Associate Director - Development - Zoe Struth

Property seems to be the repository for really nice people and checked shirts, as we came across both a lot during filming!

Unlike many of the industries we covered property seems to have retained a civility of lifestyle where you don’t have to kiss goodbye to your life in order to do well and make a tidy living. It’s bonus orientated which always brings with it the prospect of huge rewards and jobs tend to come with a full suite of perks including company cars and all of the standard healthcare provisions.

It’s a job that often gets you out and about so you’re not always stuck behind a desk and it’s increasingly international, so plenty of travelling if you want it. One big plus is that you’re not tied to London in the same way you would be in an industry such as Investment Banking. So whilst many applicants will want to come to the capital to start their careers, many industry stars are based in the regions.

You’ll want to really love property, land and buildings though as some of the work can be pretty mundane and you’re unlikely to get quite the same buzz, excitement and glamour as a few of the other industries we covered.

Salaries are good in property and as mentioned previously if you get a bonus you’ll be able to challenge the lawyers and bankers. New starters in London can expect a salary in the region of 30K (25K out of London), after about 8 years you’ll be knocking on 100K in London (75K out of London).

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Zoe Struth I am Associate Director of the development department of Savills land and property Ltd.

What is Property?

The property industry focuses on buildings both commercial and residential and how they function and that means in terms of on a practical level how they work as offices or how they work as homes but also on a financial viability level as well because they have obviously got to be managed and maintained and work for the person who owns them.

What attracted you to this career?

I was interested in surveying really because of its diversity I was very aware that I didn't want to be stuck in a job doing the same thing every day so it is very important for me to have a range of things I can be involved in and I also wanted a job where I wasn't stuck in the office 9 to 5.

What are the speicialisms within your industry?

The wonderful thing about the property industry is the huge number of specialisms. The obvious divide is what we call professional and agency. Professional is much more report based, it is to do with valuation, lease renewals that type of thing. Whereas the agency side is much more hands on it is selling or renting property whether commercial or residential. It breaks down in a huge number of ways both on a job type basis, so there is investment, there is management, valuation, there is planning, but also on a sector basis as well so you get people who specialise in retail property or office property or residential property, industrial property hotels etc.

What are the different types of surveyor?

There are a number of different types of surveyor and basically it comes down to what RICS degree you did. If you wanted to specialise to becoming a quantity surveyor you would have to do a degree that was more focused on understanding building costs and building management and then your experience will be very much based on those areas and when you take your APC it will be very focused in those areas so you can tailor make your lead up to APC in an area which you think you want to specialise in and there are a broad number of different types of surveying you can get into. You could become a quantity surveyor, a general practice surveyor, a valuation surveyor a planning and development surveyor a rural surveyor and they are probably the main categories.

What kind of surveyor are you?

I am a general practice surveyor by training but I am now focusing in development so I like to market myself as a development surveyor.

Why property development?

There are so many aspects of property it is a really broad industry from very core valuation type skills to being in the agency side which is when you are trying to sell or lease buildings both commercially and residentially. I like development because it encompasses a bit of everything which perhaps gave me the ability to take away the bits I like from valuation and the bits I like from agency can put them all together but not have to deal with the other elements which perhaps I found more mundane.

What does your job involve?

I basically give development advice to a whole range of clients from big firms who specialise in large developments all around the country to very small individuals who perhaps have a piece of land where they are looking to release additional value from.

What do you do on a typical day?

My normal day typically starts around 7.30 or 8.00 in the morning when come into the office and I then review my emails and work going forward. Everyday.  I normally have two meetings as a minimum with clients or architects or quantity surveyors and that will involve me going to meet them and reviewing plans for development schemes working out whether we like the scheme or if we think it is going to work, or if we think is going to get planning permission, if we think there is any value in it and then normally I will come back into the office and I will review those plans, I may have to write a report looking at the different value that might be attributed to that and then I will speak to clients on the telephone or arrange other meetings and probably about once a week I am out of the office all day and I will be looking at development sites for clients which can be mainly in central London but can also be outside the M25.

Describe the process of your work?

