Monkey to Millions | John (Session 11) - What Offer Did He Take?!? - Oct 20, 2020
About
After several months since our last session, John gives us an update on which offer (out of 3) he ended up taking and how his first 3 months of full-time work has been going. This of course, is after he gives me a little trash talk for his Lakers winning the NBA Championship and my Celtics failing to make it to the Finals.
Or Listen to the Podcast Here:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Stitcher
Resources:
WSO Podcast (Episode 11) Transcript:
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:00:23] Hello and welcome. I'm Patrick Curtis, chief monkey of Wall Street Oasis, and this is monkey to millions. A show where you get a front row seat as I mentor young students and professionals to try and help them break into their dream jobs in the first cohort. You'll meet four students, all preparing for intense job interviews while trying to also balance a personal life and schoolwork. The goal of this show is to shine a light on the struggles of trying to break into competitive positions with a non-traditional background and to give you a roadmap for your own success. My hope is that as you get to know these four impressive students, you're inspired to dream big. Remember, these are real people, and this is their true story. Let's get to it. After several months since our last session, John gives us an update on which offer out of three he ended up taking and how his first three months of full time work has been going. This, of course, is after he gives me a little trash talk for his Lakers winning the NBA championship and my Celtics failing to make it to the finals. Yes, it stings. All right, John, long time. You definitely have some trash talking to do. I would have worn my Celtics hat and support, but I just grabbed whatever I had right here. Yeah, still a die hard.
John: [00:01:44] I mean, what was that they lost to the Miami Heat? 42 to
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:51] Fair. Yeah. You know, I got to say though, I got to say I still feel like the future is very bright at two young bucks.
John: [00:02:00] I think so, too.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:02:01] I think I think the Celtics are going to be there to stay for going to be start making a lot of trips to the finals starting next year.
John: [00:02:10] That's true. I'm scared, though, if Miami Heat gets another piece. And you'll probably see each other a lot more often in the Eastern Conference finals, but like a jeunesse? Yeah, I don't know. I heard that. I've heard that would be scary. I have no clue what's going to happen or not. Yeah, that would be kind of scary.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:02:30] But yeah, man, tell me about it. So what's been going on? I mean, what has been like a month and a half, two months as we chatted longer
John: [00:02:34] about maybe longer? I mean, I've just been working. I mean, definitely not how I expected my first full-time job to start off like through the whole pandemic and work from home. But I'm turning off my notifications there. Yeah, and here I am, getting hit up.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:02:54] You're getting pinged right now for work. Sorry about that. It's OK. Yeah, we don't have to take a ton of time, but yeah, give me an update. So like, OK, first off, I don't think. Did you ever tell me or the audience doesn't even know what you ended up taking? Oh, they're not. I don't know if they did, but yeah, tell me. Tell me what the final verdict I know we had. It was like a weekend where you had like all these decisions. So just recap that and then like what you ended up going with and how that's been going.
John: [00:03:20] Yeah. So I think recap I had three outstanding offers one from a valuation like a really small valuations from an L.A.. And another with a health care in Irvine and another with the internship I was previously at Caruso.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:42] We're trying to get more info from Caruso, but they couldn't really promise you.
John: [00:03:45] Yeah, I mean, maybe like a verbal offer, but they were going through a whole restructuring at the time, so they want to or they couldn't, I guess, give me a full time offer at that point in time. So. The job of Crucell is going to be more so strategy and analytics. The one at the right was portfolio management and financial analysis.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:11] Is it possible to turn that off? That's like a super loud ding in my ear.
John: [00:04:21] Ok. Ok, cool. I hope I hope it's off, if it's OK, it's fine. Let's get going.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:27] So, yeah, so then what happened? And then.
John: [00:04:31] So, yeah, so I mean, I ended up choosing the right, and I'm currently in the portfolio management team right now. Thanks to Patrick, he helped me break down the three offers and we try to negotiate with the reader with the kind of shut down quick.
But I think everything turned out well from base, at least through the pandemic right now and bonus and stock and just all the benefits that they've given me. I think it's pretty solid. I said no, how I expected my first full time job to start out, I mean, I'm staring at us. I mean, I mean, I was trying to stay as queen all day, but at least have people around me now. I'm kind of just in my room.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:17] You didn't expect your first-time job to be in your bedroom.
