Part 2 - What Does Success Mean to You?
Success is subjective
This is a crucial point in thinking beyond tomorrow in your career path. Success is a very personal thing, it is subjective and will vary between each individual. For some, it’s carving out the perfect work / life balance, enjoying time with their family and friends whilst also enjoying a fulfilling career. For others, it’s about climbing the corporate ladder and reaching the pinnacle in their career, perhaps reaching senior management. What’s important is that you work out what success looks like to you and then align your goals with that.
Be realistic
Be realistic with yourself and do what makes you happy. Sometimes you might need to take a step back to get some perspective and focus on what is important to you. It’s easy to get lost in everything that is going on both inside and outside of work and time runs away. This is an ongoing process and will change as you grow and as your career progresses. What success looks like to you today might not be what it looks like to you 5 years from now, potentially even 1 year from now.
It’s YOUR success
Remember not to benchmark yourself on others around you or what you think is expected of you, it’s not about what others are doing, it’s YOUR success.
It’s great to discuss this with your team in the office and talk about other people’s ideas of success. You can support each other in getting there and remaining focused.
Making it to Senior Management level
If your idea of success is to reach Senior Management level and conquer the industry, do you know what Hiring Managers are looking for and how you can start setting yourself up to get there? It’s never too early to start.
For some, reaching senior level might mean a Regional Manager or Associate Director role within a Managing Agent, but for others it could be working with a high-end Developer or Freeholder, working in a senior level position for a supplier to the industry or setting up their own business. These avenues are looking for similar qualities in people.
So, how do you get noticed and what do you need to act on now to ensure that you and your CV stand out to future employers when it comes to taking a senior level position?
Qualifications
The real black and white on your CV is qualifications. As the industry becomes more and more regulated, qualifications are becoming more expected and a minimum requirement for a lot of companies across the sector. You need your IRPM/RICS, and even IOSH/NEBOSH (Health & Safety) as Property Managers are becoming more and more like Facilities Managers.
Every year we put together stats for the IRPM which show the demand for the qualifications. As you can see, the qualifications become more important the more senior you get. Imagine this graph continuing to show Regional Managers, Team Leaders, Associate Directors and so on. Being IRPM qualified just becomes a given at this level, so get started earlier on in your career and you’re setting yourself up for success.
Training courses
These are great at developing and highlighting your skillset. You could say that you’re great at team management but how will a potential employer really know? If you’ve completed a training course in team management or leadership, you have it there in black and white to back you up. You want to be someone that stands out to Hiring Managers and doesn’t just list the same 5 skills on their CV.
Varied and consistent experience
What does every Hiring Manager want? Experience. A steady and consistent work history speaks volumes. A lot of movement on a CV doesn’t instill confidence in a Hiring Manager, especially at senior level where you’d be the one encouraging this within a team.
Try to strike the right balance between having varied experience and a consistent work history. Consider this example. If you’re looking at taking the next step in your career and you want to work client-side for a high-end developer, but you’ve only ever worked with mansion blocks; what skill set are you going to be offering that Developer? What will your CV showcase to the Hiring Manager? If you need to diversity your experience further, this doesn’t mean that you need to change jobs every year, you can still achieve this with one employer. Always consider the skill set that your next position will require and get experience in it. If you don’t know ask us, that’s what we are here for!
New business experience
New business experience also really stands out to Hiring Managers at senior level. Do you have experience in pitching or writing a tender? Do you have a track record of success? Do you have existing contacts? Business growth is an important part of being in senior management so if you’re lacking new business experience, or any other experience for that matter, you could look at working alongside another department or a colleague to gain that knowledge and expand your skill set.
Adding Value
Hiring Managers look for those that stand out. Adding value is a great way to do this. What can you bring to the table that someone else can’t? Have you implemented a new process or procedure that saved that business time and money? Have you launched a new concept or idea? You need to stand out from the rest at Senior Management. Showcasing your experience and how you’ve added value to a previous employer will really stand out to a new one.