Perspective

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that hiringon college and university campuses is up, a sure indication thatemployers are diving back into the fountain of youth this year. Infact, according to a study by the National Association of Collegesand Universities, employers plan to hire 17% more graduates fromthe class of '07 than last year, and the competition is fierceamong all industries. For example, Deloitte & Touche alone isreported to be hiring 3,300 graduates. This competition is bad newsfor real estate, which has chronically lagged behind investmentbanks, technology companies and blue-chip consulting firms inattracting the top talent. We need to address this together as anindustry because of the acute need to develop more and bettertalent. How? Well, realizing the need, many major real estateassociations--in a program we are coordinating--are now proactivelyaddressing this issue by offering intern job postings on theirwebsites free of charge, to help drive the development of more andbetter internship programs. Such intern programs are a powerfultool for attracting potential employees early and providing anopportunity for training and learning the corporate culture. Often,such relationships translate into a full-time offer upongraduation.

Tony LoPinto is CEO of Equinox Partners, an executivesearch firm specializing in the real estate industry, and parentcompany of SelectLeaders. The views expressed in thisarticle are the author's own.

Job Opportunities

WYNDHAM HOTELS
 (ATLANTA) Vice President Global Sales-EasternDivision The hire will manage a team of global salesdirectors and sales support staff to drive revenue for hotel groupportfolio of properties.

FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST
 (ROSEMONT,IL) Senior Investment Analyst Responsibilitiesinclude financial analysis and economic modeling to assessviability and profitability of potential acquisitions. Additionalresponsibilities will include market research, preparation ofwritten presentation material to senior management and more.

DIVIDEND CAPITAL
 (DENVER) Acquisition Analyst The general role is tounderwrite, evaluate, document, finance, and close direct realestate investments that meet our acquisition criteria.

AIMCO
(SAN MATEO, CA) Vice President of Construction NorthwestReporting to the senior vice president of construction-west, thisindividual will build, manage and direct construction practicesthroughout the Northwest.

BLACKROCK
(FLORHAM PARK, NJ) Director, Real Estate Product ManagementThe hire will oversee all aspects of the product management team,which includes training and oversight, quality control and designand implementation of streamlined internal processes, proceduresand delivery systems

HOLLIDAY FENOGLIO FOWLER LP
 (SAN DIEGO) Real Estate Analyst The hire will preparereal estate investment sales packages and submissions forpresentation to buyers, respond to questions about the processwhile resolving underwriting issues and more.

ING REAL ESTATE FINANCE (USA) LLC
 (NEW YORK CITY)Analyst The company is seeking someoneto assist in a variety of operational and finance activities forour domestic real estate loan portfolio, reporting directly to thehead of operations.

Promotions

BIRTCHER ANDERSON PROPERTIES
(SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA) Kathryn A. Leigh becomes director ofproperty operations for the Southern California and Nevada staff.Leigh previously was regional manager.

MCKINLEY
(ANN ARBOR, MI) Marc E. Stein rises to national leasing directorafter leading the Michigan leasing team. He replaces Matthew D.Mason, who was named vice president and director of sales andacquisitions.

MARCUS & MILLICHAP
(SACRAMENTO) Daniel Kapic is promoted to sales manager after twoyears with the firm.

CBRE/MELODY
(BOSTON) Frank Petz rises to managing director of the office aftertwo years with the firm, most recently as senior director.

CB RICHARD ELLIS
(NEW YORK CITY, NASHVILLE) Keith Braddish becomes managingdirector while Michael Sherman and Geoff Rice rise to seniordirectors and Jason Gaccione is made a vice president in the NewYork City office. In Nashville, Douglass Johnson earns a berth assenior vice president from first vice president.

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
(EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ) David Wolf is made senior analyst after lessthan a year with the firm.

GALE CONSTRUCTION
(ROSELAND, NJ) The company promotes Gabe Sasso to senior vicepresident; Robert Van Schepen and Kevin Herb to vice president;Christos Koutsokoumnis, controller and vice president; JohnBrucker, project executive; and Sabina Certa Carlin, director ofclient services.

New Hires

HREC INVESTMENT ADVISORS
(BOCA RATON, FL) Ronald C. Muzii Jr. joins as senior vicepresident in the recently established South Florida office. He alsoowns the Boca Raton Bridge Hotel, a 125-key waterfront boutiqueproperty.

FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST
(CLEVELAND) Alex J. Pacella takes the helm as regional manager,coming on board from Grubb & Ellis Co. where he was vicepresident of marketing institutional-quality real estate innorthern Ohio.

WESTPORT CAPITALPARTNERS
(WESTPORT, CT) In February, Jack Rodman comes on board as senioradviser to source real estate and distressed asset investment inChina.

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
(EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ) John Luongo starts as senior director. Theretail and land development pro spent the past 10 years at Grubb& Ellis Co., rising to senior vice president of retailsales.

MAGELLAN COMMERCIAL REALTY
(DALLAS) Brandon Rutledge joins as vice president for landdisposition and investment-grade transactions. He most recently waspart of the AmeriSouth Realty Group team.

TRANSWESTERN
(HOUSTON) Margaret Ann Cook and Valerie Palmquist start as brokerassociates with the tenant advisory group. Cook previously was withCushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. and Palmquist was with theStaubach Co.

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Anthony J. LoPinto

Tony LoPinto is the Global Sector Leader of Korn Ferry’s Real Estate Practice and founder of SelectLeaders. For the past 18 years LoPinto has been serving his clients with deep knowledge and perspective on talent needs and organizational challenges to public and private companies – knowledge gained from a 25-year career in real estate. Prior to his current position, he founded and served as chief executive officer of a boutique real estate executive search firm, where he oversaw offices in New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He has successfully led several high profile search engagements for chief executive officers, directors and a wide-range of executive level positions across all industries and sectors. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in European history from Loyola University in Chicago.