Our Mentoring Scheme (now in its 7th year) is managed jointly by OBREMS (which, by the way, is our alumni association) and the School of the Built Environment and is open to second year students on the BSc Real Estate Management and the BA Planning and Property Development as well as students on the MSc Real Estate. After successfully matching 20 students from the MSc Real Estate with mentors in October 2018, we are about to launch the OBREMS/OBU Mentoring Scheme for undergraduate students. For those of you who still haven't heard of it, take a look here.
The mentoring period for undergraduate students starts in March each year with a launch event in London and applications for the scheme open at the end of January. An exciting development this year has been an increase in the number of younger mentors, some of whom took part in the Mentoring Scheme themselves when they were students. All our mentors are alumni of Oxford Brookes (Real Estate or Planning and Property Development).
This year, I asked three of our mentors to tell us a bit more about themselves and why they decided to get involved in mentoring. First of all, let me introduce them: Laura Sweet (MSc RE 2011) works for Mayfair Capital as Assistant Fund Manager; Felix Fiennes (BSc REM 2001) is a partner at Bluebook and Adam James (BSc REM 2009) is Senior Asset Manager at Clearbell Capital.
And now, here's how they answered my questions:
Why did you decide to go into Real Estate?
LS: I was looking for a career that was a good profession, but also interested me and had a sociable element to it as well. It has lived up to that!
FF: My father was a surveyor and I saw that he had fun, working with friends.
AJ: I never wanted to be stuck behind a desk in an office job doing the same tasks 5 days a week. I was drawn to the diverse physical nature of the built environment and the interactive sides of the industry as well as the prestige of the RICS.
What did you enjoy most about your time at Oxford Brookes?
LS: The city is obviously completely fabulous, and that was a huge draw, but also the chance to learn from experts in their field. It is one of the best courses for Real Estate in the country.
FF: It was highly social, I made some of my very best friends there. A lot of my clients are old university friends.
AJ: Meeting a fantastic peer group and learning how to stand on my own two feet.
What have you been doing work-wise since you graduated?
LS: I graduated from the Masters in 2011. It was the first year that all the big firms were properly back to taking graduates after a fairly lean time during the recession, which made it quite an exciting time to enter the job market. I did the graduate scheme at Lambert Smith Hampton, in a whole range of seats that I knew were never going to be the place I would settle. After passing my APC in 2013, I got a job in the Investment team, specialising in South East Offices. In 2015 I moved to Mayfair Capital to pursue a career in property fund management, where I am still. I am slowly climbing the ranks and am currently an Assistant Fund Manager on two funds.
FF: I have carried out many roles including running a team at a large multi national firm. I now work in a small firm, with just 9 of us, providing highly specialised advice. We specialise in Central London Offices.
AJ: I started as a graduate surveyor at a property management firm called Workman LLP where I cut my teeth on the management of retail properties predominantly for UK institutions and funds. Within a year of qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor I decided it was the right time to move on and I found myself at BNP Paribas Real Estate doing property management for a more diverse investor base including luxury retail brands, European based institutions and sovereign wealth funds. It was here that I learnt more about running a business with a focus on business relationships and middle management. I was able to be involved in some fantastic projects including office developments of 300,000sqft+ and Google’s headquarters in London. After about 3 years I decided to focus on asset management and moved to a niche Private Equity Fund Management business Clearbell Capital LLP based in Mayfair where I am a Senior Asset Manager and am responsible for the delivery of investment strategies encompassing property development, sales, leasing within all asset classes for a portfolio of c.£200m+ across the UK
What do you enjoy most about your job?
LS: The variety and the holistic view I have across all the different roles one can do in property. I deal with a very wide range of people, from Dilapidations surveyors to lawyers, letting agents and everyone in between. It keeps it interesting!
FF: The social aspect, I meet lots of nice people, I work with people and clients I really like and consider friends.
AJ: The variety. No day is the same. I am constantly learning and meeting new people.
Why did you decide to take part in the Mentoring Scheme?
LS: I was very keen to give something back, particularly when you can see the difference it makes and your mentee is successful at the end of the year. Selfishly, too, it does no harm in expanding your own network.
FF: My father was a wonderful source of advice. He supported my decisions, informed them and advocated hard work refusing to help unless I deserved it. When he died, I realised how important he had been and that so many people that did not have a relative in the industry were missing out.
AJ: I found it particularly difficult to get a job in the recession when I was graduating and recall being overwhelmed by the experience. I managed to find someone who acted as a sort of mentor to me and he helped focus me to achieve my goals. I enjoy passing the favour on if it is any help.
What kind of support did you offer your mentee?
LS: I have had three mentees so far and all the experiences have been very different. The mentee I spoke to most I am still in contact with. We spoke about everything from dissertations to CVs, job offers and searching for different roles for her. Generally we did everything on email, which I appreciate is not the way many of the older mentors like to deal with their mentees, but for me it meant that I had time to respond to the question and think it through. We were also able to maintain a near constant dialogue during the year rather than a one-off chat every 6 months.
FF: I talked with them, helped with CVs, discussed dissertation ideas and how to make them relevant and helped with some work experience. I also, have tried to direct them to jobs that interest them, being interested stretched and engaged is so important in work. It will keep you happy.
AJ: I offer to meet the mentees to discuss university progress, dissertations, and work experience mainly drawing on my personal experience. Communication is done via phone and email usually if not in face to face meetings in London.
How do you feel your experience as a Mentor has benefited you?
LS: It has reminded me how tricky it is to get a job when you first graduate! The process is insane! On a serious note, it has helped me think around problems to find solutions and given me some good contacts starting out in the industry.
