| Message | Continuing education students and their family and friends attended the program's annual graduation ceremony, held Nov. 6 in USD's Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. Burnham Real Estate president and CEO Stath Karras presented an "interactive" graduation speech to the students, who each received a Certificate in Real Estate Finance, Investments and Development that evening.
 | | |  | | Burnham Real Estate CEO Stath Karras delivers his "interactive" graduation speech.
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Karras asked students to imagine that they were the CEO of a company and searching for a senior level employee. "What attributes are you looking for?" Karras asked. The students called out criteria such as "experience," "integrity," "loyalty" and "passion" among a range of others that Karras recorded on a flipchart.
The responses received, he said, were in line with his company's mantra to: "Interview for skills, but hire for behavior."
"No one mentioned a skill, did you? Karras said. "Everything you mentioned was behavior, which can't be taught."
Karras said that the lesson for the students was to: "Continue to learn and expand your knowledge, but really focus on your behavior. It's not about the skill set that you have as you go through life."
Panel of Industry Experts Offers Career Advice
The graduation ceremony was followed by a "Retooling Your Real Estate Career" panel, which was a joint event of the Real Estate Alumni Association and ULI's Young Leaders group. The panel was moderated by Gary London, president of the London Group Realty Advisors, and featured Stath Karras, Sherm Harmer, president of Urban Housing Partners, Ian Gill, principal at Highland Partnership, and Elizabeth Bluhm, managing director at Red Capital Group.
| | |  | | Most of the second class of continuing education students completed the program in less than one year.
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Bluhm said that the current challenges in the industry are forcing first-time job hunters to go the extra mile since those entering the market are competing with many who just lost their jobs. "I think there needs to be a humble recognition for hard work and dues-paying," she told those in attendance. "Particularly in this type of market, as an entry-level employee you're not going to be doing the sexy stuff. It may feel like grunt work, but it's how you learn the business."
Gill recalled a time in his own career when he changed positions and took a significant salary cut to gain a stronger foothold in the industry, which was in a recession at the time. "In downtimes, there are always opportunities, whether it's getting an MSRE degree or taking a job that broadens your skill set," he said. "Those who have the patience are the ones who are going to be successful."
Karras also recounted an experience in a down economy when he worked for a company at night for free after his day job ended, just to gain experience. "Your ability to change and adjust to change is going to determine how successful you'll be," he said.
Harmer agreed. "Right now, what we're seeing is that to be successful, people are having to be flexible," he said. "We're in very dynamic times."
London said there was an upside to the current market conditions: "If you learn your practice during a down market, you can do it anytime." |
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