Hard Decisions

So this Friday I will be exactly 8 weeks from graduating...... WHAT! Well actually 8 weeks of class so 9.

WHAT!!?!>1/.1/13./1./.3?.1/3.2/4.1/4./4??%7.4/YH


That doesn't even seem real. I have to enter the real world, which I must admit I am looking forward to but I'm also terrified. There are a few job opportunities I am deciding on whether to pursue or not and it is tough. Right now I have a "soft" job offer to be an appraiser in Des Moines, I am considering applying for an internship at Principal in Des Moines (Extremely Corporate), There is a company in Kansas City that has told me they are interested in higher me but they don't have any full time opening yet, and there is a company in Des Moines that has an opening for a sales agent in it's commercial brokerage office.

I'm going to break down where I am at for pros and cons of each.

Appraisal position

Cons: 1) Des Moines 2) Tough first two years to get started in the industry with lots of time spent doing continuing ed, classes, and passing some tests. 3) Since it has so many barriers to getting into it would be tough to leave. Also most people that get into appraisal and get their career going don't quick appraising. 4) I'm not exactly sure that this it is something I would be excited about doing all the time. 5) Doesn't necessarily have the suit and tie "top tier" professional requirement (Yes, I like that) 6) Des Moines.


Pros: 1) You have a lot of control over your career 2) Your work and experience adds a lot of value to yourself and you are not that dependent on the company you work for 3) There is a lot of flexibility with hours and where you work from (Potential to be on vacation somewhere and still get work done, also work from home or go into the office whenever) 4) Great opportunities for getting into coaching. 5) Could be fairly easy to relocate to another part of the country but not for 4-6 years. 6) Great opportunity to be an investor in real estate because I would be a pro at valuing it.

Brokerage position
Cons: 1) Potentially start on commission and make very little money for around 2 years. 2) Harder leave one market and enter another market. 3) Uncertainty of commission. 4) Des Moines.

Pros: 1) lots of control over career. 2) A lot of the work is developing your network. Which i think would be a lot of fun. 3) I have already set a pretty good base for a network in Des Moines 4) Not very dependant on one employer, your network and skills add a lot of value to yourself. 5) Potential to make LOTS of money 6) A good amount of flexibility with hours/vacation 7) I enjoy relationship managing. 8) I am not afraid of hearing no.

Internship

Cons: 1) It is an internship 2) Only guarunteed for 7 months 3) Ubber corporate (Split on if this is a con or not 4) Des Moines 5) Make nothing for 7 months.

Pros: 1) Huge Company with a strong brand name. 2) Better opportunity to relocate 3) Easier to go huge corporate then switch to smaller shop than the other way around.

Kanas City company

Cons: 1) Not sure I would like the company/position 2)

Pros: 1) KANSAS CITY 2) They also have an office in San Fransico 3) The company is headquartered in Chicago 4) Solid experience and probably pay to start out 5) Potential to move into mortgage banking (Middle man between borrower and lender 6) They could potentially open an office in Denver.


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I think it is pretty clear the winner is the position in Kansas City.

Hm, I have not actually decided I need to hear more about the brokerage and appraisal positions. Tough decisions. My ideal was to get to Denver but that has been harder than I thought it would be.

Well that is where things are at for now. It will be interesting to see how they change.

Tommy

Tommy is one of my heroes. I know how talented he is and who he really is as a person and I love him for that.

I still remember meeting Tommy. I was going into 5th grade and I had only been living in Des Moines for a few months. Tommy and I were in VBS together. I still remember the first time I ever hung out at Tommy's house, we spent hours talking about how much we loved star wars while we sat on the couch in his basement! We went to church together from that point until we graduated high school. Over the years we went through so many experiences together, we truly "grew up" together. I thought about listing all of the things we went through together or even just the significant ones and unfortunately I don't have the time.

I think there is something very special about experiencing someone through so many of life's changes. What is so amazing about our relationship is that you would think we would have so many similarities and tons of common interests but we have few. Our lives have taken very different paths. We have been calling each other "best friends" for years but the reality is we stopped being "best friends" years ago. Tommy is a brother to me.

I got to spend this past weekend with Tommy and I was reminded how blessed I have been to have such an amazing friend. I know that it won't matter if we live in the same city or on different sides of the country, we will always be there for each other and ready to do anything at a moments notice to help each other.

You're my guy Tom. Thanks!

