Real Estate Mentoring Scheme 2018

Ian Norris speaking about his experience of being a Mentor at the Mentoring Scheme launch in March 2017

We are about to launch the OBREMS/OBU Real Estate Mentoring Scheme for 2018. The Mentoring Scheme is managed jointly by OBREMS (which, by the way, is our alumni association) and the School of the Built Environment at Oxford Brookes University. For those of you who still haven't heard of it, take a look here.

This year, I asked two of the students who were mentored in 2016 (and graduated in 2017) to answer my questions and inspire you to take part:

Paige Collins at Graduation 2017

Max Hulse

The students are: Paige Collins (PC) who is now working as a Graduate Surveyor for Crest Nicholson and Max Hulse (MH).

What is your background and why did you choose to study Real Estate? 
PC: My background is that I did A levels at school and worked part  time in an estate agents. I chose to study real estate because it is something that I have always enjoyed doing and I had previous experience in doing it through my part time job.

MH: I chose Real Estate Management because of my initial curiosity about property, fueled by work experience.

And why did you choose Oxford Brookes? 
PC: I chose Brookes because it is one of the best places to study Real Estate and I like Oxford as a city.

MH: Brookes is known for the quality Real Estate Management course and also for the successful grad job rate.

Why did you choose to take part in the Real Estate Mentoring Scheme?
PC: I chose to take part in the mentoring scheme because it is good to have contacts in the industry. It is also good to use a mentor's knowledge about the market.

MH: I had no connections in the property industry beforehand. Property is a people focused industry and the more people you meet the better I believe.

What kind of support  did your Mentor offer?
PC: My mentor helped me with my dissertation and with CV

MH: Ran through CV and suggested edits; internship interview advice; introduced me to contacts who I could apply for work experience with; constant contact throughout and regular lunch meetings and finally, work experience.

What were the highlights/challenges about the mentoring relationship?
PC: It was just great to have close links with someone in the industry.

MH: Highlights were work experience and the networking opportunities. The challenge was maintaining the relationship whilst being at university...my mentor was very good at encouraging me to keep in touch.

Would the Mentoring Scheme to other students?
PC: Yes it's really beneficial to have a contact in the industry who can aid you in your career.

MH: 100% yes. There is so much potential for amazing opportunities both at uni and after if you maintain contact. There's no easier way of building your first professional relationship. My advice is to be as active as possible and treat the mentoring relationship both professionally and personally.

The 2018 Mentoring Scheme will launch for student applications in January 2018 - check your email and our Facebook page for more information.

Sociable Surveyors 2014: Take 2

Today, the Department of Real Estate and Construction welcomed back Lizzie Parrott (BSc REM 2011) and Tim Pierce (BSc REM 2013) who gave a presentation about the Sociable Surveyors Internship Scheme. Lizzie won an internship with Savills in New York through the scheme in 2011 and now works for Savills. Tim Pierce won internships with Hammersons (Paris), Savills (London) and Heron International (London) in 2012 and now works for Knight Frank.

Tim Pierce

A few highlights from the presentation that might be useful:

• There are 50 internships on offer this year...Global (2 weeks based overseas and 2 weeks in London), London (4 weeks based in London) and Hybrid (6 weeks based in London gaining experience within three areas of real estate). 
• The Sociable Surveyors team are running a 'Saturday Surgery' this year to answer queries from potential applicants - this takes place on Saturday 29 March - keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for more details.
• Applicant videos seem to be getting more and more professional, but remember it's your passion for property and what you say that matters, not the backdrop. If you are applying for more than one internship, it is OK to create one general video, or you can create a 'template' which you then tweak for each application.
• As well as your passion for property, remember to show your personality and include some information about your interests and achievements.
• You have until midnight on Sunday 13 April 2014 to apply.

For more information on the 2013 winners from Oxford Brookes, take a look at the earlier blog post: Sociable Surveyors 2014.

Sociable Surveyors 2014: Henry Toloczko and Hugo Lear

Applications for the 2014 Sociable Surveyors Internship Scheme open on 1 March and close on 13 April 2014. All you have to do is record a two minute video demonstrating your passion for property and submit it along with your CV, for a chance to win one of the internships on offer this year. Sounds easy, right?

