A Conversation with our Intern, Julian Herzing-Burkard: His View from the Construction Site
June 2025
Northstar is committed to mentoring and nurturing the next generation of talent with a passion for pursuing careers in project management. As part of our internship/co-op program, we collaborate with institutions such as Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and CREST (Commercial Real Estate Success Training) to identify exceptional candidates.
We had the pleasure of welcoming Julian Herzing-Burkard to our team for the past six months. Julian is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a rising Senior at Northeastern University studying international business. In his spare time, he plays and writes music, having released an instrumental album on Spotify, and plays in a rock cover band called “Hell on Heels” with his parents. He also enjoys playing soccer and other sports with friends.
During his time with us, he was actively involved in American Campus Communities 840 Columbus student housing project, attending
various weekly meetings and on-site visits and supporting reviews of the drawing sets, project cost estimates, and project schedules. Additionally, he helped manage multiple coordination spreadsheets and put together deliverables regarding the building’s utility buildout and usage forecasts. He was also involved in projects for Sanofi’s headquarters, which involved punch list administration and direct coordination with consultants and the construction team to open new completed floors and prep spaces for construction. In addition, he supported the Biogen team and the Harvard University Housing team with various other tasks.
We took the opportunity to sit down with Julian to gain insights into his experience as part of our Northstar team during his internship.
1. What is your background (who you are, where do you go to school, what are you studying, what attracted you to Northstar, etc.)?
I am an undergraduate student currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in International Business at Northeastern University. Prior to this co-op, I completed a co-op at the Boston Planning Department, where I assisted with ongoing development reviews and assisted with drafting changes to the city’s development review procedures. I also completed a summer internship at Colliers International, a commercial brokerage firm, and served as the first chair of a student campus planning advisory board at Northeastern University. These previous experiences, including my recent co-op, reflect my long-held interest in how our built environment is planned and constructed. However, before coming to Northstar, my experiences had only given me a high-level view of real estate projects. Northstar’s co-op program offered me an unparalleled opportunity to involve myself on a more hands-on level, learning what it takes day-to-day to manage real estate projects. Coupled with the fact that Northstar works on a wide range of projects with a wide range of clients, meant that coming into this co-op, there would be significant scope for me to learn.
2. How would you describe your co-op experience at Northstar to others?
It’s hard to describe everything I’ve done and experienced while on co-op at Northstar, but it’s quite easy to describe how it has helped me grow. Through the various accounts and projects I was involved in, I got to see so many aspects of projects that I had never seen before and have gained a wealth of new knowledge in a short amount of time. Working on four different accounts helped me see various projects at different phases, and on-site visits were always insightful into how a project really goes down on the ground. So, the best way to describe my co-op to others is to say you will do a lot of different tasks, see multiple different projects, and therefore learn a ton of different things along the way! No matter your previous experience, I can guarantee you as a co-op there will be new things you learn.
3. What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned with your co-op at Northstar?
The greatest lesson I learned from my co-op at Northstar is that no project will ever go perfectly, and that is why as a project manager, it is so important for you to always be on your feet and anticipate what might not go quite as expected. You need to plan for the worst and be proactive about checking in on items so that you are not just assuming that things are going as planned. In a perfect world, project managers would have a much easier job because everything would run smoothly, but in our imperfect world it is a project manager’s job to try to create a perfect completed project out of an imperfect journey to get there.
4. What was the most rewarding thing about working with the Northstar team?
The most rewarding thing about working with the Northstar team is the opportunity to learn from their experiences. Everyone has such different expertise and perspectives they bring from different educational and career backgrounds that there is so much to learn from the people around you. I took advantage of this personally by asking plenty of questions and grabbing lunch with a few co-workers to learn about their differing experiences. I would’ve needed a few more co-ops here to uncover even a fraction of the combined knowledge that the Northstar team has built up here!
5. What new skills and knowledge did you gain through your Northstar co-op?
In just five months, I gained a lot of new knowledge and skills through my Northstar co-op. Through the three different accounts I worked on, I deepened my understanding of project scheduling, project budgeting, and value engineering. I also learned how the punch list process works and was able to better comprehend all different types of drawings, including MEP, low-voltage, and civil drawings. I also learned how to use MS Project and Procore during my time here and practiced building effective working relationships with consultants and CMs.
Before starting my co-op here, I didn’t realize how much there was that I still didn’t know. For every new thing I learned here, there was something else that I became curious about, which I did not fully understand yet, driving me to pursue every opportunity to learn something new and to view every task or project as a way to deepen my understanding of it. The new knowledge and skills I gained through this co-op will undoubtedly help me in whatever next step I take in my career.
6. What career path are you looking to get into and why?
I am looking to work in development, specifically residential development, in some sort of project management capacity for my career. Through my experiences and personal passion for piloting substantive change in our cities, real estate development seems to be the most fitting long-term career path for me. During my co-op, I found that I was most excited by the journey and work of the ACC student housing project, supporting my inclination to pursue a career in residential development. I enjoy the work of project management and would love to continue developing my project management skills and knowledge throughout my career. While I want to work on development projects, where this takes place for me — whether with a developer, owner’s project manager (OPM), or otherwise — is yet to be seen!
7. How would you describe the Northstar culture?
Northstar has a strong and unique company culture that I felt immediately when I arrived here. The company has created an open and friendly culture that encourages cross-sharing of everyone’s expertise and insights for mutual success. This cross-sharing of information reinforces a culture of constant learning and advancement, which Northstar further supports through lunch and learns, event opportunities, and more. I genuinely do not think I have seen a company so focused on continual learning and advancement as Northstar! Northstar also has a fun culture, with lunch serving as a fun time to all come together and laugh, and there are plenty of different fun company event opportunities to bond with coworkers. Finally, Northstar runs many of its business and administrative responsibilities through employee committees, making it feel like the company is truly composed of everyone who works here.
