Monkey to Millions | Grace (Session 19) - Prepping for Blackstone RE Internship - Apr 8, 2022
About
In this short session, we catch up with Grace to hear how she's prepping for her real estate internship with Blackstone. We go over what she's currently involved in and give her a few tips to help her get ready.
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Monkey to Millions (Grace - Episode 19) 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. In this short session, we catch up with Grace to hear how she's prepping for her real estate internship with Blackstone. We go over what she's currently involved in on campus and give her a few tips to help her get ready. Enjoy.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:23] Hey, Grace. Session number 5000. Just kidding.
Grace: [00:01:27] I know I've lost count.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:29] Yeah. How is he? How is it going? How's everything going? I know you're probably wrapping up your your school year in the month, right? A month or two?
Grace: [00:01:39] Yeah, I have probably about five weeks left. Four weeks left. So getting near the end of it. So it's been a very hectic, chaotic semester. Not in a bad way, but definitely my most challenging yet or busiest of undergrad.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:53] So even with the recruiting being behind you and everything.
Grace: [00:01:57] Yes, more so because I've gotten extremely involved on campus with leading a lot of undergrad finance clubs. So I've been doing a lot of mentoring underclassmen, helping them out with recruiting. And then also just that combined with the classes that I'm in now. So it's been a lot, but I've been learning a lot to in some of my classes this semester. That's been really nice.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:02:22] Very good. And so that's probably I guess the the classes are harder now.
Grace: [00:02:25] Yes, definitely. It's more of the. Yeah. More of the truly finance focused classes. And I also have more freedom in what I can take. So there are a lot more engaging for me as well. And in particular, I'm in this one class or it's kind of a program that we have where it's a small fund that manages part of Fordham's endowment. So it's a very structured program and that's been taking up a lot of my time. I've been learning so much, though, and I think it's preparing me really well for the summer, actually, because it's kind of getting me more into that investor mindset in a way where that I hadn't necessarily been in when I was doing banking internships prior.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:04] Are you guys doing real estate out of that fund or. No, it's mostly just.
Grace: [00:03:08] So I'm the real estate analyst in the fund, so we but it's more of the rights that we cover. So it's all publicly traded securities, but it's still been really helpful just to keep me on top of things in the real estate market in general.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:22] Very cool. So what's the what's the plan to finish out this year? And then when do you start at Blackstone?
Grace: [00:03:28] I started on June 1st. So it's coming up. Yes. And full ten week program.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:34] So in school, like don't don't they like and like end of May or something like that. Some schools like. That's so.
Grace: [00:03:40] Right. Yes. I have some friends who have start dates, I think two days after their last final.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:46] Oh, my God. Yeah. So you're there for June 1st and then is it through through August or how does it work?
Grace: [00:03:52] Yes, it's June 1st or I think August 10th or August 8th, sometime around there is our last day. Yeah. We only get three days of training, as they call it, and then we hit the desk after that. So I know it's going to be an intense ten weeks, but I'm very excited for it. I've been getting coffee with a lot of people who I'll be working with or people just who are also working in other related areas nearby. So I think I've been trying to prepare as much as I can in that regard also.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:25] Yeah. And you're have you met anybody that seem to be in your class, your intern class?
Grace: [00:04:29] Not yet. They still haven't given us the list of names. And I found people who are in other groups who sit next to us on the floor. So at least a couple of others.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:39] Like incoming incoming analysts or.
Grace: [00:04:42] Incoming. Right. It's difficult.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:44] Yeah, that is tough.
Grace: [00:04:45] I think my group will have about 8 to 10 interns, so it's not too big of a number, which is.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:51] Nice in any kind of indication in terms of like when you'll hear like halfway through probably a review and then like near the end of whether you get a full time offer. Is it similar to the banks?
Grace: [00:05:01] Mm hmm. That's usually how it works. And also, they don't hire more interns than they have spots. So we're not competing against the other interns for a limited number of spots. They have a place for everyone as long as we perform well. So they are really rooting for us throughout the summer. And since it is, of course it is by side. So the a lot of what they focus on throughout the summer is that end of end of internship presentation that we do. So in our case, every single intern gets assigned a property or a portfolio of properties that the firm owns. And then we have to really just do a deep dive on our recommendation for what to do with the investment, essentially. And then we present to all of the senior team on that at the end of the internship.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:48] That's really cool. Are you, have you done the real estate modeling course from from.
Grace: [00:05:54] I still I tried to get access to it before and I don't think it was unlocked. I've been using other just kind of like ad hoc resources that people have been sending me, but I haven't.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:05] You have that before. I mean, when's your last final?
Grace: [00:06:10] Around May 10th, I think.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:11] I mean, I think you could figure it out, but it'd be nice to just see that because what kind of do you know what kind of properties you're going to be looking.
Grace: [00:06:18] At is I won't find out until I start.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:20] What the good part about that is. There's lots of different asset classes, different types, right? Getting you already know the lingo. Probably if you're interested in real estate, you've already seen it. But just like that course I think would be helpful for you before the.
Grace: [00:06:31] Yes.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:32] Like even that. Much more like on it. Yes. When I talk when people are talking to you or having those conversations like if it's a VP or a director and they're like and you're like blank stare. Like if you don't know what they're talking, right? Because like each sell, each sub asset class under real estate has all their little nuances, right?
Grace: [00:06:51] So yes.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:53] I think having like knowing those little nuances would actually make you look really good. So let's make sure you have that after this call. Just email me again and I'll make sure get you access to that.
