How To ACE a First Round Real Estate Interview

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and in the real estate interview process, this is especially true. Whether you're talking with a recruiter, HR, or a hiring manager directly, a first round interview gives a potential employer the opportunity to get to know you as an individual, what makes you a unique candidate for the position, and why you might stand out as the best fit for the role. And since there tends to be so much pressure around what to say in these types of scenarios and how to best present yourself to a company that you'd want to work for, in this video, I wanted to walk through three of my best tips on how to make it through the first round of the interview process at a commercial real estate firm and how to pass with flying colors onto the next round. So as a general blanket statement in commercial real estate, most first round interviews tend to be primarily behavioral in nature, with a heavy emphasis on understanding how your past experiences have helped you prepare for the role you'd be stepping into. And while your modeling and analysis skillsets will almost definitely be tested at some point in the interview process, in my experience, it's pretty unlikely that you're going to be thrown a bunch of technical questions directly in the first round, which leads me to point number one on this list, which is to focus almost all of your attention on preparing to talk through your professional and educational background rather than preparing for a modeling exam. At this stage in the process, a recruiter or hiring manager is most likely going to want to spend most of the first round interview zooming in on your work experience and education, getting more detail on what you've done in other real estate related full-time jobs or internships, getting a sense for the level of hands-on training that you've received in other positions and whether or not you can actually talk through the real estate related experience that you've added on your resume. In a way, this part of the interview process can really be a little bit of a BS test, letting an employer get a true sense of the scope of your actual work responsibilities and achievements, and if you might be exaggerating any of your experience or your knowledge of the industry in general. And this means that if your resume includes experience working on $100 million of closed transactions, for example, over a two-year period, the person you're interviewing with is going to want to know what those properties consisted of, where each asset was located, and exactly what role you played in taking down each deal. So on your end, to prepare for this, your goal here should be to make sure that you can talk through all of your experience bullet points and ideally that you can tie in those experiences into the roles and responsibilities that you would be expected to take on in the job that you're interviewing for. So for example, if you're applying for a multifamily acquisitions analyst job, even if you don't have direct experience in real estate acquisitions or multifamily specifically, you might want to talk through other work experiences where you've built directly related skillsets, like work in property management or construction that taught you more about real estate operations, corporate finance experience that taught you how to spot trends in financials, or even investment banking experience that taught you how to work quickly under tight deadlines and how to build out pro forma cashflow models all from scratch in Excel. The point here is to do what you can to paint the picture around why you are a great fit for the position, how you can bring a unique perspective to the role and the company as a whole, and how your previous experiences have naturally led you to this point in your career. Now, once you're prepared to talk through your background and how your skillsets directly relate to the position, the next thing I'd recommend to get ready for a first round interview in commercial real estate is more about the company than about you, and that is to prepare to answer questions around why you're interested in the real estate industry as a whole, why you want to work for this company specifically, and why you're excited to jump into the actual job function that you'd be taking on if you were given the opportunity to step into this role. Companies usually want to know upfront that applicants are all in on the process and that targeting this job in particular was a very intentional move. And for you, this means taking the time to prepare to talk through why you're interested in working for this company over other potential employers, why you're interested in the specific product type and or geographic market that the company is focused on, and why you're interested in the job function specifically and the things that you'd be doing on a day-to-day basis. Taking the time to research the company you'll be interviewing with is huge at this stage of the process, and ideally, you'll want to go in knowing what the company's portfolio consists of, the metros that the firm is actively buying, developing, or managing properties within, and the history of the company that brought it to its current form. Most real estate firms make their portfolio really easy to find on their website, often with a dedicated page showcasing notable active projects, successful realized investment opportunities, or even a map showing all properties in their portfolio and where each deal is located. Most company websites will also have an About Us page that walks through the history of the firm, and a company's LinkedIn page will also usually show things like the number of employees the company has, a short two-to-three-paragraph summary of what the company does, and any recent articles or video the company has posted about