Last year, two of the winners were students at Oxford Brookes and I caught up with them to ask them about the application process and their internship experiences.

Henry Toloczko completed the BSc Real Estate Management in 2013 and won the Sociable Surveyors Explorer Internship with Halliburton (a 6-week internship based in Norway, Poland and Tanzania). Read more about the internship here.

Henry is now a Graduate Surveyor at Halliburton covering Continental Europe - a job which 'involves a bit of everything that real estate has to offer from investment to valuation'. Henry describes his internship as 'an amazing and very different experience'.

Hugo Lear completed the MSc Real Estate Management in 2013 and won a Sociable Surveyors Global Internship with Savills in Sydney (click here to see Hugo's winning video):

I asked Hugo some questions about his background and his internship...

1. Why did you decide to study real estate at Brookes? And did you feel the MSc was good preparation for the move into the world of work?
My undergraduate degree had been in Physiology and I initially intended to have a medical career. Having decided against this, I decided to look at a business career. My friend had done the MSc (Real Estate) the previous year and spoke highly of the course as did many people in the industry who I had done work experience with. The course was good preparation for getting a job as they gave you great advice on applications and the teaching was topical on what was going on currently in the industry. There were also many guest speakers which helped as contacts and giving their perspective on what they do.

2. Why did you decide to apply for the Sociable Surveyors scheme? And why the Global Internship in particular? 
I had heard from people doing the Sociable Surveyors internships who had been offered a job afterwards on a graduate scheme, so saw it as a good opportunity. I liked the way it was a slightly different way of expressing yourself on a film rather than the usual job applications. I would like to work abroad in the future and saw this as a good way of seeing how the real estate industry differed from the UK.

3. How did you go about making your application video - any tips?
I learned what I was roughly going to say and just did it over and over again till I got it right. It took about 20 shots. I would wear a smart suit, talk about why you decided on a career in property, your work experience, extra curricular achievements and why you would like to do this particular internship with this company. I would personalise the video for each application you make.

4. How did you feel when you won? Did Sociable Surveyors throw a good party? 
I was currently doing an internship with BNP Paribas when I found out and was ecstatic. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend the Sociable Surveyors party I was away in Australia on the internship.

5. Describe your internship - what were the highlights? And the most challenging bits? 
I spent my time rotating through the different departments for a day or two each. I started with residential sales, and spent time with project management, valuation, office agency, industrial agency and investment. Every team were very welcoming and got me out and about on site visits. There was an end of financial year party, which was very fun! I saw it as a good opportunity and knew if I impressed, information would get passed back to the UK, so was challenging to get the work done quickly and accurately. When I came back from Sydney I did two weeks in London with International Investment. Here I was able to get more involved with projects and gave me more of an understanding of how the business works. Read more about Hugo's experience on the Savills website.

6. What did you learn - about the subject - and about yourself? 
I learned a great deal in Australia and saw how it can differ from the UK - such as having Strata sales (where individual parts of offices are sold off freehold). During investment, we were putting forward off market opportunities to clients and I found it interesting seeing how the process worked.

7. Did the internship help you get your current job?
Yes for sure. I finished the internship in London and was asked to come to the assessment day which led to a fnal round interview and then the job starting on the September in take.

Finally - any advice to students who are thinking of applying in 2014?
I would definitely apply for a few of the internships whether BSc or MSc and make sure the video is personalised to that particular internship. If you do get an internship, make sure you stay close with HR and express your interest on joining the graduate scheme.

Get recording...and good luck!

Sociable Surveyors 2013

The Department of Real Estate and Construction welcomed Lizzie Parrott (BSc Real Estate Management 2011) who returned to Oxford Brookes on 18 March to give a presentation about the Sociable Surveyors Internship Scheme. Lizzie won an internship with Savills in New York through the scheme in 2011. She was joined by final year student, Tim Pierce who won internships with Hammersons (Paris), Savills (London) and Heron International (London) in 2012.

Lizzie talking about her time in New York with Savills

Sociable Surveyors is the only established all-expenses paid, global internship scheme in the property industry. Applications for 2013 are now open. Take a look at the Sociable Surveyors website for full details of how to apply and details of the internships available this year. 

