Small Fair, Big Impact
Bauer Alumna Highlights Drive, Discipline in Real Estate Students
The Bauer College Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Career Fair, organized by the Stanford Alexander Center for Real Estate (SACRE), connects students with a future career in commercial real estate.
SACRE invites dozens of companies in the Houston business community to participate every semester in their career fair. Many of them return regularly for the quality of the students, and some for more personal reasons.
Irma Lozano (BBA ‘97) is JPMorgan Chase & Co. Credit Risk Executive Managing Director and Bauer alumna. Because of her own experience at Bauer, she said she knows what to expect in terms of students' work ethic and motivations.
Many of them are first-generation college students like herself, she said, and a lot of them work full-time or part-time jobs on top of their schoolwork, so they know how to hustle.
“They’re sharp, they’re curious and they understand that a career in real estate can be very rewarding,” Lozano said. “You can tell they have a lot of energy. They want to make it in this world, so they’re very ambitious.”
Lozano also serves on the SACRE Advisory Board and said she loves that all the board members represent different disciplines within commercial real estate, offering a well-rounded perspective that contributes to the growth of the program and its students.
“It creates a great opportunity to bring all these disciplines together for the purpose of helping advise the program,” Lozano said. “It helps enrich students' lives and education. We look at the curriculum to ensure the program stays relevant to teaching the needs of today’s industry.”
Lozano praised SACRE for offering the CRE Career Fair, noting that its smaller size and industry-specific theme creates a space for both students and recruiters to connect on their shared interest in commercial real estate.
She said that because it’s such a niche industry, what industry professionals are looking for are students who are enthused, already up to speed on today’s market and ready to dive in headfirst.
"Broaden your horizons."
They are looking for students who are not only interested in real estate but also come in as a subject matter expert, she said. The more specialized a person is, the more valuable they are to a company, she explained, and that is a quality they find in Bauer students.
“Broaden your horizons,” Lozano said. “Think outside the box of what kind of job you could have in real estate. Start building those now so when you start your career you have something to teach us.”
“Bauer students have been knowledgeable, friendly and positive.” - Mark Berin, Flagship Capital Partners LLC Chief Administrative Officer
“The program managers have been very organized, responsive and there to answer questions.” - Zéna Williams, Emerge Living HR Generalist
“I love that we’re able to have longer conversations with the students. It helps in making a good first impression.” - Kati Lavarius, Transwestern Talent Solutions Director
“We can always expect Bauer students to be friendly and hardworking.” - Bryan Miller, Partner at National Appraisal Partners LLP
“With a specialty career fair, students know exactly what they’re going to get out it, and recruiters know what students are looking for. Both expectations are met.” - Wesley Pratka, Evermark Commercial Group Operations Manager
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