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"I felt it was a good idea to study a broad subject at university, allowing me the potential to enter into a variety of different sectors afterwards."

I started as a junior, mentored by a fabulous boss who I was able to shadow, meeting and managing clients and targeting new ways to find business. This experience was invaluable as I was then introduced to other property people on the back of these initial networks. I worked all hours wining and dining, entertaining and building a strong network of contacts (this all sounds very glamorous but it was exhausting at the same time!). No longer ‘9 til 5’, my hours were 9 to often 3 am, returning to the office the next morning to start again. The key was the networks and I used my people skills to make friends with referrers and clients who have gone on to give me lots of repeat business. I quickly started bringing in my own business and brought on some big accounts which I then managed and in time grew a team to help manage these accounts. From around 10 of us when I started, we are now a team of around 70 and I am lucky to have grown my position as the company has expanded. I was fortunate to have brilliant bosses, who saw where my skills were and let me run with what I was good at and didn’t pigeonhole me into one role. They essentially created a role to suit me. I work from home when I need to, get to go out and see some of the most beautiful homes in London, I travel overseas, work with incredible clients and have made so many friends along the way! I have been very lucky and I love my job!

Alumni Wisdom

Job Search Tips
Jobs can be found everywhere and anywhere. Talk to people you know, find out what they do, if there are any openings or if you can be introduced to anyone relevant. Friends are a great place to start; Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

Current Needs of Employers in my field
We like to hire like-minded people, which is why we try to recruit internally through friends of friends and social media.

Things I wish I’d known in Sixth Form
You don’t have to go to university. Although I loved it and had a brilliant time and made lots of great friends, I know so many people who spent those three years working their way up ‘on the job’ and didn’t come away with £££ of debt, but more ‘real life’ experience. For my job, it wouldn’t have made a difference if I had a degree or not, but obviously this depends on the job.

There is an endless list of jobs out there that you never knew even existed. So many people like me fall into jobs that they never dreamed of at school. When I was at school there were books with lists of careers which I would look through. I don’t think Business Development Manager at an Interior Design Company was in there funnily enough!

Personality, confidence and hard work can get you a very long way. A positive, can-do attitude is a game changer. I think you draw people to you with a positive energy. Grades aren’t everything.

You build different skills through every step of your life and there are always transferable elements of every job you do. Don’t think because you started doing one thing, you can’t change. You don’t need to pigeonhole yourself into one thing. Things develop as you move through life and the world is your oyster.

Describe LHS in three words
Memorable, Enriching, Educational (!)