John: [00:05:19] Yeah, no. Know my bedroom. So definitely, definitely. Super interesting, but I think I had an easier transition than most because I was already interning with Caruso over the spring and I was already kind of doing that whole gist of things.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:37] Was it similar work, though, when you transitioned or like, tell me how the rate was different and how it's been different?
John: [00:05:42] Yeah. So definitely a lot more modeling at three,
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:45] Which is awesome for your resume.
John: [00:05:46] Yeah, it's been nonstop models and pumping out different reports and analyses for my director and for the C-suite and board of directors
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:57] Like just scenarios for the specific portfolios you guys have. Yeah. So based on like what's going on right now, like all the craziness,
John: [00:06:05] A lot of forecasting, a lot of this. Data analysis, I would say, in putting together decks and presentations for the board directors and C-suite, I just put together a little short deck on our skilled nursing portfolio earlier this week. So I thought that was pretty interesting. Everything's been going smoothly. My associate or the guy I report to directly above me is pretty chill and he's pretty open with my schedule. I mean, I do. I do think working from home definitely has his benefits in terms of having a little more work-life balance or I guess, just everything's intertwined now.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:46] I just take a nap in the middle of the day. Yeah, just kidding.
John: [00:06:50] But I mean, maybe there will be a point in time where I do that. Well, you're super busy.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:54] I'm sure you're super busy. It sounds like you're very busy. Yeah. What do you think the hours have been like where you're actually putting in work like 50 plus?
John: [00:07:04] Honestly, I would say around like fifty five to 60 like that.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:07] That's a lot of actual like actual work for
John: [00:07:10] That's a lot. I mean, maybe not actual work, but there's a lot of super later off work at 5:00 p.m. I'm like, I'm kind of expecting it. But like now that I'm in the weeds of
John: [00:07:23] Things, it's like, Damn, yeah,
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:26] It's tough being at the bottom of the totem pole, right? Yeah, yeah.
John: [00:07:30] And like the director, I feel like the director that I directly report to is like the most active, the most on top of things out of the other four directors in our organization. So feel like Ping Me and the other associate like 11:00 p.m. Or maybe like, oh, just check this like,
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:49] Yeah, it sounds bad, but it's actually kind of good. Yeah, for you long run because you're kind of you're going to be. It makes every other
job later in your career just it'll be make it much easier, you know?
John: [00:08:03] Yeah, so it's been going well. I mean, even a few pings us late at night, like also no response. And then he'll be I don't worry about it till tomorrow morning. Just want to get to you just so like, you're just
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:12] Getting it off his plate. Yeah, he's just getting it off his mind. Yeah, yeah, he's always
John: [00:08:17] On the go. I feel like he's very sporadic in his work. Like, I don't know. Sometimes I'll go on a morning walk for two hours and then come back.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:27] And so it was like nothing, and then all of a sudden, it's like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
John: [00:08:30] Yeah, basically, basically, other than that, I've been able to manage things pretty well as of late, and I've had a lot of time for my family, My girlfriend, my own hobbies and personal things. So I mean,
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:44] The transit weekend work isn't horrible. It's a little bit here and there.
John: [00:08:48] Maybe just a little bit like the tell me to check a couple of things out really quick. But honestly, not much
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:55] You learning at all. Are you building models? You're learning all that stuff. What's?
John: [00:09:00] I'm definitely learning a lot about, I mean, the health care industry building on models in a lot of new excel formulas and kind of getting faster. Yeah, I'm definitely getting faster. Maybe like that one. I'm telling
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:13] You should have been drilling on that Excel course who gave you Just get, I
John: [00:09:18] Mean, part of the thing. I mean, yeah, I have been working through a
lot of forecasts and working through it like a lot of balance sheets and pals. So that definitely has helped. And I mean, just from your models as well. I mean, I've looked through them and I've done them. I mean, the balance sheets definitely helped when I mean, even I'm doing the exact same valuation work that I would have been done like invest in making. It will translate over pretty well into the work I'm doing now, forecasting and data analysis. So, yeah, we got do you have
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:49] Access to the real estate modeling course yet? No, no. I know you told me earlier, it's out. It's in beta right now. We only have about three modeling test cases right now, but we're going to be. We're adding we're going to be adding more before the year-end of the year, probably at least a couple more. I.
