HFF Real Estate Analyst Interview Questions
& Process

I applied online and heard back from someone in the office about a week later. Over the course of a month, I had interviews each week with people of increasing seniority. Then, I traveled to their office for final interviews with Directors I hadn't spoken with yet. Everyone was really nice and helpful. Since I have about 2.5 years of finance experience, the interviews focused a lot on fit, and I also had to do an Excel test during my visit. The Excel test was pretty straightforward if you're comfortable with intermediate financial modeling. They also asked some questions about CRE valuation and performance.

I found the job through a recruiter at a direct hire placement agency. The recruiter did an initial phone screen. Then, HR at HFF scheduled a phone interview with an Associate Director. The interview with the Associate Director went really well. We discussed my background and my interest in commercial real estate capital markets. He mentioned the job involves long hours, which I confirmed I was okay with. I sent a thank you email afterward and got a reply from the Associate Director saying two analysts would be in touch the next week. I followed up after not hearing back and was told HFF decided to go in a different direction for the analyst role. It was confusing because things changed so fast after I didn't get to speak with the two analysts. After checking out HFF on LinkedIn and seeing the employee demographics, I'm actually glad I didn't get the job, as it seemed like a very homogeneous group of analysts. They emphasized cultural fit, which felt odd given the lack of diversity. It's 2017, and the company appears outdated in that regard. I'd suggest looking at larger companies in the industry that have more diverse workforces.

An admin contacted me to set up an interview. She had to reschedule because of a scheduling conflict with one of the interviewers, so the interview got postponed by a week. There's no receptionist and it seems like there's not much admin support. The office space is mostly empty, with only director-level folks and above remaining. During the interview, it became clear that my career goals and the job weren't a good match.