What a difference a year makes. In May 2008, top graduates of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration fielded salary offers of at least $70,000 a year and a bonus of the same amount for their first post-grad jobs. Not to be outdone, many Columbia University or Wharton grads armed with MBAs and commercial real estate finance skills were snapped up by Wall Street firms for six-figure salaries.

But that was before the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers last September at the height of the subprime mortgage crisis and before commercial real estate fundamentals across the board began to show significant deterioration. Today, job opportunities on Wall Street and Main Street for the Class of 2009 have greatly diminished.

“Last year at this time many of our graduates had received more than one offer,” recalls Steve Carvell, associate dean at Cornell's hotel school in Ithaca, N.Y. “We had about 40 of our students going into Wall Street-type jobs in real estate. It's not happening anymore.”

According to the 2009 hiring trends survey of commercial real estate industry executives by Chicago-based FPL Advisory Group LLC, 49% of companies expect their workforce to decrease, with the largest declines on the West Coast and in the Northeast.

Executives expect base salaries to remain flat, and more than half of respondents say bonuses are decreasing. In March, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported results of a new survey that showed firms plan to hire 22% fewer graduates this spring.

The national unemployment rate reached 8.5% in March, and since the recession began in December 2007, 5.1 million jobs have been lost, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Graduates faced with evaporating career opportunities have become more resourceful, shifting their priorities to consider jobs in real estate fields that are not their first choice.

Instead of trying in vain to land a job with a development or real estate investing firm, an increasing number of grads are considering a career in the burgeoning field of asset management. Among the few bright spots for job seekers is the increased demand for grads with the financial acumen to assist borrowers with loan workouts or in raising capital.

“It's a tough market, tougher than any I can remember,” says Lynne Sagalyn, director of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at Columbia University in New York. A couple of years ago, about 38% of her graduates found jobs in investment banking. Now it's down to nearly 20%. As government programs for troubled assets and public-private investment vehicles play larger roles in the coming months, there will be a need for new hires to run the numbers and conduct due diligence, notes Sagalyn, who has been observing the market for more than 17 years.

Grads can also find opportunities by contacting building owners, says professor Joseph Gyourko, director of the Sam Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in Philadelphia. “You still have to own [buildings], you still have to finance them, you still have to run them. That's where you're going to have to go and get jobs.”

The University of Wisconsin's Graaskamp Center for Real Estate makes it easy to screen potential new hires by offering video interviewing when recruiters are unable to travel to the campus, says Kris Hammargren, senior associate director of the center. The program, which focuses on economics and finance, also taps the university's connections to the Urban Land Institute as it tries to help grads, says Hammargren.

Earlier grads lose jobs

Mounting job losses nationally have hit close to home for many schools offering advanced degrees in commercial real estate. Hundreds of alumni of prestigious real estate programs, including some who graduated in 2008, have lost their jobs, not only on Wall Street but at development and real estate finance firms throughout the country.

Some unemployed professionals have sought help from their alma maters by contacting professors who were already trying to assist the current crop of grads in gaining a toehold in the industry.

So sensitive is the ongoing layoff issue, in fact, that it has affected traditional internships for talented students. “This is the first summer we're going to find that paid summer internships are hard to find,” says Terry Farris, director of the master of real estate development program at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. Companies that have laid off workers are reluctant to bring in a new employee to work for a reduced rate, says Farris.

Some employers believe that hiring an intern at a time when their company is financially struggling and downsizing sends the wrong message. Paying an intern is not the problem. It's the image of hiring someone to work for low wages at a time when some employees feel that their jobs may be in jeopardy, Farris explains.

Developing like The Donald

Despite the severe recession, students pursuing advanced degrees are barreling ahead to complete projects as part of their coursework. At Clemson, where a two-year program to earn a master's degree in real estate development costs $25,000 per year, the 19-member Class of 2009 undertook a final practicum involving two projects: a 60-acre, $300 million mixed-use redevelopment in Charlotte, N.C., and a residential project in Columbia, S.C.

The final projects include conducting a feasibility analysis, site plan and market study. The results are presented to a jury to review, in a process similar to presenting a proposal to potential investors. “It's as close to a real deal as you can get. These are top brokers in town, as well as developers,” Farris says.

The scenario is reminiscent of developer Donald Trump's popular television program, The Apprentice, in which candidates undertake projects and compete for a chance to work with the developer.

Clemson grads who get the chance to develop shopping centers in the South or Midwest normally earn $75,000 to $100,000 to start, plus a $10,000 or $20,000 bonus. That's if they can find a development job in a recessionary environment marked by a dearth of new projects. Salaries have dropped slightly from last year, with $60,000 a reasonable starting figure at a smaller firm, Farris says.

A few candidates still attract multiple, six-figure job offers, Farris adds. Matt Summers, who managed a 4.0 grade point average while pursuing a master's degree in real estate development, received two offers and accepted a job at Spectrum Capital LLC in Jackson, Miss. Summers has managed developments valued at up to $120 million, juggling the real-life projects with his studies.

For new grads hungering for six-figure paychecks, Sagalyn of Columbia University has some advice. “This is not the time to focus on big salaries.” she says. It's a time to soak up skills. “You're going to have to work really hard, probably for less. What matters is your earning potential over your lifetime, and that's going to be affected by what you learn in the next two or three years.”

Denise Kalette is senior associate editor.