Property Services | Estate Agency

ESTATE AGENCY OFFERS QUALITY TRAINING AND EXCITING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES SAY NEWCOMERS TO THE INDUSTRY

If you think you would enjoy the buzz of sales, and can imagine the thrill and challenge of making
a client’s dreams come true, then a career in estate agency may be the right path for you.

Trainee estate agents spoke recently at a two-day training seminar run by the industry’s largest training provider, TTC Training, and described their jobs as ‘exciting’, ‘demanding’, ‘varied’, and ‘rewarding’ – words any young person would associate with a career likely to fulfil their ambitions.

Above all, the candidates appreciated the career and training opportunities now available to them through the industry. Gone are the days when becoming an estate agent meant joining as an office junior and facing a haphazard career route with little, or no, formal training. Young people entering the industry today are offered a structured vocational training programme resulting in nationally accredited qualifications recognised by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).

Most of this training is delivered by TTC Training in association with NAEA. Current qualifications include NVQs Levels 2-3 in Property Services alongside the newly launched Technical Award. This has been introduced to give candidates greater insight into property construction and defects – vital knowledge when interpreting surveyors’ reports, especially when understanding specific building problems.

“Estate agency is definitely the profession to be in,” said 19-year-old Nicola Holmes. Nicola, who works for Dacre Son & Hartley in Otley, West Yorkshire, discovered the thrill of the job as a work experience student during her A Level course in Business Studies: “I went to the branch for work experience expecting to be filing and making cups of tea, but instead I was given really interesting work to do from the first day. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I found I was very good at speaking to clients and making them feel relaxed. From there, I started to look for particular properties on their behalf and became really interested in the details of each one.”

Nicola joined the company as a full-time employee two years later - after a short stint as a waitress - and is now working towards NVQ Level 2. “No-one can imagine how varied each day is. I really enjoy the negotiating side of the work. It gets very exciting and you have to be good at thinking on your feet.”

The secret to success, added 20-year-old Ben Smith, is in finding an employer willing to support you through your training. Ben joined a national chain of estate agents as a school-leaver, but has recently switched to a smaller, independent company because his career prospects and opportunities for training were better. An employee with Moore and York in Loughborough, Leicestershire, he has flourished while working for a smaller company and is soon to complete Level 3 in Property Services. Ben is also studying for the Technical Award.

“I love working in estate agency,” he said. “Every day brings a new challenge. Ideally, I would like to get more qualifications so that I can get into surveying side. The advantage of the NVQ training is that it gives you focus and sets a standard to aim for. My personal goal is to be manager of my own branch within five years.”

Trainees can enter the industry as school-leavers or later. Gina Bostock, 20, a trainee estate agent with Richard Watkinson, based at the company’s Radcliffe-on-Trent branch in Nottinghamshire, discovered estate agency as her dream career by accident. Having worked in textiles for two years and having completed a BTEC in Childcare at her local college, Gina was struggling to find job satisfaction. “I was looking for a career that would really grab me and began thinking about estate agency when my friends started buying their own homes. It was reading property schedules and visiting estate agents with them that got me thinking about the job.”

Her gut instinct paid off. Gina, who has just started NVQ Level 3, is very positive about her chosen profession. “I find it very exciting receiving offers, setting up viewings and seeing property sales go through from valuation to completion. I work in a small branch as the only negotiator, which gives me huge responsibility for my age.”

Caroline Marren, Sector Manager for Property Services within TTC Training, sees the new training regime as a way of improving future service standards. “The Technical Award is the latest addition to our estate agency training programme. The prospectus has gone down extremely well with both NAEA and employers and - if the calibre of our current candidates is anything to go by - we are confident it will further enhance service levels across the industry.”