All degrees welcome for a graduate career in property

You can still get a graduate job in real estate if your undergraduate degree isn’t property-related. You’ll need to get a postgraduate property qualification accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), though, and you can do this in one of two ways:

• You can study an accredited conversion course before applying for jobs.
• You can apply for jobs with some firms as a ‘non-cognate’ (a graduate without an RICS accredited degree) and they will then sponsor you through the qualification while you work.

As the latter route means that your tuition fees will be paid for you by the employer, it’s best to try this way first.

Property firms really do want graduates from other degree backgrounds

While some firms did stop recruiting those without a property-related degree in the last couple of years, many have now started to hire them again – and a few didn’t stop at all. ‘Historically, we have always recruited non-cognates and continued to do so during 2009 and 2010,’ says Pam Duke, training and graduate recruitment manager at Jones Lang LaSalle. ‘Around 10% of our 2011 recruits are from a non-property background.’

Recruiters aren’t about to miss out on a great negotiator or a natural client manager because the graduate didn’t do a property-related undergraduate degree.

Transferable skills, such as communication, commercial awareness and negotiation, go a long way in the property industry, which is in essence a service industry (property professionals help their clients make money). Recruiters aren’t about to miss out on a great negotiator or a natural client manager because the graduate didn’t do a property-related undergraduate degree.

However, taking on a non-cognate is an extra expense for a firm because of the costs of the conversion course; you need to demonstrate that you’re worth the investment. You will need to work hard to show recruiters that your decision to become a surveyor is informed and considered.

Which property graduate employers accept applications from students studying other degree disciplines?

Firms that usually hire students and graduates without a property degree include:

• BNP Paribas Real Estate
• Cushman & Wakefield
• CBRE
• DTZ
• Jones Lang LaSalle.

This list is not exhaustive and firms can change their mind from year to year, so do double check on firms' recruitment website for the year you’re applying.

How to get sponsored by a property firm as a graduate

Research the profession

‘We’ve found that, as many non-cognates do not have connections within the profession, they undertake significant research to understand what becoming a chartered surveyor is all about,’ says Pam. Your work at this stage will pay off because, no matter what degree background you’re from, recruiters are impressed by good research. You’ll need to find out about:

• the work property surveyors can do
• typical career progressions and the route to gaining chartership qualification
• as well as the latest happenings in the industry (see ‘Start thinking like a surveyor’ below).

Your careers service or university alumni office will have details of past graduates who are willing to advise current students.

To impress property recruiters, have cogent reasons why you want to be a surveyor; have real-life experience of the work to back up your reasoning; and be able to talk confidently about the latest happenings in the industry.

Get work experience

Adding property-related work experience to your CV shows recruiters that you really know what the job involves. You may be able to apply for the formal work experience schemes offered by the larger property firms, although these may only be open to cognates.

• Search for work experience schemes, placements and internships in property and real estate
• Your property work experience FAQs answered

However, you could contact a recruiter and ask whether you could work shadow (observe) a surveyor, or do some work experience at your local estate agent.

Start thinking like a surveyor

Surveyors are aware that everything that happens in the economy affects property markets. You need to build up this commercial awareness – check out the TARGETjobs news feed, the property press and the Financial Times and start thinking about the wider impact of events.

Build your transferable skillset

Use your time at university to develop the skills valued by recruiters. ‘In your applications and at interviews, you’ll need to be able to give good examples of your skills and when you’ve used them to good effect,’ advises Pam.

• The non-technical skills that property graduate recruiters want all graduates to have

Your people skills are essential and Pam sees the way in which you build rapport at interview as a key indicator of these.

Doing the conversion course on your own? Make sure it’s RICS approved

The variety of property courses for you to choose from is wide, so make sure you research your area of interest thoroughly. An MSc in surveying is a good starting point for students looking for a rounded postgraduate qualification, and is offered at a number of institutions around the UK. Alternative conversion course options include areas such as: real estate, historic building conservation, and planning and sustainability.

When picking a course, the most important thing to check is that it’s accredited by RICS. Visit ricscourses.org for a full list of institutions and courses that RICS supports. It’s also a good idea to check out the employability figures of each course – that is, how many of their students have found work. Ask admissions tutors for information and check out targetcourses.co.uk.

• Searching for postgraduate conversion courses in property? Go to targetcourses.co.uk