John: [00:10:10] They might be kind of like the same if all the videos.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:10:14] Yeah, I mean, we're starting with the cases that we're not doing like, here's real estate modeling and that we're really just diving straight in because I felt like that was the biggest value add for people. People want to know what the tests are or what they're going. Get in the interviews and they want to know, like in other people who even are starting industry, they just want the templates and like to see how to solve certain things or how to build out certain things. So like, we're trying to build out like almost like a library of like probably somewhere between 10 and 15 cases with like different industries. So like hotel office, commercial multifamily, doing all
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:10:47] Sorts of just any sort of real estate modeling, what would be good like health care would be a good one, like hospitals and assisted living would be a cool one. But I think for us, it's about like building out that I want to build out that library with like really good video solutions showing people how to like, walk. How would you walk through this prompt? How would you walk through this case? How would you walk through this model? And then from there? Assuming I mean, it's already selling well, so I think what we're going to end up doing is investing more heavily into it so that we have like, you know, six seven modules of like just like a framework to get people before they dive into all the cases and like, fumble around. I really like that.
John: [00:11:25] I mean, I'll ping you in this if I can get my hands on it. Totally. Yeah, I'll shoot over to you, right? Yeah, I mean,
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:32] Especially with what you're doing now. I mean, it'd be curious to get your perspective on it, like, Hey, should we be adding some more like a health care thing?
John: [00:11:40] Yeah, definitely. I've been looking through the investment team's models, too, just because I feel like in a year or whatever, if I feel like I'm my learning curve has declined, I'm going to ask and move over to that team. A VP just left actually from that team and went to a Pe fund or RTP fund in L.A. So there's definitely been some movement in there, and I feel like one guy might
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:03] Feel like a new acquisitions is very different from the modeling you're doing in the portfolio group.
John: [00:12:08] Yeah, I looked at the model, it's purely like underwriting and the way that they have their team set up, they do a little bit of asset management to suit their own calls. Well, we're on calls too, but there are more so doing digging on specific property level data, or we're only kind of doing like overarching data and we're focused on our managed portfolio. And then sometimes we'll dig into the nitty gritty.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:36] So it's a little more like overarching financials like cash flows coming in and stuff like that of like a larger portfolio versus looking at a specific asset and diving into that.
John: [00:12:44] I mean, we will. I mean, I. Ok, let me reframe. I do that actually, because I'm right now and I'm looking at the specific occupancies of different property level data.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:53] Yeah.
John: [00:12:56] I guess there's a lot of tag teaming, I would say, between lie and slash investments, depending on the property, specifically armitage. I mean, this
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:13:04] Big man, congrats on your. This is it's a big deal. Yeah, I guess, yeah,
John: [00:13:12] I don't like to like I put up too much, but I appreciate it. Thank you.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:13:17] I mean, to go from intern when you graduated to getting a full time offer through COVID. Yeah, it's really solid. So remind everybody how you even found about that opportunity and how that came up.
John: [00:13:29] So I mean, it came up initially on handshake, which is like most universities have that recruiting system. But I mean, networking, you got to reach out to people in the firm. So I mean, I applied, I hit them up, starting networking with a couple of people on the team. And then even through the interview process, I feel like I had some additional interviews. Aside from the scheduled ones, sometimes I would email saying thank you. And then the associate that I'm currently working with would hit me up and we'd have like a conversation on the side. So I feel like that made the interview process a little easier, more comfortable going forward.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:09] Give me the inside track, man.
John: [00:14:11] Basically, I mean, he's a good mentor for sure. He's been in the industry for quite a bit. He's seen people go different routes, so you just give me different perspectives and things to think about.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:24] So, yeah, do you think there's a good opportunity if you were to able to kind of transition to the new acquisitions group, maybe stay on as like whatever they call an associate, like stay on for more than like just a two or three years and just maybe make a career this
John: [00:14:37] Place, this place? Yeah, thought about it. I mean, he tells me, like the guy that I'm working with right now at the guy I'm working directly under. He tells me that the reins are currently like about to be handed over because a lot of the older guys are the people that are at senior levels are like really older than you guys. Got it. So there's going to be a big transition soon, especially with the innovation and tech and health care, because health care is really slow in transitioning all of that.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:15:04] So it's coming
John: [00:15:06] So
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:15:07] Well. That's interesting, man, because it's kind of a good time to be starting there then. Because as you're getting it, if you're getting a couple of years under your belt and then all of a sudden like there's a lead, like there's a lot of retiring, even if it's three years in where you're like now, you're relatively cheap to compare to your skillset. And then all those people that were at the VP and associate position, they go like this, they move up, they're going to look down and be like, Who's going to fill in all this?
