Penn State Smeal College of Business
Resume Guidelines: Real Estate
Career & Corporate Connections ❘ 114 Business Building ❘ 814-863-6161 ❘ smealcareers@smeal.psu.edu
ugstudents.smeal.psu.edu/careers
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Build Your Resume
The main goal of a resume is to concisely describe how your
experiences and education are relevant to the position for
which you are applying. Proper formatting is important
to ensure that a recruiter can pick out your most relevant
accomplishments in the initial few seconds of scanning.
Refer to the sample resume on the back to see examples of
the information provided below. Following these specific
tips will help you tailor your resume to a career in the real
estate industry:
1 Use an objective statement to highlight
your interest area.
There are various career paths within the real estate
industry. Your employment objective is useful to
communicate your interest in a particular position or track.
An objective statement should be short and to the point.
2 Include your GPA.
Recruiters consider GPA an important factor when
evaluating candidates. You should always include your
cumulative average. If your cumulative average is below a
3.0, consider including your major GPA if it is over 3.0. You
can calculate your major GPA through eLion.
3 Highlight relevant experience.
Recruiters are keenly interested in what you have
accomplished during your internships or co-curricular
projects. Be sure to describe your accomplishments instead
of simply listing your job duties. Use industry-specific
keywords and quantify your accomplishments where
relevant.
4 List skills such as computer software
knowledge that are relevant to the
position.
Be sure to explain how you have used the skills through
an activity, a project, or if you completed course work
focusing on a specific program. Simply stating that you are
proficient in Excel could be misleading to the recruiter. If a
job description specifically lists software experience needed,
make sure this is included in your resume.
5 List leadership positions and/or activities.
This is an important section of your resume. Recruiters want
to see that you are doing more than just going to class.
While the two most desired skills ranked by recruiters are
teamwork and communication (both written and verbal),
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the job description may alert you to other soft skills
required. Describe your skills here in the same detail as
you would in the relevant work experience section, noting
your accomplishments.
Resume Tips
When drafting your resume, be sure to always keep the
following in mind:
› Never embellish on your resume
› Check and recheck for spelling/grammar mistakes
› Keep your resume to one page
› Always communicate skills in every bullet point
› Make sure the layout of your resume is easy to scan
For more tips or to schedule a resume review, visit the
career development and resources sections of the Career &
Corporate Connections website.
Resources for Real Estate
Students
The following are helpful resources for students in the Real
Estate option at Smeal:
Penn State Career Services
studentaffairs.psu.edu/career/cic/
Institute for Real Estate Studies
smeal.psu.edu/ires
The Counselors for Real Estate
cre.org
Certified Commercial Investment Member
ccim.com
Commercial Real Estate Women
crewnetwork.org
Additional Resources:
LinkedIn: Penn State Real Estate Group
Get involved in a discipline-specific student organization:
ugstudents.smeal.psu.edu/student-organizations
First and Last Name
Email Address • Phone
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OBJECTIVE: To obtain a full time position in commercial real estate investments beginning summer 2011
EDUCATION
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3
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The Pennsylvania State University
The Smeal College of Business
Bachelor of Science, Risk Management- Real Estate Option
Minor: Legal Environment of Business
University Park, PA
Class of 2011
Cumulative GPA: 3.58/4.0
Major GPA: 3.76/4.0
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Normandy Real Estate Partners
Morristown, NJ
Investment Team Analyst
June 2010 – August 2010
• Assisted Investment Team in composing investment committee memorandum on a discounted debt purchase
agreement
• Completed preliminary analysis of a 13 building 1.5mm Sq Ft portfolio of commercial real estate assets
• Performed cash flow analysis on an income producing property and completed comparative analysis using excel
• Assisted a team of five investment analysts in reviewing documents for potential lenders to complete due diligence
reports
• Completed reports using various financial models and Argus Software for upper management presentations
Penn State Chapter National Association of Home Builders
University Park, PA
Financial Analyst
January 12, 2011
• Developed a financial model to calculate desired returns based on the sale of six model homes
• Conducted qualitative and quantitative market analysis on a 50 mile radius of a proposed housing project
• Created and presented a proposal book to a panel of industry investors and professional home builders
Penn State Real Estate Competition Team
University Park, PA
Team Member Cornell Case Competition—2nd Place
November 2010
• Performed financial analysis on a portfolio of four commercial real estate assets
• Gained experience in building financial models and performing discounted cash flow analysis
• Presented a recommendation based on IRR calculations to a panel of industry judges
Wall Street Boot Camp University Park, PA
Participant
Fall 2009
• Selected from over 100 applicants to be a participant in a program designed to train exceptional finance students in
the rigors of the financial services employment search
• Attended sessions on career paths, networking, interview skills, resume building, etc., and completing homework
assignments resulting in certificate of completion in the program
Real Estate Association
University Park, PA
Founding Member
Present
• Collaborated with a team to develop and organize a student run group dedicated to real estate
• Developed a certification curriculum to include topics such as REITs, MBS, Subprime Mortgages, etc
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LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
Acacia Fraternity University Park, PA
President, Risk Manager, House Manager, Caterer November 2009 – November 2010
• Elected by a membership of 83 to lead the organizations leadership, philanthropic, academic efforts for 2009-10
• Organized and conducted weekly chapter meetings with attendance of 70 members
• Gained experience analyzing, managing, and balancing a $400,000 annual budget
Penn State Dance Marathon
University Park, PA
Finance Captain
Present
• Selected from over 650 applicants to lead fundraising efforts of the largest student run philanthropy in the world
Skills and Industry Specific Language
The following are various keywords associated with the real estate industry that you should incorporate into your resume:
›Market Research: data input, acquisitions, organized,
analyze, broker, operations, commercial, property,
insurance, management, lease, development,
investment sales, market trends, marketplace, proposal,
track sales, comparables, cash flow analysis, due
diligence, competitive, initiative, asset valuation,
source, negotiating, underwriting, detail, performance,
analyze, valuation, reporting, financial model, leverage,
project management, assess, mortgage, lending
›Potential Technical skills: Excel, Bloomberg,
Morningstar, Reuters, Argus, Site-to-do-Business,
Co-Star
This publication is available in alternate media on request. The Pennsylvania State University is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.
U Ed BUS 13-26.
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