Finding a Job
I don't know if this is the best place to ask this but I want to get into commercial real estate as an analyst. I studied finance in school but didn't hop on any internships related to commercial real estate. I have a year experience at a university as a financial analyst but utilized almost none of my financial schooling on a day to day basis. I reconcile accounts and currently I'm in the process of creating a preset calculator for advisers to use when computing financial aid.  I want to go into the private sector because I don't like the direction my career is taking. I figured that I need to change the route of my career young and commercial real estate seems like it will see growth in the next decade. While doing some research on commercial real estate, I found out that ARGUS is a huge program that almost everyone in the industry uses. What are some other programs I can learn to get a foot in the door? What are some entry level jobs that I can apply for? What are some things I should know going into an interview? Are there places/companies I can find a mentor? I have so many other question but any help would be great! Thanks!
[{"id": "cnmklys", "text": "Learning Argus is a good first step and will be something to highlight on you resume. Asset management groups typically use Yardi, but that might be too specialized (asset management groups also use Argus). \n\nYour best route might be reading descriptions from job postings. If you are going to learn Argus, you could also look at job postings like these: http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=argus+real+estate&amp;l= ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnmqyqe", "text": "Get good at Excel. \"Cool! I am good at Excel!\" Is what you are thinking. But no, you're not. No one is as good at Excel as they think they are. \n\n\nFor the past 6 years I've been the Excel \"expert\" in whatever workplace or classroom I've been in. Everyone I know comes to me for Excel help. But every year I look back at stuff I was doing in Excel the previous year and say to myself, \"man, that was an inefficient way to do that\" or \"geez, I could do this in half the time now\" or \"who the hell wrote this macro? Oh, me? Man, past-me was an idiot\" \n\n\nLearn anything and everything you can about advanced stuff in Excel. The development side of CRE especially leans on Excel as opposed to Argus to underwrite deals.\n\n\nAlso, you'll probably want to think through, in a deeper way, why you are interested in CRE. In all my interviews for any CRE position I've been asked \"Why do you want to work in real estate.\"\n\n\nFinally, networking. It's almost clich\u00e9, but networking is huge in CRE.", "replies": [{"id": "cnnada6", "text": "This, everyone tends to know everyone else in their region. Its a small club.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnn2476", "text": "What role are you looking for?  Broker?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnoobig", "text": "Go for a research position or some bigger firms hire analysts to be assigned to a single big account. \nIt's a \"get your foot in the door\" type of industry, be prepared to email a lot of people, meet for coffee or lunch, FORCE yourself in the door!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnvarxr", "text": "Idk how old you are or how long you have been out of school but I'm 23 and finished school last August. I majored in financial management, and I've always wanted to get into commercial real estate. Since you want to do financial analysis, you could start looking at REITs like [ARCP](http://www.arcpreit.com) if there are any in your area, also look at private capital groups like [blackstone](http://www.blackstone.com) or [Colony Capital](http://www.colonyinc.com). Also, you could potentially check out brokerages if they specialize in NNN listings. If they are investment oriented then they will need financial knowledge and knowing pro forma building out NOI calculations etc is very helpful in selling the potential investment. If you are interested in brokerage, you would have to get your real estate license and find an internship/mentor program to get your foot in the door. I am currently at that state, started my mentorship last week. But there is money to be made in commercial real estate especially if you know your finance. Many of the guys in my market can sell a property but not all of them can build out a mean excel sheet detailing the income/expense for an investment property from the potential gross income down to the after tax income. I would recommend reading up on rent rolls, [this](http://plurafinancial.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/commercial-real-estate-cap-rates-and-valuation/) is an interesting link. hope this helps", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnwqqch", "text": "Have you looked at property management positions, especially in the larger companies for CBRE and Colliers?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "co0voet", "text": "Just have great reasons for why you want to join the company. \n\nA client of mine is a commercial real estate firm and they don't review resumes.\n\nThey're less concerned with how much experience an applicant has and instead focus on how willing applicants are to committing their lives to service. \n\nCheck 'em out: [http://www.keyserco.com/contact/career-opportunities/](http://www.keyserco.com/contact/career-opportunities/)", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]