John: [00:15:32] Yeah, exactly.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:15:33] And like, you're perfectly suited to be that person. You know,
John: [00:15:37] It's pretty small. We're a smaller firm like compared to other health care rates.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:15:44] What is it? Like 50 people? A hundred people, 500 people, 40 people. 40?
John: [00:15:48] Ok, we're managing six hundred plus properties. So it's been it's been a fun ride.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:15:55] Yeah, that's crazy. That's awesome, then. So how can I help I feel like my job's done with you man? Is this it? Is this the last call, though? I mean, obviously in our last call,
John: [00:16:12] I mean, I've definitely I mean, I stay thinking about what's the next move, and sometimes I feel like I tell myself to slow down because I just started here. But I'm always thinking like, what's next or what I can do on the side to better myself, even if it's not directly tied to my day-to-day job, like starting small business or I mean, I help out my parents with. Third, gas station and their real estate investments.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:16:41] So paying a little rent that's stayed at home, that
John: [00:16:47] I guess that's one perk of saying home, I haven't paid rent.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:16:51] I pay a little grocery store. Your parents, you know, an occasional take him out to dinner.
John: [00:16:55] Yeah, occasionally. Yeah, I mean, we just want. To an Airbnb on the beach down in San Juan Capistrano this past weekend for my mom's 50th and I mean, I paid for most of it. My dad paid for the rest. I just said, let me, let me take care of it like you guys have done so much, so be so I can do. That's awesome. That's fun when you get
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:17:17] To doing that stuff.
John: [00:17:19] Yeah, it was awesome. It was a fun weekend, for sure. Good way to celebrate her birthday and everything that I mean, getaway. Good to get away from everything.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:17:29] Yeah, it's funny how people in vacations are now like let's drive half hour and just get away from the house because we're stuck in the house all day. Let's go to another house.
John: [00:17:39] We're only 50 minutes. I'm sorry. I don't know how that's fine. That's fine.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:17:42] Yeah, I mean, there's I mean, in terms of like us working together, I still feel like we could talk just maybe we just I don't think you need so much hand-holding now. I feel like you got to where you're going. I think you're thinking about things the right way. Just continually like, improve your skills. I think you'll
find and like, how many months has it been since you started there? Three months?
John: [00:18:01] Yeah, three
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:18:03] To three months. So like I think you'll find that month six, you'll start probably like feeling like it's flattening out a little bit. That doesn't mean you immediately need to be like in another group. So like, you have to kind of know your place and stuff like that, you may actually just be more efficient at your job to allow you for more kind of extracurricular stuff on the outside, whether that's starting your own side business, whether that's doing other modeling classes, stuff like that to improve maybe your skills on the. On the acquisition side, got it.
John: [00:18:34] That makes sense. So like.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:18:37] It's not a bad thing if you become more efficient at your job and it gets a little bit easier for you. Not always like, oh my gosh. But you don't want to do is sit there for three years. Not growing, right? That's true. But if it's for like six months, nine months, even a year, up to a year of like, hey, I'm not getting challenged here. That's good. Over a year I would say, like, you really want to start. Pushing or start even giving yourself options through maybe starting to look elsewhere, if they're not moving or not moving fast enough for you, especially if you're having those honest conversations with them, you being careful, of course.
John: [00:19:14] Yeah, no, definitely.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:19:16] Yeah. So I mean, we should keep talking. I mean, we can talk every few months or whatever and just get an update, but.
