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Six months into her new job, Daye Williams still didn’t feel like she knew exactly how the office worked.
A business analyst for Transwestern in Chicago, Williams, 24, had recently graduated from Furman University in South Carolina, beginning with an entry-level position in September 2019. She had pivoted from studying finance in school to exploring commercial real estate and was hooked. Touring spaces in Chicago like the refurbished Old Main Post Office west of downtown made her excited about the possibilities of working in CRE. But as soon as COVID-19, the pandemic and lockdown orders hit in March, things suddenly became very slow, and very scary.
Williams soon found herself working out of her apartment, with nothing to do, worrying about being the "last one in, first one out." She filled up afternoons taking Excel classes online, hoping to stay busy, eventually compiling a massive to-do list for every one of the firm’s clients just to have something to do.
“At the beginning, there wasn’t much you could do except take notes,” she said. “Nobody knew what was going on or had any answers. The list was just something I could control in the moment, a way to say, ‘Hey, I’m here to help.’”
Fear, uncertainty, and eventually, ennui; Williams’ experience mirrors emotions felt by many in CRE last year. But the roller coaster of 2020 was especially difficult on those who were just starting their careers, seeking to get a foothold in an industry that suddenly stopped last spring, and has been struggling to regain momentum ever since.
Read the full story here.
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