually starts in research, where you have a chance to learn the market, get familiar with the teams operating here, and figure out where you want to go in brokerage if thats what you're aiming for.\n\nI would reach out and network with analysts who work in the big CRE companies, or through your school look for alumni who fit the bill, and learn more about what qualities it was that lead them to be hired and their experiences on the job. This way, you'll get some insight too into what the trend is in the industry at that level and what skills they think will be needed in the near term (2-3 yrs out). Hope this helps!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp5elou", "text": "I didn't read your whole post. Just faster for me to type this. \n\n1. Take an Argus class at your local community college/University if they offer it. Highly recommend in-person if possible (to network with other students). Otherwise go online. \n\n2. Use your current Network to find someone in a big firm. Have them walk you through the door. These firms favor connected assets x100 vs. cold applicants. Just a fact. \n\n3. Lastly, I got in by cold applying to an entry level research position then moving up to analyst by networking the fuck out of 4 separate offices. I worked it out with my research manager to visit other offices and literally just made a huge Network. Helped people out constantly because research gives the opportunity to have access to data which is generally useful for any section of the business. Build relationships, do favors then you have an army of recommendations for the move to analyst. \n\nAnyways, I know you seek internships first. So some of this may not apply. But if you can't get into a big firm as an intern then seek something corporate at least. Requiring a suit. The whole nine yards. Maybe a legal firm, tech is good, finance, a startup could be a stretch but if you find one that is really hot and soon to be big...", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp600vz", "text": "If you don\u2019t want to be a broker, don\u2019t work for the brokerage firms, however an internship should be fine as it can help get your foot in the door. I work as an asset management analyst in a major metro area and none of the other \u201canalysts\u201d that I know work for the large brokerage firms you mentioned. If you want to learn how to operate an asset and understand the cycle, I definitely recommend working for an owner/operator or landing a REPE job. It\u2019s competitive, but done have your sites set on the large brokerage firms. My only real estate internship in undergrad was actually leasing, and it got me an interview with my current employer, so take that for what\u2019s it\u2019s worth.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gp64uzw", "text": "Take the internship and start networking for a full time job ASAP. The people saying to take jobs as appraisers or PMs are wrong, both of those positions will pigeonhole you. As far as jobs go JLL/CBRE/Cushman type analyst positions are going to be brokerage focused. Breaking into PERE at any decent shop will be much more difficult than getting a job at any of the big firms. Hiring across the board in CRE is all relationship driven. Most positions you would want are not even posted online.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]