Real Estate Placement Student Review

Overall I enjoyed the placement and was able to gain a lot of experience that will be beneficial for when I go back to university. I enjoyed working for Savills as I liked the company. The reason I have not given a higher rating was due to the fact I think I would’ve enjoyed being a different team more and consequently may have progressed more. I also did not enjoy the long and expensive commute.

While how much I felt valued varies between different team members, at times I felt less valued that I would’ve liked. Due to there being a fair few graduates on my team, it was sometimes a struggle to get enough work, and I’d have to go around and ask different people for things to do, especially during the first 6 months. I also felt a lot of people would talk to me about work but not so much check up on me in general or just make effort to have general conversation, especially during home working.

Should I have needed help with a piece of work people were very happy to help and guide me in the right direction. I was also able to discuss dissertation ideas and received plenty of APC advice which will no doubt be beneficial in the coming year. It would’ve been beneficial to have been given more feedback on work I was doing and how I was getting along in order to improve more and set myself targets.

Towards the start of the year I was having to compete to get work, and oftentimes people didn’t have anything for me to do and sometimes I would have to make things for myself to do. While I still managed to gain plenty of experience at times this was frustrating and demotivating as I am someone who does best when being challenged and kept busy. During lockdown I was busier and people made sure I had more work.

I was involved in putting together some of the pitch documents for the team, and several internal and external marketing documents which was an interesting side of the business to see. However other graduates were assigned specific clients to work with another team member on, allowing them to get more experience and I did not get the benefit of this as I was doing bits of work for various people rather than working on one specific account.

I feel the skills I developed and knowledge I have gained will definitely benefit me in my final year at university, especially in some of the modules and being able to apply learning to things I have already practiced will definitely be useful. I also think my improved confidence and knowledge of working in an office environment will help me progress further and give me a head start wherever I am working in the future. Additionally I have been able to gain some APC competencies over the past year.

The location is absolutely fantastic and the entry and downstairs area is great. The kitchen areas and printer rooms are also nice. I find the general office areas and the lecture room slightly bland, it feels very cold as there is no colour or artwork, everything is white and grey. I know the KKS team are looking to improve this in the future! Oxford circus is a great area to be in. While a long commute for me, the variety of shops and restaurants helped make it worthwhile.

While the application/interview process was long it was so much better organised than other companies. The graduate HR team were very helpful throughout the year. They also made the interview day run smoothly, making something that has the potential to be very stressful and intimidating, much more manageable as well as being interesting and productive. Sadly I did not get the opportunity to rotate teams due to lockdown, but I think this was for the best as rotating would’ve been very difficult from home!

I made an effort to attend as much training as possible. The company are fantastic with providing “lunch and learns” to provide insight into other areas of the business etc. Additionally I attended the Excel and powerpoint training which came in very handy on a number of occasions. During lockdown there was still plenty of webinars available. Perhaps more interactive workshops for general professional skills would’ve been useful. But realistically this is an area the company is very strong in.

I would definitely come back to Savills albeit in a different team, so I will apply for the graduate scheme after university. However I understand that in the current climate, with Covid-19 still posing a big threat, that there may be fewer job opportunities at this time.

There was little social interaction between placement students other than between those who were already close before. Additionally there was little interaction between placement students and graduates, other than those I was on a team with. Social interaction was better within the team with several meals and drinks events. We also went for lunch fairly regularly. During work from home the social interaction aspect was definitely lacking slightly, while we had team calls, they were generally always about work.

London is always going to be an expensive area, but the benefits of working there outweigh that slightly. I was living at home and commuting so luckily I didn’t have to pay the expensive rents. My commute was very expensive, so when I was travelling in everyday I was spending almost a third of my salary just on that! There are lots of cheaper places to eat and drink in London if you know where to find them so for people who are on a budget it should still be affordable.

Margaret street is close to some fantastic pubs and bars, there’s a lot of variety and if you were to fancy a change of scenery you can simply jump on the tube and go somewhere new. I had many good evenings out in the area, without ever needing to go to the same place twice, unless we wanted to. We also went for team drinks a fair few times to make the most of the surrounding area.

There were sports teams for those who wanted to take part in that. I joined the choir during my time at Savills which was thoroughly enjoyable. The group were very friendly and welcoming.