John: [00:19:24] You know, even if it's not on
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:19:26] The pod, yeah, people want to know the man, people love you. They want to get an update too. So people have picked me up, actually. They told me they
John: [00:19:38] Listened to the podcast on the show and asked me for advice. I was like, Man,
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:19:50] I don't know. I don't know. I don't work an IV man. Yeah, it's interesting because so the update on everybody else? Yeah, I'll give you the update on everybody else. So. Um. So, Andrew, Andrew is the guy up in Canada. He decided he got banking like internship over there and it just like they just killed him, like I think they worked him really, really hard and he was like, Actually, there's other job I have already lined up that he really likes where it's like 40 hours a week. It pays really well up there it's more like it's more like an accounting job. Nice. I mean, if this happened, but he was like, he's like, I like it. I like the people there. You know, I enjoy it. And so he's like, he's like thinking of, I think he was thinking of like, oK, make maybe a tiny bit more go banking, but like, have no life versus go to this other job which has like good career prospects and whatever and be able to do other things with, you know, still relatively good paying everything. So he was like, I think I'm going to go this way. Interesting. So that was interesting. So I was going to Grace, I just had an update call like two days ago with her. She's like, she's like, oh, she started so young. She's a freshman. Yeah, I know she already has a sophomore internship lined up. She got an offer from Citi. That's crazy. Congrats to her. And she's like already getting bites from like Blackstone four for like junior summer really already.
John: [00:21:24] She reached out to them and they got back her. Or they reach out. Yeah.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:21:26] Well, like some of her, some of her stuff has been like in the diversity recruiting stuff for females. Yeah. So she was able to. I think that helped her get in like certain early processes that she has a spreadsheet with over 180 people she's had chats with.
John: [00:21:42] Yeah, she's killing it. She's going to kill it for sure.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:21:44] She's like, There's no way. I was basically saying, like, there's zero chance she doesn't save, like a top banking offer. By the time she's not with this No.
John: [00:21:51] One hundred percent, she will. Yeah, I like bigger firms like PE. Firms are starting like analyst programs too, right? Like at a school, they are. And I don't have it, or
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:22:03] I don't know if she wants to do that, though. It's interesting because she has real estate's one of her interests, too. She likes the infrastructure, real estate she likes, like real assets, stuff, so she's kind of leaning towards those groups and stuff. But it'll be interesting to see where she ends up in like a few years. It's interesting, though, like I almost feel like with her, like I always feel like with everybody, it's like, OK, I'm done. It's going to happen so early next.
John: [00:22:28] Yeah. And I feel like just the whole and everything.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:22:31] She's like on the track, like, what am I going to do to help her so much anymore? You know what I mean? Like, knows what's coming. I actually do well in the internship. I basically just kick ass in the internship. That's what she has to do now. Get the return offer and then everything will take care of itself. So. Yeah, it's going to be weird. I kind of do want to chat with her because I think there's going to be some weird stuff with coded virtual internships and stuff like that that she has to be careful how to navigate that and make sure the communication is up.
John: [00:22:58] Yeah, yeah. Priority for sure. But anyways, man, it's been fun seeing
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:23:05] Kind of you progress and. Yeah, but you're cutting out a little bit. I think when I talk, I can't hear you talk. Hello, can you hear me? Yeah, I can hear you. Once I stop.
John: [00:23:18] Appreciate you and everything you've done for me and the other guys.
I mean, when are you coming down? Probably haven't been able to come down in California here.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:23:26] Yeah, my in-laws are actually coming up here, we're quarantining next week in the week after because they're older and a little bit scary, given they're not just their age, but like some of their health stuff. So we're keeping the kids out of school for two weeks and our nannies aren't even going to help. So it's basically like. The next two weeks, It's all going to fall on me and my wife is going to be crazy. It'll be fine. Going to be like a staycation. But the second week they'll be here, so that'll help. Yeah, I'm sure that sounds like. Oh, man. So, yeah, I don't know when
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:24:01] I'm coming down there, probably not till sometime next year, but maybe in like March or something. Yeah, sure.
John: [00:24:08] Well, I'll be looking out for you
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:24:10] This the vaccines out.
John: [00:24:13] I mean, we can only hope.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:24:16] Please. Right. Anyway, I'll let you run in. Thanks for the update. Let's keep something on the calendar. We can always just push it if you don't feel like there's anything. Really, that interesting to update us with.
John: [00:24:29] I mean, I'll keep you updated as I go, and maybe I'll ping you if something exciting happens and I'll let you know, Perfect man.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:24:36] Well, congratulate everything and let's stay in touch. We'll definitely get that beer once one day, once I get down there, hopefully. All right. Bye. And thanks to you, my listeners at Wall Street Oasis. If you have any suggestions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to send them my way. Patrick at Wall Street, Oasis Dotcom and till next time
or Want to Sign up with your social account?