Jesse Rego

Describe the steps you took to obtain your internship.
    I networked heavily in the commercial real estate industry within Florida and eventually connected with my employer, Scott Sandelin. We had a few conversations and eventually met in person in South Florida, that concluded with him offering me a position on his brokerage team as an analyst.

How far in advance did you prepare and begin applying for your experiential learning opportunity?
     I had been networking throughout the course of an entire semester looking for the right fit. It took quite a while but it was nice to see all my hard work come to fruition. I reached out to a lot of people before I connected with the right people.

If you used any FSU services, resources, or events to obtain your internship, what were they?
   I was invited to join an on-campus group, Diversity Leaders in Finance. They gave me resources that taught me how to network effectively in order to make valuable connections.

Describe some of your responsibilities or duties during your internship, and what a typical day was like "on the job".
   My responsibilities were based on being an asset to the brokers and clients. I was mainly putting together memorandums and underwriting assets to bring to the open market. Brokers were responsible for forming business relationships with clients and I was responsible for aiding them in solidifying those relationships in order to do business. A typical day required me to connect with brokers to see what their goals were for the day and how I could help accomplish them. If they were working on deals and needed certain things to make that easier for them, such as memorandums or valuations, I would assist them.

What are some major takeaways from your experience? How will these help prepare you for the next step after graduation?
   Major takeaways from this experience is that in order to do business with people and gain their trust, you must form a good relationship with them. That means to be resourceful, reliable, friendly, and ethical. If someone within commercial real estate is all of those things, they will be very successful and will maintain a great reputation within the business.

Did this experience help clarify your career path? If yes, how so?
   Yes, I am highly motivated to pursue a career within commercial real estate.