FF: I have loved it. I feel rewarded, I have learned from my mentees and got many interesting ideas from them.
AJ: It helps me appreciate how I got where I am and certainly I enjoy being able to be of any help I can to those looking to get in to the industry.
If this has inspired you to get involved in the Mentoring Scheme, either as a student or as a mentor, please email rdixon@brookes.ac.uk
The mentoring period for undergraduate students starts in March each year with a launch event in London and applications for the scheme open at the end of January. An exciting development this year has been an increase in the number of younger mentors, some of whom took part in the Mentoring Scheme themselves when they were students. All our mentors are alumni of Oxford Brookes (Real Estate or Planning and Property Development).
 |
| Laura Sweet (LS), Felix Fiennes (FF) and Adam James (AJ) |
And now, here's how they answered my questions:
Why did you decide to go into Real Estate?
LS: I was looking for a career that was a good profession, but also interested me and had a sociable element to it as well. It has lived up to that!
FF: My father was a surveyor and I saw that he had fun, working with friends.
AJ: I never wanted to be stuck behind a desk in an office job doing the same tasks 5 days a week. I was drawn to the diverse physical nature of the built environment and the interactive sides of the industry as well as the prestige of the RICS.
What did you enjoy most about your time at Oxford Brookes?
LS: The city is obviously completely fabulous, and that was a huge draw, but also the chance to learn from experts in their field. It is one of the best courses for Real Estate in the country.
FF: It was highly social, I made some of my very best friends there. A lot of my clients are old university friends.
AJ: Meeting a fantastic peer group and learning how to stand on my own two feet.
What have you been doing work-wise since you graduated?
LS: I graduated from the Masters in 2011. It was the first year that all the big firms were properly back to taking graduates after a fairly lean time during the recession, which made it quite an exciting time to enter the job market. I did the graduate scheme at Lambert Smith Hampton, in a whole range of seats that I knew were never going to be the place I would settle. After passing my APC in 2013, I got a job in the Investment team, specialising in South East Offices. In 2015 I moved to Mayfair Capital to pursue a career in property fund management, where I am still. I am slowly climbing the ranks and am currently an Assistant Fund Manager on two funds.
FF: I have carried out many roles including running a team at a large multi national firm. I now work in a small firm, with just 9 of us, providing highly specialised advice. We specialise in Central London Offices.
AJ: I started as a graduate surveyor at a property management firm called Workman LLP where I cut my teeth on the management of retail properties predominantly for UK institutions and funds. Within a year of qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor I decided it was the right time to move on and I found myself at BNP Paribas Real Estate doing property management for a more diverse investor base including luxury retail brands, European based institutions and sovereign wealth funds. It was here that I learnt more about running a business with a focus on business relationships and middle management. I was able to be involved in some fantastic projects including office developments of 300,000sqft+ and Google’s headquarters in London. After about 3 years I decided to focus on asset management and moved to a niche Private Equity Fund Management business Clearbell Capital LLP based in Mayfair where I am a Senior Asset Manager and am responsible for the delivery of investment strategies encompassing property development, sales, leasing within all asset classes for a portfolio of c.£200m+ across the UK
What do you enjoy most about your job?
LS: The variety and the holistic view I have across all the different roles one can do in property. I deal with a very wide range of people, from Dilapidations surveyors to lawyers, letting agents and everyone in between. It keeps it interesting!
FF: The social aspect, I meet lots of nice people, I work with people and clients I really like and consider friends.
AJ: The variety. No day is the same. I am constantly learning and meeting new people.
Why did you decide to take part in the Mentoring Scheme?
LS: I was very keen to give something back, particularly when you can see the difference it makes and your mentee is successful at the end of the year. Selfishly, too, it does no harm in expanding your own network.
FF: My father was a wonderful source of advice. He supported my decisions, informed them and advocated hard work refusing to help unless I deserved it. When he died, I realised how important he had been and that so many people that did not have a relative in the industry were missing out.
AJ: I found it particularly difficult to get a job in the recession when I was graduating and recall being overwhelmed by the experience. I managed to find someone who acted as a sort of mentor to me and he helped focus me to achieve my goals. I enjoy passing the favour on if it is any help.
What kind of support did you offer your mentee?
LS: I have had three mentees so far and all the experiences have been very different. The mentee I spoke to most I am still in contact with. We spoke about everything from dissertations to CVs, job offers and searching for different roles for her. Generally we did everything on email, which I appreciate is not the way many of the older mentors like to deal with their mentees, but for me it meant that I had time to respond to the question and think it through. We were also able to maintain a near constant dialogue during the year rather than a one-off chat every 6 months.
FF: I talked with them, helped with CVs, discussed dissertation ideas and how to make them relevant and helped with some work experience. I also, have tried to direct them to jobs that interest them, being interested stretched and engaged is so important in work. It will keep you happy.
AJ: I offer to meet the mentees to discuss university progress, dissertations, and work experience mainly drawing on my personal experience. Communication is done via phone and email usually if not in face to face meetings in London.
How do you feel your experience as a Mentor has benefited you?
LS: It has reminded me how tricky it is to get a job when you first graduate! The process is insane! On a serious note, it has helped me think around problems to find solutions and given me some good contacts starting out in the industry.
FF: I have loved it. I feel rewarded, I have learned from my mentees and got many interesting ideas from them.
AJ: It helps me appreciate how I got where I am and certainly I enjoy being able to be of any help I can to those looking to get in to the industry.
If this has inspired you to get involved in the Mentoring Scheme, either as a student or as a mentor, please email rdixon@brookes.ac.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.