recent deals they've completed or capital that they've raised. And to show yourself as an attractive candidate for the position you're interviewing for to prepare for these types of questions, you'll want to take some time to step back and think through in advance where you're looking to take your own career in the future and how those goals align with the values, mission, and vision of the company long-term. For example, if you're interviewing with a real estate firm focused on ground-up development of sustainable office projects in Northern California, you'll want to take some time beforehand to think through why you believe in the success of the office sector going forward, how you plan to build a career in this geographic market long-term, and your thoughts and research on ESG initiatives and the impact that these are having on new construction deals. Again, the idea here is to show yourself as a clear fit for the role by demonstrating that you've both done your research on the company, but also that your own long-term goals and objectives are directly aligned with where the firm is headed in the future. And finally, once you've made it clear why you're interested in the position and how your background makes you a great fit for the role, the last thing I'd recommend when preparing for a first-round commercial real estate interview is to come prepared to talk through the steps that you're currently taking to improve as a real estate professional, regardless of whether or not you end up landing the job. If you're interviewing for a new role, it's pretty unlikely that you're going to have every single ideal qualification shown on a job posting, and you're very likely going to be doing some things that you haven't done professionally before in a new position. And this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and it's actually expected by an employer, but one way to stand out in this process among other candidates who inevitably have flaws or shortcomings just like you is to show an employer what you're doing proactively about these gaps in your skillset even before you receive an offer. In my opinion, this is one of the best ways to put your money where your mouth is around your commitment to the commercial real estate industry and improving as a real estate professional to show that even if this specific role doesn't end up materializing, you're still dead set on this career path regardless of the outcome. So for example, if your Excel skillsets are lacking, you'll want to come into the interview prepared and ready to talk through any modeling courses you're currently working on, any certification programs you've recently completed, or anything else that's in progress that shows your initiative and motivation to improve your technical analysis and modeling skillsets without having to be coaxed or required by an employer or professor to do it. For positions at commercial real estate firms that focus on industrial, office, or retail properties, an Argus certification could also be really helpful to highlight, and for any product type in the industry, joining their associated real estate organization like NAOP, ULI, ICSC, or NMHC can also be a great way to get ahead of potential questions around shortcomings in your background or experience and what you're doing to close those gaps. Overall, in a first round interview, commercial real estate firms are looking for fit from both an experience and culture perspective, commitment to the industry, and alignment with the company's mission and vision for the future, and a candidate's ability to be a self-starter by nature, willing to take on new challenges, improve as a professional, and do the work necessary to get up to speed quickly and add value to the company. And if you can weave a clear story around your background and why you are the right fit for the position, you take the time to research the company beforehand and tie your own goals and objectives back to where the company is headed, and you can proactively address any weaknesses or gaps in your skillset that you need to close to be successful in the role, you will be in great shape to get through the first round of the interview process and set yourself apart from other candidates also interviewing for the role. And if you are going through the job search process or interview process right now and want some extra help with tightening up your resume, guidance on general interview prep, or help with building your technical skillsets to prepare for an Excel exam that might be given to you later on in the process, make sure to check out our all-in-one membership training platform, Break into CRE Academy. A membership to the Academy will give you instant access to over 120 hours of video training on real estate financial modeling and analysis. You'll get access to hundreds of practice Excel interview exam questions, sample acquisition case studies, and you'll also get access to the Break into CRE Analyst Certification Exam, which covers topics like real estate pro forma and development modeling, commercial real estate lease modeling, equity waterfall modeling, and many other real estate financial analysis concepts that will help you prove to employers that you have what it takes to tackle the responsibilities of an analyst or associate at a top real estate firm. And if you'd like this video and want to see more content on this channel on the commercial real estate interview process, make sure to hit the like button and let me know. And let me know in the comments what you've seen in first round commercial real estate interviews and what kinds of questions you've been asked in the past. As always, thanks so much for watching, guys. I hope you found this helpful. Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already to see more videos like this every single week, and I'll see you in the next video.