SMU Cox of Business and CREW Dallas (Commercial Real Estate Women) hosted a special Commercial Real Estate Career Panel in the Collins Center yesterday for MBAs and undergraduates pursuing various fields in the real estate industry.

Roughly 20 to 25 students attended the lecture, which featured six key speakers from different companies and areas of the real estate market.

The panel included financial analyst Chaz Walker, lender Julie Faulkner, real estate attorney Irene Hosford, property manager Nikki Mathews,Vice President of Development Tamela Thornton and broker Cincha Kostman, all from various companies. Chaz Walker is a recent SMU alumnus.

The focus of the meeting was to shed light on the various areas that future MBA and undergraduate students could consider in their future careers in the real estate industry and in other realms of marketing and accounting.

Various speakers such as Walker also gave brief work histories, described the various work aspects and special products they had worked on in the past, and gave students some tips on how to adjust to their first jobs after college.

Skill sets and values were emphasized as well. All the key speakers gave different examples of how qualities such as versatility, writing and people skills, and information retention were required to survive in the industry.

“I see people come with ideas that have no fundamental basis in reality,” Thornton said. “We’re trying to help change that before graduates enter their first job.”

The meeting also had lighthearted moments as some of the panelists exaggerated some of the more unpleasant aspects of their job. Irene Hosford referred to loan packages as “law by the pound,” emphasizing the numerous binders, folders and portfolios that it takes to create an average loan.

Students also received packets with information from each of the key panelists and were encouraged to leave their resumes along for future employment opportunities.