Pros
- All of the staff at Costar, in the London office, truly enhance the experience you get a costar. A very supportive and social environment between colleagues and management alike. - The salary, in my opinion, is unrivaled, as is the work/life balance. 40k for a graduate salary where it is almost frowned upon if you're in the office past 5:30pm on any given day. - As the hours are 9-5, it is expected that you're working at a fast pace while you're at work, however, this makes the time fly. The days and weeks move so quickly, that before you know it, its the weekend again. - Office culture such as dress down Fridays, unlimited fresh fruit and a constant stream of snacks. Birthday lunches for everyone's birthday within the given month. -Good performance is rewarded in the form of monthly happy hours (drinks included). Salary bonuses are handed out to a few of the best performing researchers each month, including a peer voted award. -Being on the 26th floor of The Shard is an added bonus. - The paid for months training in the US. We got to visit Washington DC, New York and Richmond. While we were there, we were all seconded to another market for 5 days - locations including Miami, Dallas, NYC, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta, to name a few. CoStar also paid for and organised various meals and excursions such as wine tasting in Virginia and Yankees v Mets baseball game in NYC. -Great intro / starter role in the Commercial Real Estate industry. As CoStar has so many clients in so many different sectors, it really gives you a great understanding of how these sectors are involved with CRE. Some of my current clients include retail banks, investment banks and national real estate consultancies.
Cons
- The targets enforced can sometimes seem unreachable, however management and other staff are very supportive. The targets actually end up making you push yourself a little more to be your best. -Branding about the company when talking to clients can seem a bit cringe, especially in the UK. However, I have noticed since starting here that there has been a shift in how this is done here, and it has made it a lot easier for us researchers.