I can take an example of a scheme we have been working on recently, we were approached by a client who was predominantly looking at doing a development that had offices in it. When he went to the local planning authority they said they would also like to see some residential included within that development he didn't know anything about residential development so he phoned me up and asked me if I could help. So I went down to the site to meet him there to understand what its location was and what the plans were like and I spoke to him about what his aspirations were for the developments for example whether he was driven by having to achieve a certain value for it or whether he wanted to build at the residential himself all those sorts of elements to understand what his goals were. It then transpired that he was more interested in the commercial side which was the nature of his general business and it was really just to facilitate him being able to achieve planning consent for his commercial property. So we decided it would be beneficial to have a small element of residential on the site. So I went away and looked at the local market and tried to understand what type of residential properties were selling well there, what I thought would maximise his value and I came up with a brief for architects which basically proposed a scheme of small three bed houses and a small block of one and two bed flats, which I presented to the client. He thought that seemed the sensible approach and also he didn't think it would interfere with his commercial building which is obviously his primary concern.  He then selected an architect, he went out to three parties which we then interviewed and spoke to make sure we were getting the right person who would compliment the commercial building that he wanted to develop. I then gave them my brief they then went away and came up with a number of designs which we then looked at to see how they worked in relation to the commercial and also how they worked in value terms and I did the valuation exercise to see which I thought would be most successful in terms of not only which would sell for the highest values but which perhaps would sell more quickly because that can be quite an important aspect for the developer, he doesn't want to be holding the product for a long time if it is not selling and we are now going through a longer process whereby we found a scheme that we are comfortable with and then a second phase which is getting a quantity surveyor on board who will be able to cost the scheme for us so we can be able to understand how much it will cost to build. Then once we have worked all that out we can submit the formal application to the local planning authority which will hopefully now will meet their aspirations because it does now include residential in the scheme.

What are the best bits about your job?

I suppose the best bits are being able to meet such a broad spectrum of people and being able to get out and about and that is very important to me.  I wouldn't want to be desk bound everyday and I think the second most exciting thing is probably when you see something actually being completed. You can work on a project for a couple of years and you become very entrenched in it and engraved in it, it becomes part of your life and then you can drive past it in a couple of years and you can see it built and think I helped deliver that, that was my work. So that is very rewarding.

What are the worst bits about your job?

I suppose for me the worst thing is when you have to work through lengthy reports, I suppose that is the bit I enjoy least but that is just a function of the business obviously that a client needs a written confirmation of your advice.

What has been your greatest achievement?

There is a variety probably because I am proud of them for different reasons. For example there was a scheme I worked on in South West London and everyone told us that there was no way that we would get planning permission for that scheme in that location and we worked very hard to deliver something that we thought would be so exciting and that the local authority couldn't afford to turn it down and we did actually get planning consent so from that element it was very rewarding. I have also been very proud of my pioneering way because I have been involved in sustainable development from quite an early stage so that means incorporating green functions into buildings in terms of making sure people can recycle easy and keep down their energy bills and I was involved in that probably seven or eight years ago before the industry picked up on it and it is nice to know that we were ahead of the game in that effect.

Any regrets?

I think if I was training I would spend more time in more departments. I decided quite early on in my career that I wanted to be involved in development so I stayed within the development team but because it is such a broad topic and it does involve so many teams I think maybe I would have benefited working with those team to have first hand experience at a greater variety of things.

What is the pay like and are there any perks?

I think the pay in property is generally very good, you normally have a basic salary and a car allowance because the nature of the job you are obviously required to drive around the country and then it tends to be very highly bonus driven which is great if you are an enthusiastic determined person who likes to hit targets because that sort of incentivises you to work . So there is a good correlation of projects you do well and when you work for the firm you do get rewarded back yourself. Most firms do offer pension schemes and health cover as well.

How long is a working day and do you have to work out of hours?

Every day is basically different I suppose the average is 8 until 6 but some days you will have to work late and can stay in the office until 10 at night and there will be other days where perhaps you are entertaining clients in the afternoon so your day will finish at lunch time so you can be off to the tennis or rugby in the afternoon which is a brilliant perk.

Is there much in the way of travel?

My job is mainly focused in Central London so I don't get really any cause to travel abroad but through that we run what we call study tours to go and look at exemplar developments in other countries so through that I have been lucky enough to go to Stockholm, Berlin, Frieberg, Paris and Barcelona and these are normally two day trips. Where we take clients and we try and learn about what people do in other countries and to see whether we can bring their ideas into developments in the UK.

Do you have to be based anywhere in particular?

No not at all we have lots of regional offices in terms of Savills and development goes on in every town and city so it is not essential for you to be based in a major city.

What is the working environment like?

The dress code is primarily formal for work but that is generally because you are meeting clients on a regular basis so people are required to be well presented. The atmosphere in the office is probably relaxed it is fun going environment I think the culture with surveying is very much work hard, play hard; people like to have a good time. I think it is not true that it is a male dominated environment there are lots of girls like myself of my age that have who have been in surveying and I think that is an old fashioned approach now. Certainly I have seen many graduates coming up the ranks with as many female as male.

