The Little Careers Book

࢚࢚ If you don’t have a genuine interest in land and buildings and, by extension, city/town/rural planning, it’s hard to imagine you enjoying this kind of career. ࢚࢚ For all areas of property, you need to be a good all-rounder with knowledge of valuation, planning, development, investment, tax, and legal. ࢚࢚ A good grasp of property law and economics makes for better decision-making. ࢚࢚ Ours is a ‘people’ profession, so regardless of what area you work in, you need to be a strong, confident interpersonal communicator and presenter and good at nurturing and building relationships. ࢚࢚ The property business is target oriented, for sure, so you have to be the kind of person motivated by targets. ࢚࢚ There is a lot of costing, budgeting, efficiency analysis, and accounting, so comfort working with numbers is a must. ࢚࢚ Planning, organisation and management skills are essential, especially if you go into project management. ࢚࢚ Connecting with and earning the respect of your client (or adversary) is very important, so skills like listening, empathising, conversing, persuading, negotiating, and problem-solving are all important. ࢚࢚ There is a lot of report writing, so concise business/technical writing skills are useful. ࢚࢚ Having a good sense of humour helps to manage pressure and conflict. TRUTHS XX People in property are smooth talking salespeople who cannot be trusted. MYTHS ࢚࢚ For surveying roles, you need a degree course accredited by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS); for planning roles, you need a degree course accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). ࢚࢚ To become a chartered surveyor (by RICS) or a chartered planner (by RTPI), in addition to an accredited degree, you need 2-5 years of professional work experience (RTPI is more lenient). ࢚࢚ Many firms, including all the larger ones (JLL, CBRE, Cushman, Savills, etc.) require their graduate recruits to complete the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). ࢚࢚ Some higher or degree apprenticeships offer another way into this industry, but apprenticeships are limited to larger firms; most medium and small firms are not geared up for apprenticeships. ࢚࢚ If you don’t want to commit to a full degree, you can complete a one-year HNC or a two-year HND in surveying/planning (or another property-related subject) and work in a non-chartered junior/trainee role. These qualifications also count towards a three-year accredited degree course. ࢚࢚ If you have a degree that is not RICS-accredited, you can do an RICS-accredited post-graduate conversion course, and an employer may sponsor you (though this is increasingly rare). ࢚࢚ You can become an estate agent with good A levels alone (ideally including business studies) and the essential personal qualities; professional training would be provided on-the-job and via National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). TRUTHS XX People who work in property don’t really need to be well educated. MYTHS PATHWAYS TO ENTRY KEY SKILLS