Picture this: You’ve recently completed an NYU graduate program in real estate and are entering the industry with optimism and enthusiasm. You get a job in your field, but you struggle with a steep learning curve, an extremely difficult boss and an office culture that simply isn’t a good fit. Even though you work long hours and try your best, you end up getting laid off.
This was reality for Benjamin Meth.
“I wondered if my performance was that bad to warrant termination,” says Meth. “Job performance had never been a problem for me before this. What if the rest of the industry was like this and I would never be accepted or fit in?”
Meth spent months job searching and contemplating his next step. It was the first time in his life he was unemployed for more than 3 months, and remaining positive was becoming a struggle. Fortunately, he started going to The Five O’Clock Club to learn some valuable job-hunting strategies.
“I learned some great tools, which I tried to use when reaching out to people and packaging my skills and varied experience to be more digestible,” says Meth. “Of course, there was the all-important elevator speech.”
Yet the months wore on, and by the end of spring 2007 he was feeling pretty disheartened. But then his luck changed.
“I finally got an interview and met with a real estate private equity fund,” he says. “After three interviews that day at the firm, I came home with a good feeling. A few days later I received an offer that I accepted. The job search took 7 months.”
Meth worked hard and learned so much about the complex real estate market, about observing its ebbs and flows. He became confident he was indeed working in the industry where he belonged and enjoyed a better cultural fit at his new place of employment.
“I really enjoyed the company culture and got along well with my boss and my co-workers. I learned a tremendous amount. It was due to the culture of the firm, which was much more collaborative and less political,” he explains.
Meth worked through the real estate crash and his employer began to make necessary cuts.
“As the firm suffered through this period, it cut heads to maintain margins,” he says. “Ultimately, after about 3 years it was my turn to be laid off. This time I had no ill will and knew what I was going to do next. I hugged the company CEO and walked out of the office knowing that I had grown tremendously from working there and that I was truly in the industry now.”
Today Meth works for himself as the managing director of a real estate management and investment company.
“Being my own boss hasn’t always been easy, but I go to work knowing that I have the knowledge and experience to keep moving forward. I never felt like I was meant to do this job until I had the experience and belief in self. Today, I do feel I was meant to be here,” he says.
