NUS Real Estate Career Seminar 2016
Every year the Department of Real Estate holds its annual NUS Real Estate Career
Fair for prospective employers to publicise their organisations and attract new
recruits. It also creates a great opportunity for students to gain a better understanding
of the company and different roles that are available in each firm.
With the theme “Something A Little Different”, this year’s Career Fair brought new
experiences for everyone. Spanning across three Fridays in January, the event
provided sufficient time for all to interact with the representatives from the various
organisations.
The highlight was the Career Seminar where our distinguished speaker, Mr Alan
Miyasaki, Senior Managing Director of Blackstone delivered a most interesting and
informative speech on “Something A Little Different - The Real Estate Private Equity
Sector”. This was followed by an interactive dialogue session with a stellar panel
comprising Mr Alan Miyasaki; Mr Loh Wai Keong, Managing Director & Co Head
(Asia) of GIC Real Estate and Ms Pauline Goh, CEO of CBRE Singapore and Southeast Asia, moderated by our esteemed Associate Professor Joseph Ooi.
Speaking to a fully packed lecture theatre attended by real estate undergraduates,
junior college students and teachers, the panellist offered interesting experiences of
their journey to success and, also discussed the current conditions of the Real Estate
market (which is valuable information for Real Estate students!) and offered words of
wisdom and precious career tips. One practical advice is from Mr Miyasaki, “Be
prepared to spend a lot of time on your work. If you want to be good at something,
you have to spend a long time doing it over and over again. Otherwise, if you keep
changing jobs, you are not going get very good at it.” One of the prized take-away
from the seminar was
the
qualities
the
industry leaders look
for
in
potential
candidates. Mr Loh
offered the hard truth,
“Nobody owes you a
living. I believe in
ability and you create
your own path to
success.”
Touching on work-life balance, Ms Goh likes to tell her employees, “You do not have
to stay back late to show me you are working hard. Please go home to your family
and spend time with them.”
Through the dialogue session, the audience were given a reality check on the
challenging employment market. It is a timely advice for our graduating seniors as
they prepare themselves for the corporate world.
The Career Seminar, as part of the NUS Real Estate Career Fair 2016 had been a huge
success with students acquiring deeper knowledge about the corporate culture of the
various participating companies and also having the opportunity to network with the
industry professionals. Students who are looking to gain more information about
some of the big firms in the Real Estate industry should look out for the Career Fair
next year!
The Career Fair is a great platform for learning about the various
opportunities at the participating companies, identifying application procedures and
developing a list of contacts to aid in your job or internship search!
Article contributed by Fathima Fathah (Undergraduate Year 3, B.Sc. Real Estate)
Edited by Candy Tan