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Yes
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... Please tell me you're joking? Leave immediately if not.
Not even underpaid, you're just being taken advantage of
So it’s even worse then underpaid. It’s pathetic?
Yes
That's my personal opinion and here's why based off what you've said so far
- $48k salary as an acquisitions analyst, in a HCOL (I made $45k my first job in valuations at a no-name shop in a LCOL midwest state, for reference here)
- Didn't get a bonus, "probably won't ever get one"
- Bumped your salary to current due to you begging / sourcing a deal on your own
- Having no Argus is fine, but to build models from scratch for each new deal is incredibly time-wasteful; at least have a skeleton template (nothing you can do here but still ridiculous)
The above is why I believe it's more than you just being underpaid.
You’re getting hosed brotha. Sharpen up the resume and look for better.
Any advice?
Holy fuck you’re getting bent over and fucked without lube
Bro wtf. Fuck these assholes. Run ASAP.
Its so hard to find another job
you could make $17,000 more per year making pizzas
Don't make me sad
Looks like they pay a bonus too!
Dude you could make more doing almost anything, you’re making janitor-type wages. The other guy pointed out you could literally make more cooking pizzas, and you’d get a fatter bonus - $200 - than you should ever expect to see at your current job.
Your comp is so bad that this post could be trolling..
What’s your background btw?
So yeah your comp is very bad, unfortunately. The upside is you can find a new gig and get a nice bump.
My advice is to start looking yesterday for that new gig.
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That’s too bad. It sounds like you’ve been there for six months so my suggestion would be to stick it out for at least another 6 months and then start applying to other jobs. It looks 10x better to get at bare minimum a year under your belt in your first full time role before trying to move.vYou should no doubt have better luck at that point.
Employers really want to see two years in any job, so even just one is light, but doable.
In the meantime, your goal should be to learn as much as you can as fast as you can do you’ll interview well and crush your next job.
Good luck, I’m sure you’ll improve your situation pretty soon.
A few things:
1. Keep applying to other jobs, at this point you should be able to explain the short tenure in a politically correct way (bad culture, no growth opportunity, whatever spin you need to put on it), and honestly the "ding" on your resume of having a short tenure isn't nearly as bad as being in an abusive work environment and being underpaid at the same time. And to repeat what some other people said, definitely include any and all time you spent with the company on your resume, you can sum up the contracting work in a line on the resume, and it shows variety in work so they know you aren't just an excel monkey.
2. Network, network, network. Reach out to everyone you went to school with, alumni, family friends, that one dude you met in a diner somewhere, I don't care, just start talking to other real estate people. I could write an entire post about how to network, so feel free to PM me with questions if you want more info. Join a few real estate groups and go to all the events, get out there and put your face in front of people, it's a lot easier to find opportunities when you're actively out there.
3. Try other verticals, especially residential. Resi doesn't use Argus since it's not really useful, so really good Excel skills is a plus (maybe sharpen a bit on a few model resi proformas so you aren't coming in blind). There are plenty of smaller shops that do resi work (ground up, buy and hold, value add, etc.) and actually pay market wages.
Get out ASAP, you're getting absolutely hosed.
I made $45k base at my first job in agency lending. It sucked, but I learned a bit and moved to something that paid nearly 3x after a year. Controversial opinion, but you’re not in a terrible spot
Just suck it up, polish up your resume, practice talking about your deal experience, etc. I would also consider switching to the sellside.
One year shitty buyside -> two years solid sellside -> move to solid buyside shop. Can sometimes be easier than trying to move to a solid buyside shop.
I would just prioritize the “highest visibility” position possible. If you can land a debt brokerage job at JLL, that may be better than moving to another mediocre Acquisitions job
I’m about to start interning at a shop in Newport/Irvine. I don’t know If you’re comfortable saying the name in PM. Would like to know what firm this is.
Doesn't really sound like the kind of place that has interns, apparently they don't even have a receptionist haha.
I am pretty sure you qualify for food stamps in the area bro. Bascom is a major player but my interactions were quite pleasant, I also doubt it is them. Is it not a RE firm, because I may have an idea.
Shoot. I don't work at Bascom. I would rather work at Bascom then where I work now even if their intern salary sucks. Do you know what they pay them?
Not sure but the juniors seemed happy
You even sourced them a deal? Sheesh, I feel sorry for you. It sucks while you’re doing it, but looking back, it really doesn’t matter where you started, it’s where you end up in life that counts.
You are super underpaid. Apply for openings elsewhere ASAP!
As someone who was grossly underpaid for my first job out of college in development and decided to wait till the two year mark, don’t do it. Jump ship now. People should understand
You should be making 2-3x that. Leave immediately.
Grossly underpaid. I worked in valuations my first year and made about 65.
On the bright side, if you’re modeling everything from scratch, you definitely have some very sought after experience depending on the complexity of the deals/models. Hopefully you have exposure to all the main food groups. So I would say you have very transferable skills for positions $100+. I went from $60 to over $100 from basically just studying the technicals.
Were you in a hcol area?
I talked to a recruiter yesterday and he said I could easily command 70k+ plus bonus based on my skill set.
I can basically solve any excel test I’ll get thrown. I can model almost any office/industrial deal in excel.
I’ve done all the break into cre, refm, and acre stuff. Justin’s formulas get confusing though.
I feel like it’s impossible to get anywhere though
I feel like it’s impossible to get anywhere though
Did you go to UCI? I went to UCI.
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Haha got you. Have plenty of friends who went there.
Did you go from Independent Contractor at $20/hour to W2 employee at $48,000?? As an accountant, I'll tell you that's a step down in pay. You are now making less than you made before.
Actually I’m making a lot more now. They also paid me for 20 hrs a week so I made 1600/month before taxes.
If I was making it full time I’d be making 3200/month before taxes. 1099 taxes are a lot more then w-2 at that rate. It would probably be 2400-2600 after taxes.
Now I make 3176/month after taxes. 4000 before. It’s pathetically low but there’s junior guys at my company who only make like 2200/month.
I understand where you are coming from but hear me out- given the same number of hours, $20 an hour as an independent contractor is about $25/hour as W2, or $50,000 a year. If you had taken expenses (mileage, phone bill, meals, laptop, etc) against that 1099 income your tax liability would have been lower than your W2 liability.
I'm a research analyst in a LCOL city with 0 years of experience and am getting paid higher than that lmao
You're getting screwed. Reach out to alums, cold email people, and talk to recruiters. You have the modeling (and sourcing!) skills -- lean on that, and assure them that you can pick up Argus in no time.
So many companies are hiring and complaining about lack of good talent. You sound like good talent, so keep trying.
Agreed, I know it sucks because it feels like you're not getting anywhere, but remember that it's also about luck and timing. You sound like you're a great, competent fit for the other companies but there may simply not be any open positions at the moment. Just keep taking action on reaching out and following up to stay top of mind. It will work out - I can say from experience myself
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Anyone that started out for acquisitions get offers of all commission to source deals. I think it's ridiculous and want to ask for $30-40k salary and a discretionary bonus/less commission - need something to survive on, thoughts?. I'm 2 years out of school but no acquisitions experience and this is in a HCOL area (LA, Miami, etc). Seems obviously getting fucked, but need to break in too firm has some high profile projects.
Sorry don't mean to hijack your thread, but reading through seems insane to even consider.
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