Application form tips for top graduate jobs in property

You apply for graduate schemes at most large property firms by an online application form. Usually, this involves:

• filling in your biographical details, academic history and work experience details
• answering some questions about why you want to work in property and why you’re applying to this graduate employer
• answering competency-based questions (providing examples of when you used certain skills necessary for a graduate surveying career).

The Jones Lang LaSalle application form follows this format. Some firms, such as Gerald Eve, ask you to fill in a simpler form and then upload a CV; others, such as BNP Paribas Real Estate require you to answer some competency-based questions and upload a CV.

How to answer questions about why this property employer and graduate job

• Cushman & Wakefield asks candidates ‘Why are you interested in the pathway that you have specified?’ and ‘Why are you interested in a career at C&W?’ (C&W offers three APC pathways to their graduates: commercial, building surveying or property finance and investment.)
• Capita Symonds’ real estate application form questionnaire – which you submit alongside a CV – asks, ‘Why are you interested in working in a commercial property consultancy, and becoming a chartered surveyor with Capita Symonds?’
• Jones Lang LaSalle’s application form asks simply: ‘Why have you chosen a career in property?’ (max 200 words).

Tip 1: do your research

For the questions about why you want to work for that employer, you need to have done your research. What research into property firms do you need to do? ‘You need to be aware of the latest news and information about the firm you’re applying to,’ says Pam Duke, training and graduate recruitment manager at Jones Lang LaSalle. ‘Check company websites, RICS/RTPI and other professional bodies’ websites, and read the property press and the Financial Times.’

Application tip from Capita Symonds
‘What makes an application form stand out from the crowd is something that makes you memorable to us, whether that be through volunteering or charity involvement or through mentioning something specific that our company has done, so that we know you have done your research. Tell us about a client, transaction or initiative that we have worked on.’
Alex Glendinning, learning and development manager

You must show:

• how the type of work involved in the scheme would make good use of your existing skills and experience
• how the firm’s direction (judged from recent clients, transactions, mergers or acquisitions) matches your career aspirations
• how the firm’s culture, values and initiatives appeal to someone of your personality.

Tip 2: use your work experience

So, you need to give clear reasons why you specifically want to work in, say, commercial property. Use your property-related work experience here. If you completed an internship with a commercial firm, you can talk about how you particularly enjoyed the work. Conversely if you completed an internship in residential property you could say that, while you enjoyed it, you think you’d be more drawn to commercial work and then give your reasons for thinking this.

• Five ways to sell your work experience to property recruiters

Also talk about the aspects of property that appeal to you, whether that is the fact that in most areas of property surveyors aren’t ‘stuck in an office all day’ (although that is a cliché) or that the nature of the work suits your talents.

How to answer skills questions on property application forms

• Capita Symonds asks: ‘Please give an example of a challenge that you have set yourself and describe how you have gone about achieving it.’
• Jones Lang LaSalle’s questions include, ‘Please give an example of when you have demonstrated innovation’ and ‘Please give an example of when you have demonstrated analytical skills and good judgement.’
• BNP Paribas Real Estate’s questions include: ‘Describe a group or team event you have been a member of. What was your role in the team? Was the team successful, and why?’

Tip 1: use your whole life

The key thing here is to come up with examples of when you have used these skills from different areas of your life – for example, your university work, part-time jobs, property internships, and extra-curricular activities. Try not to have too many answers from one part of your life; picking examples from a range of activities will show you’re a well rounded candidate.

Tip 2: be a STAR

When answering the questions, structure your answers using the STAR approach. Write about the Situation, the Tasks you needed to complete, the Actions you took and the Results.

Application form golden rules

Make the most of your work experience: Your property-related work experience is a great source of examples when talking about when you developed certain skills or knowledge. But Alex Glendinning from Capita Symonds recommends including all details of your work experience history, even if it is in a different sector; it’s a great opportunity to show off your transferable skills. For example, property professionals need to be good with clients, and any customer service experience you have – even at a fast-food joint, supermarket or call centre – will have developed these skills.

Avoid gaps: ‘If there are obvious gaps we wonder what you have been doing,’ says Alex. ‘It’s better to put a summer job or travelling (if true) than nothing at all.’

Don’t copy and paste from the firm’s website: Doing this shows a complete lack of initiative, which is not something property recruiters want in their graduate employees, and also makes you look a bit stupid. ‘Candidates need to remember that it is often the graduate recruiters who develop the content for the websites. We can immediately spot who has genuinely researched their reasons for applying and those who have copied and pasted,’ says Karen Poulton, graduate recruitment and diversity manager at Cushman & Wakefield.

Check your spelling: ‘Good spelling and grammar are fundamental,’ says Ian Clark, a partner at Montagu Evans. ‘We can’t send out badly written communications to clients.’

Succeeding at the online aptitude tests for a property job

Aptitude tests are either included at application form stage or assessment centre stage, sometimes both. The secret is to practise. You are certain to have your numeracy tested, so brush up on the basics: ‘Buy a GCSE revision booklet and re-learn basic mathematical skills, for example, how to convert percentages to ratios and ratios to fractions and back again.’ suggests Karen. ‘If you haven’t used basic maths since you were at school, you will struggle to calculate quickly and accurately but this is easily rectified with practice.’

• Links to practice online aptitude and psychometric tests by SHL and more