When it comes to success in my internship, I have noticed some differences between what would be defined as success for me and what would be defined as success in the industry. I have gotten to see what a few different roles within the industry define as success and I will go over a few of them below.
Success as defined by my boss would be to have his projects running as smoothly as possible. He works in a lot of different areas and from what I have seen his biggest challenge is keeping all of the projects organized and making sure that the things he wants done are being worked on. This is unique from many of the others I have observed due to his role being related most heavily to leadership. Many of the more technical skills or assignments that would define success are assigned to others and it is his job to put the projects to individuals who will have the most success with them. Simply put, his employees success is his success as long as he has them directed in the ways he wants them to be.
Success for the office manager is to make sure that interns are being utilized effectively, and that the book keeping and accounting is all in order. She has a lot to manage like the boss, however she has more technical tasks on her plate. She has some managing roles but overall she is more focused on her individual tasks that she needs to get done with managing being her secondary priority.
The biggest role in real estate unsurprisingly are the real estate agents. The agents have a lot of tasks to do depending on the kind of agent they are. For an agent managing apartment’s blocks success for them is measured by making sure that tenants are as happy as they can be, and that issues are met. This means that they need to be in constant communication with the tenants and owners of the building, knowing what problems that need to be fixed, questions that need to be answered, and making sure that everything is done cost effectively. The cost effectively part is potentially the most important and difficult part to their success as there are often many problems with many buildings and making sure things are done well but also as cheaply as possible is very important to making sure that the managing of these apartments is profitable. They need to make sure that rent is being collected and that it is being given to the owners .
For the real estate agents that are more focused on selling, success for them is having successful networking as well as skills in negotiating, and strong communication. Success for them is to have as many customers and sell their houses for as much as they can get on the market. In order to accomplish these things they need to first have success in finding clients whose houses need sold. I have seen first hand that when we are at a property that an agent has sold they look around the neighborhood and chat with the neighbors to see if they know anyone who needs their house sold. This is very important because without houses to sell the next steps do not come into play. Once a client is received, the most important part of their success comes into play. Presenting the property in the best light they can and reaching as many potential buyers as possible. The more buyers that are interested in a property the higher the bidding will go and the agent can receive the highest price for their client, which can lead to clients giving recommendations on the agents behalf leading to more clients in the future.
Though I have observed all these different roles and their definitions of success, my success is more straightforward. Success in my role is defined as staying on schedule, accomplishing my tasks as correctly and quickly as I can, and learning fast so I can be assigned new things to do. Though I have my typical tasks, there are often things I need to do that I do not have experience with and my success is determined by how well I listen and learn how to do this new assignment.
The only big difference I can observe in how success is measured in Irish real estate as opposed to American real estate is how collaboration is encouraged. In Ireland I have observed that the whole agency views the success wholistically, and agents are not competing with one another for sales which leads to more collaboration and greater success overall.