The initial interview was with the hiring manager and an individual who was previously in the role and had been promoted. I met with them on a weekday morning at their office and spoke with both of them for about an hour, discussing my qualifications, how the role fit into my long-term career plans, the commercial real estate industry, and some general background. During this interview, the hiring manager explained how the CBRE office located in one city competes with the office in another nearby city for business. They explained that although it is competitive between the two offices, "we party with them, we get drunk with them", which I found to be extremely unprofessional. After the interview was complete, the hiring manager told me they would be reviewing my application with senior management and they would be in contact with me. Less than an hour later, I received a call from the hiring manager that a senior executive would like to meet with me the same afternoon to discuss my application and asked if I could come back in a few hours. I agreed. I returned to the office later that afternoon, met with the senior executive and the hiring manager to further discuss my experience, my interest in the role, and my career ambitions, and they provided some more background information about the company and the opportunity for a career in commercial real estate. After the interview, I was told they would be in touch about my application. I never received any form of communication from the hiring manager following that 2nd meeting. I understand that companies cannot follow-up with every applicant for a job posting, but considering I made time in my schedule within 2 days of receiving an initial callback, and making time for 2 interview meetings in the same day, I believe some form of notification that I would not be receiving an offer for the job would have been justified. I will not be recommending anyone pursue a career with CBRE.

Going to bat for this “big dog” in the industry is surely not indicative of a sensable work decision. As a new graduate out of college, I was excited to attend a symposium of realtors and bankers from across the US at our uni. They even flew out the Head of Research from New York. It was very informative, casual, and had a seemingly primary message: “We are the best. The economy is doing amazingly. We want you to work for us”. The slide material that the HoR used for his talking points was very interesting, so much that I was taking snaps of them with my iPhone. It got me interested in the research side. I understand the brokerage side as my dad is a real estate broker. I met the director afterwards and she encouraged me to send my resume as they were looking to fill a FT position. Sent that night, got a call scheduled for a phone interview with a different person a couple days later. This girl was in CA and seemed to paint a sort of perfect pyramid on who reports to whom starting from the local level going to the head of research. Gave me a lady on Twitter to follow and said she would be in touch in a week. A week goes by and I don’t hear anything. I email the interviewer, cc the director saying thank you for the interview, just checking in. This is where it gets weird. The director replies without giving a definitive answer on my interview and asks if I’d like to interview again, this time with her in person for a financial analyst internship. I’m thinking to myself, is this the same thing that I applied for, but an internship instead of a job? Besides the questions asked of me and breaking the ice, again I enjoyed the interview. It was informative and I could tell the director was dishing me the details of how the biz runs whilst propping herself and the company up. The wording was something like “We hate to toot our horn, but CBRE is kind the place to be.” Great. This is where I became frustrated. I was again pitched the glamorous company facade and at the end she said we can “make an internship to get an idea and see if commercial research is something you want to get into.” I listened and responded with a smile “I am very much interested, being right out of college and securing for a full time commitment is what I’m looking for. That’s why I applied for researcher. I love finance and want to learn more RE.” She didn’t know that the first lady had not given me a response. I could see some embarrassment ensue- She said great, let me know circle back in a couple of weeks with you. I’ll be in touch. A week and a half goes by, I emailed thanking her for the interview and buffing about how informative it was. She replied asking if she could call me the next day. I never heard anything. I feel that this entire 2 month run around was a HUGE WASTE OF TIME. I wonder, do all the execs at this company act in this fashion? Ride home about what an amazing huge behemoth the firm is in the industry but make it seem impossible to get into the door? Maybe she sensed I am too ambitious for a researcher. I would prefer to not fold other people’s laundry, but you have to start somewhere. Thanks a lot CBRE