The application process involves making a two minute video of yourself describing your motivation for a career in property. Lizzie was brave enough to show her winning video and suggested that anyone wishing to apply should give the video-making process some serious thought as it is not often you get the opportunity to present yourself in this way to potential employers. If you want to see some examples of videos that students have made, go to YouTube and search on Sociable Surveyors.

Both Lizzie and Tim had fantastic experiences on their internships - experiences not normally available to students or new graduates. Lizzie was offered a job on the Savills Graduate Scheme two weeks after completing her internship with them.

They concluded by saying that submitting an application was well worth the effort as winning one of the internships was the equivalent of 'CV Gold'.

 
Don't forget the closing date is 30 April at 12pm.

Knight Frank Prize 2012

This year, OBREMS (our alumni society), with the support of Knight Frank, have rewarded the efforts of three third year undergraduate students on the BSc Real Estate Management. The prizes (cash prizes...just in time for Christmas) were based on performance in their Development Project.

The winning students were:

1st prize (£250 + internship at Knight Frank): Tom Corderey
2nd prize (£175): Gareth Jones
3rd prize (£75): George Barker

From left to right: Tom, Gareth and George (photo by the Ed)

The Development Project was a feasibility study of a mixed use development in the Paddington area of London. Adrian Wilson, who heads up the Development Team at Knight Frank, came to the University to present the project to all the 3rd year undergraduates. He gave an overview of the site and the expectations of a hypothetical client given the brief.

The students were required to undertake a market analysis of the scheme and determine the land value of the site using current market parameters. Their recommendations were contained in a full report of the scheme and the site was analysed and delineated using Promap. Promap, a Landmark company, kindly supported OBU and Knight Frank by providing training on the use of Promap to all the BSc students undertaking the project. For more on the Promap partnership click here.

The winning team produced a joint report and then each gave a short presentation to the awarding committee. The committee was Adrian Wilson (Head of Development, Knight Frank), Rebecca Gee (BSc REM Programme Lead, Oxford Brookes) and Nick French (Professor in Real Estate, Oxford Brookes).

From left to right: Rebecca, George, Tom, Gareth, Adrian and Nick (photo by the Ed)

There's a lot of new development taking place in the Paddington area of London. If you're interested, take a look at the following links:

Paddington Central
Paddington Waterside
Paddington Development Trust

Sociable Surveyors 2012: The Winners!

Back in July 2012, the winners of the Sociable Surveyors Internship Scheme were announced. And the Department was very pleased to see three students from Oxford Brookes amongst the winners.

The 2012 Awards Event was held at held at Allen & Overy in Bishops Square, London and was attended by over 250 students, young surveyors and property professionals. To see photos of the event and all the winning videos, take a look at the Property Week website (you'll need to register to use the site). The winning videos from our students are given below. Now that the students have finished their placements I'm hoping to get them to write a few words about their experience. Back to the videos - be inspired!

Tim Pierce, now a third year on the BSc Real Estate Management won an internship with Hammerson in Paris:

Please go to this You Tube link to see Tim's video.

Jawad Al-Hillawi, started the MSc Real Estate Management in September 2012 and won an internship with Knight Frank in London:

Please go to this You Tube link to see Jawad's video.

Thomas Ridge who graduated from the BSc Real Estate Management in June 2012 won an internship with Bouygues in London:

Go to this You Tube link to see Tom's video.

Sociable Surveyors - exciting internship scheme

Have you ever heard of Sociable Surveyors? According to the Social Surveyors website it is the only established all-expenses paid, global internship scheme in the property industry and offers a selection of internships in both the property industry and the construction industry.

Have a look at the website and you will discover that the scheme is open to all 1st, 2nd and 3rd year undergradutes and postgraduates studying a RICS, RTPI and CIOB accredited course and the application process is easy. Simply use your phone, digital camera or webcam, to record a two-minute video that demonstrates your passion for the industry. Then privately upload your video and CV for a chance to win. Applications close at 12 pm on Monday 30 April 2012.

In 2011, Lizzie Parrott, then a 3rd year student on the BSc Real Estate Management at Oxford Brookes University, entered the competition and won an internship with Savills in New York. Her internship led to a permanent position with Savills. Have a look at her profile on LinkedIn to see what she is doing now. Lizzie's winning video is on the Social Surveyors website as is an interview with Lizzie about her internship and what happened next.