Job Hopping
Hi guys,
Long story short I am thinking of moving to a 6th position at the age of 31. I have been at my current firm for 5 years however so hoping this can alleviate any raised eyebrows. My job history is the following:
1). 5 months in appraisal for a global cre consultancy (junior analyst)
2). 1 year and 2 months in real estate lending (junior analyst)
3). 4 months in multifamily acquisitions for LMM repe (analyst)
4). 10 months in single family acquisitions for an operating subsidiary of an MF (senior analyst)
5 (current role)). 5 years in an investment management firm ($60bn AUM in total of which $15bn is real estate via closed and open ended funds). I am currently a VP within the private markets team and joined as an associate. We are the LP’s in all our deals, invest globally and do both equity and debt (I have underwritten loans as well as executed equity deals). Sector and strategy agnostic (have done core office buildings in Germany to ground up opportunistic multifamily developments in the US).
Basically when I first started my career I had absolutely no clue of what area of real estate I wanted to go into, nor did I know enough about the industry in general. I then moved to my current job and absolutely loved it, hence why I have stayed for 5 years.
I have a mentor who is a partner at an UMM REPE shop and at the start of my career he essentially told me during my first job in appraisal (that I hated) that if I did want to move around to see which bit of RE I like then it is much better to do it early on in my career given it doesn’t look as bad and one only has a limited amount of time before they become pigeonholed in a role/specific focus they don’t like.
I really like my current role although the team is very lean and opportunities for promotion are now limited. The hours are also fairly relaxed (9 to 7) although that comes with the sacrifice of lower comp. My wife and I have just had our first child which has changed my priorities given I am now wishing to sacrifice a good work life balance for higher comp by going to a larger REPE shop. It’s amazing what having a kid does to your outlook on life!
It would be great to hear your thoughts and if the job changes would prevent me from going to UMM or MF REPE. I’m hoping the above explains the initially volatile career history!
Thanks
Amazing indeed - your kid is fresh out of the womb and you already don’t want to spend time with him/her
Amazing that you were able to hold 4 jobs in 3 years. Were you just interviewing for 3 years straight?
Jokes aside, I think the 5 years at your company pretty clearly negates all the early career job hopping. You don’t even need to list all of those jobs on your resume at this point. If you get hired somewhere else, it will be because of your 5 years of experience at your current company
Hahaha I was thinking that most probably feel the opposite when writing that.
And yeah I would just decide to interview at other places once I decided the other roles weren’t for me.
Appreciate the comment, relieving to hear! Thanks
You have five years at your current firm... I don't think you really can be credibly accused of job at this point. Here is what you can do (not sure you need to, but main reason is to clean up resume to have room to detail on current job).... Drop the 5 month appraisal stint and 4 months with the LMM repe thing! Just open with the lending thing (about a year) and then the SFR acq thing (about a year), i'm guessing the dates are all close enough/in same year for it to look contiguous. There is no rule that says a resume must be full transcript of every job/firm you have worked for. Last 5 years is always most important.
Again, you really don't need to do this, you could drop the appraisal one and keep the SFR one, or keep both. I don't think you have any worries about the "job hopper" tag being applied at 31 with 5 years consistent work history!
If you want to leave that’s up to you, and the job hopping is not going to be an issue. But as a farther myself I don’t understand the drive to work more? Kids are expensive I get it, but then find a shop that pays marginally better for the same hours. I took a pretty significant pay cut when moving from me my EB to My current platform but I would do it any time! The extra hours every day with my daughter are worth a lot more than money.
job hopping harmed my career greatly early on. I don't recommend.
Can you elaborate?
As others have mentioned, given the 5-year commitment was your most recent one, you shouldn't be labeled as a job hopper if you can offer a compelling reason to your interviewer as to why you want to leave. And for others reading: I very much DO NOT recommend job hopping this frequently early in your career as it will hurt you, but as the Original Poster demonstrated, it can be overcome. A couple of switches is fine, but if you're frequently staying less than a year and moving to similar roles, this is a huge red flag and it will turn a lot of firms off.
You have 5 years at your current role, you're fine.
That being said, you just had a kid and you want to have less time to spend with your family? Frankly, I think you need to reassess your priorities. The last 5 years were the time you should have been grinding, this isn't the 1980s anymore. If you wanted work life balance before having a kid, I can guarantee you will wish you kept it if you start working more now and miss their childhood.
Find another shop with relatively relaxed hours that pays better or stick it out. Your family will value the time with you more than having nice things.
I hopped from my first job after a year and a half, hopped from my second job after 2 years, coming up on my 2 year mark at my 3rd company. 1st job was a lean mixed-use developer where I got thrown into the fire and packed my resume with things most 23 year olds don't get to do, but the firm was starting to get a bad reputation and did some shady stuff. 2nd job taught me how to do all those things I had learned at 1st job, the right way, and with a strategic mindset. But it only developed in a single market, which has a huge tax issue that deters some investors and buyers. Sort of risky. 3rd job now allows me do it at a national scale, and learn how to be a leader (training and managing a team of associates). At just over 5 years into my career, hopping jobs has turned out to be very good for me. Had a I stayed at the first firm for all five years, I would have been at the same level as I started, no leadership opportunities and bad learning experience. Had I stayed at the second firm for longer, I would not have advanced in pay, rank, or management/leadership opportunities as quickly and would have been focused on one single market. I'm happy I made the moves I made.
That said, your situation sounds pretty great. You're at a VP level, have good WLB and pay sounds commensurate with WLB. Is there opportunity within your firm to continue advancing? I agree with others' sentiment that this may be the time to focus on your family and enjoy your kid's childhood.
With 5 years in your current role, your job-hopping sins have been absolved, my son. Go now in peace.
For real, after a 5 year stint everything else doesn't matter much
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