Grace: [00:07:06] Awesome. Thank you.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:07] How else can I be helpful? Because that just struck me as like, okay, have you even looked at the the real estate modeling course? That's probably the best place right now is just to get the internship and then not that you're going to be doing like modeling every day, but if you have that big project. Mm hmm. That might just help set it up. Although, my my guess is they're going to spoon feed you a little bit.
Grace: [00:07:27] Right. And a lot of that is, I think, also centered on the qualitative aspects of it, like knowing the market and trends, things like that.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:35] Yeah, very cool. Oc How else can it be helpful? It sounds like you're doing everything right. You're meeting people. I think as soon as you know who's in your class, you're going to see them anyways. In the first three days of training. It'll be a lot of fun I think. Just building good relationships with those people, I think goes a long way. It's it's really nice that you're not competing with them.
Grace: [00:07:58] Right. I think that changes the dynamic a lot.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:01] It makes it so much more fun and collegial and stuff like that. So that's awesome. Anything else? I can be helpful, though, for for just prepping for that. Obviously, you got to get through finals.
Grace: [00:08:13] Right? Not that I can think of. Whatever the advice that everyone's been giving me, of course, as an intern. Right. Just have a good attitude and be willing to learn, ask a lot of questions. It's kind of the general.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:27] Yeah. Be positive.
Grace: [00:08:29] Right.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:31] Don't come in late. Don't be like leaving early or dipping out, you know? Right. Stuff, especially the first. Sometimes at some point, they may be like, what are you doing here? Like, leave. And at that point, like, if you check with people and it's fine, but it's still kind of like a long interview process. You can think of it like that, right?
Grace: [00:08:48] Of course. And then there's a lot of things that I really won't find out until I start that first week on the desk, even just like what the dynamic is with my team in particular, and kind of how they function. Because I don't I can't really tell until I'm in the office on the floor.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:05] Yeah. You know, it's it's hard to know until you're there, but I mean, it looks like you're in a good spot. And then assuming you get the offer and you like it, you're obviously you're probably just accept. And then if not, we'll kind of put our heads together and figure out. I'm sure you're right. I don't think that's going to happen. But. You know, in the worst case scenario, I always think of like contingency plans. I'm like, okay, well, all right, you get an offer. I don't think you'd be. I think given that you had the city internship, I think you'd still be in a good spot.
Grace: [00:09:41] Right? I've been making sure to keep up my connections that I have elsewhere, so it's awesome.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:48] I hope you're telling everyone, all the freshmen, to start now.
Grace: [00:09:51] Oh, yes. And I think it's because they also are further behind, I think the current freshmen and sophomores, because since they started remote when they're not around the pressure of everyone else like, oh, you need to be on top of things. They, I think fell behind when it came to really everything like networking and just trying to learn about opportunities out there.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:10:11] Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah. The whole class, it's like it's weird how it impacted different groups like first year analysts that went through during the second year. Analyst loved it for sharing a table. Some loved it second because they were already like knew everybody and they like like, oh, now I have freedom, right? I know how to do the job. First year analyst It was horrible for because they didn't have anybody coaching them like right there and they were alone, left alone, never built those relationships. So it's really interesting what COVID did. But yeah, hopefully you can help them get up to speed faster and give them.
Grace: [00:10:44] All the tools now too, since even though I'm back in person for the summer and Blackstone has been one of the most forward proponents of being in the office all the time. But I've been told, at least in my group, too, that it's common that people will go home after 8:00, and even if they're going to be working really late, they'll work from home after a certain hour at night. That's good. Or like weekend work you can do at home a lot too. So that's nice to hear.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:07] That's nice. I remember when I was at Rothschild, I had I lived like on purpose for a five minute walk from the office so I could like come in on the weekend or anything. It wasn't like a subway ride or something.
Grace: [00:11:17] Right?
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:18] Cool. Well, it sounds like you're ready to go. Maybe we can chat midway through the summer or something like that just to catch up, see how things are. Yes, that sound good?
Grace: [00:11:28] That sounds good. Yes. If you reach out once I started the internship and we can.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:32] Yeah. Yeah. And if anything comes up in the meantime, if I can be helpful, just make sure to pay me about the real estate course.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:38] Because.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:39] I think that would be helpful just to spin through it, maybe not even just watching the modeling, even if you lived alongside the instructor, I think just seeing it would make things just a little bit easier.
Grace: [00:11:51] Having a high level understanding of.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:52] Yeah, there's hotel, there's commercial, there's multifamily, there's everything in there.
Grace: [00:11:56] So perfect.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:58] I think that would be helpful. Other than that, I think that's it.
Grace: [00:12:03] I think so, yes.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:04] Okay. We'll click on everything again and. Yeah, and then just. I think that first week just try to, like, be honed in and focus. Yes. Like over. You also don't want to be like so, like, so intense where people like you rub people the wrong way, like just having the positive attitude.
Grace: [00:12:24] Right.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:25] Basically what you got to do and you're smart enough, you can like figure out the other stuff. With time, you know, if you ask good questions.
Grace: [00:12:32] Yes. Just kind of match everyone else's energy and level of intensity.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:40] Exactly. Exactly. All right, guys, we'll congrats with everything. Keep me updated and you have a great beginning to the internship.
Grace: [00:12:47] Awesome. Thanks so much.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:48] Jesse. And thanks to.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:50] 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 dot com. And till next time
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