On April 13th, CARW members spoke to nearly 100 students from colleges and universities throughout Wisconsin about various career opportunities in Commercial Real Estate. Attendees from UW Whitewater, UW Milwaukee, UW Madison, Marquette University, UW Oshkosh, MATC and more, heard from some of the best in the industry. Some were looking for internships, others were curious about building their networks. Alyssa Geisler (CBRE), Jeff Hoffman, CCIM, SIOR (Cushman & Wakefield | Boerke Company), Ivan Gamboa (Tri City National Bank), and Maleta Brown (Cushman & Wakefield) shared insights on careers in brokerage, investment real estate, finance and property management. They hosted a general session then went into breakout rooms to learn more. The goal of the session was to give college students not only an idea of the opportunities in commercial real estate, but to provide real advice for thoughtfully pursuing and evaluating the career. Some high level take-aways for students looking to get into the business include:
- find ways to ‘stand out’ no matter what you’re doing
- seek internship opportunities or experiences that will build your accountability skills and allow you to excel
- work for smaller companies to gain the most experience
- when reaching out to professionals to build your network, do your homework on the person including their background and any projects they may be involved with – try to make a connection
- when reaching out to a professional to set up an interview or meeting, be specific about the ask – “I’m looking for an internship – can you help me?”, “I’m interested in brokerage, can I shadow you for a day?”, “Development interests me, do you have a connection to someone in that field who you can introduce me to?”
- send a thank you note
- attach a resume to email communication
- invest in business cards with personal and contact information including area of study
- include contact information in email footer
- get your real estate license (WRA)
Full video HERE
After the breakouts, members were given ways to stay connected and engaged in the conversation including free student memberships to CARW through December 2021 which gives students access to the member directory, events and newsletter information. CARW members are able to post jobs on the CARW site by contacting alexis@carw.com, or request resumes of students seeking internships and jobs. visit carw.com/careers