I Want to Work In .... Construction, Property and Housing

 

Housing associations, advisory services and recruitment agencies

 

PROFILE: Housing Manager

INVOLVES: Administering housing estates & property on behalf of local authorities or housing associations. Investigating applications & assessing priorities for housing, & arranging for transfers & exchanges of property. Arranging for the collection of rents, investigating, circumstances surrounding any arrears & liaising with social workers to help families in difficulties. Arranging for properties to be kept in good repair, looking into complaints & making sure that tenancy conditions are observed. Advising the public. Assisting people to maintain tenancies. Dealing with people in stressful/very personal situations. Liaising with police & social services. Working with local residents on environmental & other schemes. Advising tenants
EMPLOYERS: housing departments of local authorities, housing associations.
RELATED JOBS: social work, community work.
SATISFACTIONS: Helping people to resolve their housing problems. Helping people get (and keep) a roof over their head. Getting involved in a community together with residents & other workers. Constant new challenges. Working with people with shared values & commitment. This is a job which keeps your feet very firmly on the ground among the realities of people's lives.
NEGATIVES: Lack of resources! Bureaucracy & form-filling - an essential part of being an accountable organisation.
SKILLS: spoken communication, listening, organising, negotiating, investigating, an interest in people, flexibility, patience, good humour, tolerance, common sense.
ADVANCEMENT: Senior Housing Officer or into Housing Development. Team leader/contract manager, development worker etc.
DEGREE: Any - but Law/Public Admin/Surveying more relevant. Not just graduate entry, but many graduates do work within this field. There are housing degrees - main need is ability to do the job
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Postgrad. Diploma in Housing Administration could be useful. Some employers look for membership/part membership of CIH, but you are more likely to have this if you are already in the housing field
VACANCY SOURCES: Inside Housing, Housing Associations Weekly, Municipal Journal, Guardian (Wednesdays), LGJobs www.lgjobs.com
TIPS: Knowledge of current housing legislation & issues affecting housing - you can pick these up by reading/Housing press. Spend a couple of days on placement to find out what they're all about. You can get into many administrative posts without having housing qualifications. Watch the professional & national press for vacancies from about March onwards. Make speculative applications to prospective employers early in Spring.

Estate agency

PROFILE: Estate Agent

INVOLVES: Buying & selling properties - valuation, advertising, acting on behalf of & advising clients, liaising with solicitors & banks. Understanding the property market. Negotiation with occupiers & authorities.
EMPLOYERS: Estate agencies, banks, building societies.
RELATED JOBS: Building Surveyor, Property Manager, Loss Adjuster.
SATISFACTIONS: 'Deal-making. Meeting a wide variety of people. Being able to get out of the office regularly.' Independence.
NEGATIVES: 'Risk, market fluctuations & dealing with unreasonable clients can make the work highly stressful at times.'
SKILLS: spoken communication, negotiating, persuading, listening, ability to take risks. Driving.
ADVANCEMENT: With a surveying practice, negotiator or assistant to partner/director. Within banks/building society agencies there may be opportunities to move into general management.
DEGREE: Any degree subject is acceptable - but relevant surveying courses will make entry easier
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Qualification for Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) www.rics.org recommended, but this can be studied for while in the job.
VACANCY SOURCES: Estates Gazette, Estates Times, The Valuer, RICS Yearbook is useful for addresses.
TIPS: Entry is competitive. Try to get a summer job in an estate agency. Need to make speculative applications & to use networking skills.

Estate Agency Links

Town Planning

PROFILE: Town Planner

INVOLVES: Making decisions on land use applications taking into consideration the environment, housing, industry & agriculture. Conducting research, making site visits, producing reports & suggesting recommendations.
EMPLOYERS: Local government mostly. Also independent consultancies, construction companies, central government, environmental organisations & self-employment.
RELATED JOBS: planning technician, architect, environmental consultant, housing manager, surveyor.
SATISFACTIONS: Involvement in the development of exciting, community building projects. Working within a team. Making important decisions.
NEGATIVES: Meeting tight deadlines. Dealing with irate members of the public. Enforcing planning regulations.
SKILLS: analysing, able to work under pressure, communication, diplomacy.
ADVANCEMENT: town planning assistant to town planner to chief town planner. or, from town planner into inspection, consultancy or industry.
DEGREE: Any degree, but planning strongly recommended. Others of use include: surveying, architecture & geography.
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Essential if first degree not relevant.
VACANCY SOURCES: Planning, Local Government Opportunities, The Guardian (Wednesday), Local press, The Surveyor. Directory of Planning Consultants, Municipal Yearbook.
TIPS: Use the available job vacancy sources for the public sector; while a more creative & speculative approach may be appropriate for the private sector. Apply directly to institutions for postgraduate courses. For further information see the Royal Town Planning Institute site www.rtpi.org.uk

Construction

Construction is a massive sector, embracing civil and structural engineering, construction, building services and surveying, and blurring into engineering construction, where scientific, mechanical engineering and construction disciplines all meet. It incorporates everything from house building to constructing dams and bridges; to road, rail and air transport infrastructures; and industrial plant, power stations and gas platforms. For further information, have a look at this overview of the Construction Sector

PROFILE: Quantity Surveyor

INVOLVES: Financial control of construction work. First line of legal advice. Cost planning & control. Tendering. Project control. Preparing budgets. Certifying payments.
EMPLOYERS: Construction companies; quantity surveyor practices; any large company with a large building programme.
RELATED JOBS: Estate agent, purchasing manager.
SATISFACTIONS: A successful project completed with a good profit made. Salaries can be very good with even assistant surveyors earning £30,000 and more.
NEGATIVES: Tends to be adversarial
SKILLS: planning & organising, cooperating, investigating, numeracy.
ADVANCEMENT: Graduates could expect to join any of the various disciplines employed & to progress & be promoted as their ability & ambition suggested was appropriate, up to partner level in private practice.
DEGREE: Any degree subject possible but usually a building/construction related degree is strongly preferred.
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Not required.
VACANCY SOURCES: Chartered quantity surveyor, Building.
TIPS: Approach the professional institution involved in the industry - the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors www.rics.org

 

Useful links and information sources:

Recruitment Agencies

PROFESSIONAL BODIES

Many of the professional bodies listed below have careers sections on their websites.

 

Books

 

See also “I Want to Work in the Public Sector” www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitesgov.htm and our Building and Constuction page www.kent.ac.uk/careers/construction.htm

The Prospects website has Occupational Profiles for the following careers

 

Last fully updated October 2009