Final year and Masters students on the Real Estate BSc Honours and Real Estate Development MSc courses visited Savills on 8 November to learn more about the real estate sector and Savills’ award-winning graduate programmes, further enhancing their employability. This bespoke session is part of a partnership developed with Savills through the work of Onur Demirci, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in the School of Applied Management, the University of Westminster Development Team and the Careers and Employability Service (CES).
The student visit to Savills was split into two parts; the first part of the event was led by David Williams, Executive Director and Board Member at Savills, who spoke about his experience with the company and gave students an insight into the UK property markets. The talk was followed by a discussion with Westminster alumna Sandra Nwachukwu, who is now Associate Director at Savills. During her talk, she spoke about her experience at Savills, and provided helpful industry information to the students. Hebe Williams, HR Graduate Manager at Savills, also answered any questions the students had, including guidance on applications.
During the second part of the event, students were given a tour of Savills Headquarters and took part in a dedicated networking session where they had the opportunity to meet Director and Head of Valuations Ian Malden as well as a range of other directors, associates and wider Savills colleagues. The students were able to discuss a variety of topics with the Savills team, including their interests and how Savills could support them in their journey to employment.
The Savills team provided insight into their award-winning graduate scheme, highlighting their working cultures and the importance of diversity and inclusion. They also discussed innovation and technology, and how Savills is people and technology together to take the industry to a new level.
Talking about the session, Onur Demirci, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, said: “Savills provided our students with an opportunity to gain further insight into Savills giving them an impartial observation and a range of insight to be equipped for a robust graduate application. This ensures that our students remain competitive in the graduate recruitment market.”
“Our collaboration with corporates like Savills provides an opportunity to align our module content to the needs and requirements of higher education regulators, corporates and the professional bodies, thus ultimately producing the ‘Industry-Informed Courses’.”
David Williams, Executive Director and Board Member at Savills, said: “Together with Savills’ Graduate team, it was a great pleasure to welcome the University of Westminster’s Final year Undergraduate and Master’s degree cohorts to our offices, just 20 yards away from our respective front doors last week. What particularly impressed us was the experience, academic calibre and depth of the students who attended, and it was clear that many were actively involved in a wide variety of key property related roles to further underwrite their long-term careers!”
Simay Sali Sevik, Development Manager (Fundraising) at the University of Westminster, added: “We are delighted for Savills to provide our students with an opportunity to gain further insight into Savills and the real estate sector.
“Alongside this visit, Savills employees also generously give their time and mentor real estate students to ensure that the students have a chance to develop their employability skills and increase their professional network. I look forward to seeing the students’ progress and building upon this relationship long-term with Savills.”
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Learn more about Construction, Surveying and Real Estate courses at the University of Westminster.
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