Recruitment drive: recent real estate graduates make an impact at property management firms.(nextwave)

During the last several years, colleges and universities across the country have begun to tailor their business curriculum to better meet the needs of a variety of industries. The days of a basic business administration degree are gone. Students today are encouraged to specialize in fields like finance, marketing, banking, information systems or real estate. These industry-specific degrees give graduates the tools to enter at better-than-entry-level positions.

Companies with real estate management portfolios should seek out students who have chosen to specialize in real estate. Ideal candidates are those who complete the requirements of their degree satisfactorily and have shown participation in extracurricular activities around campus. Working with people is a key aspect of property management, and extracurricular involvement and relevant summer employment are beneficial to a job applicant: It's important to focus on finding a well balanced candidate.

IREM has realized the importance of capturing emerging talent early. The Institute now directs resources toward college graduates through its Web site, www.getrealgetready.com. This site answers many questions a potential job applicant might have when entering the real estate management profession. Topics like, "What does a property manager do each day?" or "What are my career options?" are addressed here. The Web site also provides a general guide to salary ranges in the industry that allows potential applicants to be better informed of their earning potential.

Career fairs at local colleges and universities are another great way to identify emerging talent, and can give a boost in visibility for companies, too. It's a win-win situation. Career fairs allow your company to talk with potential job candidates at a single location. Participation at career fairs provides further exposure to students and their schools to the real estate industry.

Students today are overwhelmed with information on a daily basis. Television, the Internet and podcasts compete for their short attention span. Capturing their attention is key. Large employers--telecommunication companies, drug companies, financial institutions and accounting firms--often lure the best students with promises of highly influential careers and bigger bank accounts. Real estate management companies should do the same by promoting the powerful ability of decision making that a property manager has on a daily basis. The decisions a property manager makes affect the lives of hundreds or thousands of residents or tenants. Those decisions impact financial reporting responsibilities which ensure a property performs at its highest level in order to maximize ownership return. Those are empowering responsibilities.

Each day is different in our industry. Interruptions are commonplace. The excitement and unpredictability of our job can rarely be matched. As I write this article, IREM managers in Southern California are confronting another emergency in stride as wildfires surround and engulf their communities. They are working hard to protect the assets they manage and to keep their ownerships informed.

As IREM Members and others in the industry continue to promote, recruit, and develop young talent, our industry will continue to prosper. The need to manage real estate in a professional manner will continue. Students today are better equipped to enter your organization and make an impact sooner, minimizing your downtime and training costs.

Brad J. Ashley (brad.ashley@cbre.com), CPM, is a real estate manager for CB Richard Ellis in Kansas City, Mo. where he specializes in the management of industrial buildings. He is an executive board member for the IREM Kansas City Chapter.

by Brad J. Ashley, CPM[R]

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