Have you ever wondered what your friends actually do for work? We’re not talking about the description in their LinkedIn bio, but what they actually do in their 9-5. As part of our mission to bring you more girl boss content, we’re investigating job titles to get the low-down on exactly what they really entail. Curious to know what being an account executive even means? Wondering what a VP in finance does in the afternoon? We’re creating more transparency around different jobs, and the salaries and duties that come with them, to help you figure out what you’re interested in. Today, read how a Real Estate Transaction Manager living in Philadelphia spends her workday.
Age: 33
City: Philadelphia
Industry: Commercial Real Estate
Job Title: Transaction Manager
Years of experience: 5
Salary: $75,000
What does your job title mean? What does your job entail?
I oversee a portfolio of commercial real estate transactions for a brokerage team. A lot of my job involves arranging property tours, producing marketing reports, spearheading pipeline update calls with our clients, reviewing and organizing legal documents, creating various presentations, and pulling data reports for my team.
When do you wake up?
5:00am. I have a six-month-old baby, so it takes a little longer to get out the door. The first 45-60 minutes of my day involves feeding, dressing, and playing with the baby. My husband takes over baby duty while I shower, get dressed, do my hair, and put on makeup. I try to have as much done as I can before my husband, a teacher, has to leave around 6:30am. The baby and I leave by 7:15am for daycare drop-off.
At 9am I am…
Pumping. As a new mother, I have to put aside any embarrassment or guilt I instinctively feel when it comes to my personal and professional roles. It was a huge transition coming back to work and having to leave my desk 2-3 times during the workday to pump, but I’ve adjusted and it’s just a part of who I am at this point. I tell myself: “you do what you need to do.” I am lucky that my team and company are very supportive.
At 11am I am…
In meetings. Most client-based meetings occur in the mornings, which allows for a more productive afternoon. Our clients are all Philly-based companies that have a real estate presence locally, nationally, and sometimes even globally. Recently I’ve been overseeing a lot of deals in California, so I have status update calls in the morning before our West Coast colleagues are even in the office.
What does lunch normally look like for you?
Our office recently transitioned to a more open-concept layout without assigned seats, so we aren’t allowed to eat at our desks anymore. I have an hour-long break for lunch, but typically eat my lunch within 30 minutes and then get back to my desk since baby-duties prevent me from coming in early or staying late anymore.
At 1pm I am… 
On calls or exchanging emails with our local market colleagues. Every day is a little different, but I am typically hunting down a document, market survey, or negotiation update on a lease renewal or relocation.
At 3pm I am… 
Starting to wrap things up. I try to come to a good end point for the day as I have to leave by 4:30pm to pick the baby up from daycare by 5:30pm. Another adjustment I had to make when returning from maternity leave was not feeling the guilt over my work/life balance. This stage of life is such a short season and I am trying to enjoy it fully knowing that it is temporary – I won’t always have to worry about daycare! My company issues laptops, so I bring mine home every day and can get some little things done before bed if needed.
At 5pm I am… 
Sitting on the train. I commute from the suburbs into Center City Philadelphia every day. Philly sometimes gets a bad rap for its public transportation system, which is warranted when compared to NYC or DC, but it’s been getting better recently with newer train cars and re-loadable transportation cards. I am lucky in that my commute is relatively short; 25-35 minutes total.
How does a workday end for you? What time do you normally leave work?
I leave work around 4:40pm to catch my train home. Since my office is now plug-and-play, we have a “clean desk” policy each day. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to close up shop before I leave each day. I have my own locker for personal items and file drawer for professional items.
What do you do after work?
My days of regular happy hours and networking events are on pause right now due to my personal responsibilities. My evenings are a little like “Groundhog Day” (the movie) right now; feed baby, feed adults, bathe baby, put baby to bed, hang with husband, go to bed. It’s a lot different than how I spent my 20s, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What time do you go to bed? 
Between 8:30pm and 9:00pm. I need at least 7 hours of sleep to survive the day, so I head to bed pretty early since I have to be up by 5:00am the next day.
Is there anything about your job you’d like people to know?
Commercial Real Estate is a steady business, but depends on the economy in a big way. Business can be slow during economic recessions, but if you know the industry well and have good connections it’s easy to keep your pipeline growing. Companies are always expanding or reducing their footprint and they rely on brokers to navigate the waters for them. The nice thing about CRE is that the hours revolve around typical business hours, so I’m not working in the evenings or on weekends like I would in residential real estate.