BREAKING into Commercial Real Estate Industry

[Steve Lee]

Hi. My name is Steve and I would like to know some advice on breaking into the commercial real estate industry and where someone should start if he or she has recently graduated from a 4 year university. Since I didn't decide to go into real estates prior to graduation, I currently do not hold a real estate license. Should I study to obtain a license or should I apply for a real estate job to gain more experience first? 

[Don Konipol]

Take the CCIM on line introductory course in commercial real estate.  If you maintain an interest, you can take their series of 4 courses and eventually obtain the CCIM designation.

Another education route is a MS in real estate offered by almost 100 colleges in the U.S.

If you want to immediately enter the work force, you should familiarize yourself with the different real estate and real estate related positions in the industry, and the types of companies that employ those positions.

As a general overview, there are sales positions (broker), analyst positions in both financial and market, appraisal, investment, lending, syndication, leasing, property management, asset management, site acquisition, etc.  The type of job you want should reflect your interests, abilities, personality, likes, dislikes, education and knowledge.