💼 Bringing Real Estate to Life: The Power of Interactive Tasks

We all learn in different ways, which is what makes things exciting. In the built environment, where we 'make things happen,' this diversity of learning styles is especially important.

To better engage the next generation of talent, I like to categorise the professions across the sector into three categories: builders, makers, and facilitators.

Builders are those involved in construction, engineering, and project management.

Makers are architects, designers, and craftspeople who shape the physical environment.

Facilitators are planners, surveyors, and property managers who manage and support the built environment.

By understanding these categories, we can create more targeted and engaging pathways. Interactive activities, which allow young people to learn by doing, are particularly valuable in this context. These activities can foster creative thinking, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork, making the built environment a more accessible and exciting career choice.

Earlier in August, our student and graduate members were welcomed back to Databricks, for a full day workshop, learning about all things data, workplace management and technology!

Some may ask how our partnership with Databricks even came about, considering the fact that they are a tech company and not a real estate one. One of our core aims for our work is to prepare the next generation of diverse talent to thrive in the industry and to do that, they need to know what’s actually going on in the industry! Technology has an ever-growing presence in real estate, despite our sector being seen as “slow to adapt”.

Our partnership with Databricks is focused more on the workplace management side of things, the future of office space and how we use technology and data to get the most out of not only buildings but people too.

During this all day workshop, our members had the opportunity to: design an office space that encourages collaboration, learn about how data informs workplace strategy and office design, gain an insight into a career in commercial office leasing as well as data analytics and lastly, a surprise sneak peek to the new Databricks office, which is opening later this year!

I want you to think back to when you were younger, probably aged between 16 and 21.

Can I ask how many career talks you remember? 

If you can remember any, what was memorable about them? I only ask this question as a lot of career education and outreach is centered around going into schools or universities to deliver drawn out assemblies where we talk about ourselves or panels ‘discussions’ that are very content focused. Now, in saying that, sharing insights about career paths and stories are helpful and certainly have their place - but for an industry as vocational as real estate and much of the built environment, we should be balancing these educational efforts out with interactions!

I have seen such great engagement in our programmes and events when there are multiple interactive tasks and activities involved. This not only helps young people put the industry into perspective, but it encourages them to actually think and not sit idly as they listen to someone.

In the built environment, youth are often described as a “hard to reach” group in terms of involvement. They have incredible and in many cases, well thought out ideas that should be platformed, but in order for this to truly happen sustainably and not just when it’s part of a campaign or marketing push; the industry needs to pivot its approach to outreach slightly.

One off assemblies aren’t enough.

Career fair presence with unenthusiastic employees won’t cut it either.

Show young people the parts of your role that people don’t usually see. Allow them to try their hand at it themselves.

Here are some potential activities to try out on your next visit to a school, college, university or even student focused event that you host at your offices:

From the task, there will be so many questions that arise as the young people are trying to think and strategise; which gives you the perfect opportunity to start sharing more about your role, project or experiences as your support them during the activity.

It can feel slightly uncomfortable to try new ways of doing things when you’re used to a blueprint. However, if it makes more of an impact of the young people you’re trying to engage, I’d say the initial discomfort was probably worth it!

For employers, our two programme pathways focus on:

• Early Talent Pipeline Development
  Helping employers to attract early talent from diverse backgrounds through awareness, immersion and recruitment. If you’re interested in us developing a work experience programme for you, get in touch below.
  

• Social Value
  Based around major projects and developments, we help develop and deliver localised employability programmes to support local youth engagement and provide work experience opportunities.

If our work is of interest and you’d like to sponsor one of our upcoming programmes or would like us to support your business in developing your own, please get in touch by scheduling a call.

Thank you for reading and Happy September! ☺