HWS News
16 January 2020 • Athletics Holden '20 Forges Career in Commercial Real Estate
After graduation, Eric Holden '20 intends to get to know New York City from the ground up. As a junior broker at leading commercial real estate firm Savills, Holden will gain insight into the city's latest developments, construction projects and flow of new companies to the NYC area.
Holden has been accepted to participate in Savills' 12-month rotational program. Following immersion in the company's capital markets, brokerage, consulting, cross border transactions and flexible office space departments, he will be offered a position as an associate broker.
"I've learned through my networking and interviews that commercial real estate is a fast-paced and exciting work environment. Combined with my interest in business development and wanting to work with clients, this industry seems like the perfect place to begin my career," says the political science major and member of the Statesmen lacrosse team.
Holden has experience working in fast-paced environments, having previously interned at Impact Performance Group (IPG) and Fidelity Investments. At IPG, Holden gained a mentor in President and CEO Joseph Corcoran '79. While at Fidelity, Holden took on a direct client facing role, an experience he says he knew was rare for the intern level, helping him to gain confidence in the field. While at the financial services firm, he also worked on a project centered on developing strategies to more effectively engage clients.
As an entrepreneurial studies minor on campus, Holden says his coursework with Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies Craig Talmage was instrumental in preparing him for his summer internships. His classes have an amazing blend of theory and real world application, "and helped me develop the critical skill of generating and developing my own ideas in a group setting." This spring semester, Holden will participate in an independent study with Talmage. His topic of study will focus on entrepreneurial opportunities at the intersection of financial services and automation.
Meanwhile, Holden's confidence in time management and organization were developed, he says, on and off the field as a Hobart lacrosse player. In 2019, Holden was named to the All-NEC first team and the NEC Academic Honor Role. He was awarded the William H. Dobbin '30 Memorial Award, an honor given to a Hobart offensive player who makes significant contributions to his team. During his 2019 season, Holden broke the Hobart Division 1 era season record with a team-leading 67 points.
Holden balanced his fall semester as a student-athlete with the job search process. "I made more than 30 networking calls with alums in a variety of jobs and industries who were willing to share their career advice and help me expand my network," says Holden, who worked closely with the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education to develop connections. "Throughout each call, it was awesome to hear about how much all of the alums cherished their time at HWS."