How did you get into your job?

I started by career doing a geography degree at the University of Sheffield where I obtained a 2:1 after that I decided I wanted to go into surveying and to do surveying you needed to have a RICS accredited degree. so that led me to doing a Masters in land management at the University of Reading where I studied for a year and from there I went into Savills where I am currently working where I studied for my APC. That is quite a common route; lots of people do a masters degree. There is also an undergraduate course for surveying which just means you can go the course in three years rather than studying for a masters and then you join a practice after that.

Do you need a RICS qualification to join a commercial property company?

There are lots of opportunities if you haven't got a RICS accredited degree. To come and work for a firm and study part time and that can either be evening release and weekends via a correspondence course of something like that or some of the London universities offer evening lectures or sometime in some cases it is on a one day a week basis. That generally takes you longer thought to get through your APC or you could just take a year off and do your masters.

What's the application process like?

Normally to get into a property company you have to fill in an application form and send a copy of your CV off during the milk-round process which is generally from September to December every year, you will then be selected for interview, that generally varies between firms it is normally a two stage process, it is normally an interview and an assessment centre.   Some firms do the assessment centre first and then  the interview, other firms do it the other way round, it sort of depends on individual practices.  The interview is generally with one or two senior players in the company - directors or senior partners and the assessment is normally a half day exercise where you will be required to partake in group work, tests and verbal reasoning tests and normally give a short presentation for three to five minutes.

What are the key skills required for your job?

Communication is vital in our job it is people focused industry so perhaps if you are a very shy retiring quiet person you might not find it very comfortable or you might find it wasn't really for you, and I would also say that numeracy is also quite important there is obviously valuation work, so if you are completely hopeless with figures, again it might not be the type of profession for you.

What's your top tip for breaking into your industry?

I think to stand out as part of your application it is good to have experience in there because is shows you are keen and enthusiastic and have thought about your career and where you want to be and secondly a willingness to learn property is such a broad industry when you enter it nobody expects you to know everything, I don't think any one out there knows everything.  But if you show that you are keen and you are willing and prepared to work hard that makes applicants stand out.

What's the career progress and how quickly can you move up the career ladder?

When you join a firm you start off as a graduate and you are on a two year training programme on the assumption that you have done a RICS accredited degree before you start, and then you take what is called your APC which effectively makes you a qualified surveyor.  After that the rungs on the ladder can be achieved quite quickly, it is down to individuals and their performance it is very flexible like that.  Most companies have a flat structure and it is not necessary for you to have to work two years, for example, in your current role to get promoted.  Some people get promoted very quickly you can make associate within one or two years and then associate director or director two or three years thereafter. it really comes down to individuals so if you are focused and driven it is easy to progress very quickly.

How does the role change over time?

You generally take on more responsibility and you have more client contact the longer you have been in the profession.  So you start to take ownership of jobs rather than working under a manager or director which is good because you can start getting more experience and more hands on with things.

Where do you see the industry going?

The market at present is very interesting we are going through a time which we haven't seen in property for a number of years, which is the general economic climate of the country.  It is obviously very different from how it has been and there are lots of rumours in the press about the ability for people to obtain credit and that has a massive knock on implication for the property industry and anybody who is thinking of entering the profession.  I would recommend they got up to speed with that they tried to understand what was happening and sort of the predications for the future and what the property industry is going to do going forward.

Is there scope for movement during or after this career?

I think you have a large number of transferable skills as a surveyor just because of the variety of work you are involved in from communicating with people through to writing reports also being numerical, I think that your APC qualification doesn't transfer directly into other industries but it is possible if you wanted to.

What are the industry resources that someone interested in joining must know about?

 There are a large number of trade magazines most important are the Estates Gazette and Property Week which generally summarise all the information that has happened in the industry over the last week. both of those are also available electronically on the internet.  Also on the internet is a vast array of property sites ranging from the ones that are very heavily geared towards commercial development or commercial property and the same for residential as well really if you Google residential property you come up with a variety of things from home track to Find a Property.com.

If you weren't in this career, what would you be doing?

I don't know that is a very difficult question to know how I would have ended up it is certainly something that wasn't desk bound because that was very important to me when I was looking into my career. I think it would probably have still been something to do with the build environment or something outside because that obviously stems from my initial geography degree but I don't really know the answer to that.