The midst of a storm

I apologize if you read this. I was planning on putting together a post about how Dropbox.com is one of the most incredible and revolutionary Applications out there but my mind has just been bouncing around since the minute I walked in the door about a half an hour ago.

So please understand if my thoughts are fragmented and scattered. Which I think is do to A) Tiredness and B) Spending about 90% of the last two days studying or working on homework assignments. Which will not slow down until I finish my test on Friday at 11. YUCK!

Anyways I am actually getting used to the constant school work and unending group meetings. I think it is all about having the right mindset. When you have the right mindset it is amazing how much easier things feel? Its like if I am expecting to spend 8 hours in the library working on stuff it isn't that bad because I have resigned myself to that but if I am planning on spending two hours there and I just go in thinking about how I hope it goes by quickly it seems to drag.

So last night we had a real estate club meeting (The club I am the President of). Anyways we had an employer here from Kansas City and I have meet this guy multiple times before because of having him up for meetings in the past and I am the one who coordinates meetings. So I was looking forward to having him up he is real nice guy and I usual enjoy talking with him. Well after the meeting I was talking with him about this intership opportunity he had talked about that would be for 8 weeks starting right after I would graduate and I was telling him how I was interested and I was wondering what I should do next. At first he was like "oh yeah, okay" and he was just awkward when I was trying to ask him what I should do next after I gave him my resume. After a few minutes of these he goes "you know what this internship isn't really for you, this is for some people who don't have that much experience and we want to check out before hiring them full" and he went on to tell me that he and someone else had given me the thumbs up. He then continued to tell me they were just waiting for approval on some full time positions and that I was on their "top five" list of people to hire.

I hope that didn't come off as arrogant because I was really caught of guard by that and I just kept thinking "how did I get on their top five and how didn't I know that they were so interested". I mean it really makes me wonder like "Is this company honestly interested in me because I have meet this guy and a few other people from their company a half a dozen times". I mean all I have done is talk with them and organize meetings for the real estate club. I have not done anything amazing. Also what is so confusing is that my GPA is pretty weak like I feel pretty confident that I am a below average student. So is it really that easy, I mean is it more important to just have some familiarity and somewhat of a relationship?

Because if it is it makes me wonder what it would be like if you were just very cognizant about building your personal brand and building up as many relationships as you possibly could. Would you really even need to be that smart? or is that being smart?

There is this real estate grad student who is at a grad school in New York that created a blog titled 'a student of the real estate game". He is absolutely brilliant. I mean I he obviously works very hard but he has thought of a way to put himself in front of so many people in the industry. I guarantee that he gets a bundle of job offers because he has brilliantly marked himself and made himself considerably more valuable. Honestly IT IS RIDICULOUS! It is amazing how easy it is. You just put yourself out there and email/call people and ask if you can sit down with them and ask them questions to get advice. I would say I have opened up a solid three opportunities in Des Moines because of doing that and these people in control met me and know me by name. Amazing. Also the best part is you can talk with the stinking people at the top. It is amazing how easy it is to ask some president of a company to meet with you and it is almost like they think "well if this kid is asking me then it must be alright " WHAT!?!?

Honestly I'm blown away. If there is one talent I might have I think it is resourcefulness and the ability to just ask.

More to come later. Do more people know this? Is this one of those things that you think everyone would know but few people know?

"The answer is always no, if you never ask"

The hours leading up to a test....

I should be continuing to review my notes, I have a test in a few hours and I have class in 15 and I will be in class until my test (Well truth be told I'm going to skip one class to study :). But still I should be reviewing notes right now.

But i wanted to put down a quick blog post. I truly hate the hours leading up to tests, especially when you feel unprepared. Also I really really hate management classes. Management classes are just thick textbooks full of B.S. lists of definitions and lists. Ex. What are the 3 levels of strategic activity in a company? WHO GIVES A .... Not me! I seriously spend an absurd amount of time wondering if the Explicatives that write these text books and teach these classes actually think people can retain this incredible mountain of information. Or do they think that people will only retain 10% anyways so they just put an incredible amount together and they are satisfied with 10%. I mean there has to be a better way to teach this management. I can not be the only person that believes this. This is why I believe there are way to many professional professors in business colleges.

Anyways one there is one thing that I think is very interesting about the hours leading up to a test. I find myself thinking lots of interesting thoughts in the hours leading up to a test.. well nevermind time to go to class.

P.S. Grooveshark has changed my life.