Savills

Company CultureWhat is it that makes one firm of a surveyors different from another ?We believe that for Savills it is the unique combination of a long-standing reputation for professional and honest advice combined with a productive and innovative spirit. This has fostered a culture which is quick to recognise and respond to changing market needs. When combined with our broad mix of clients, this gives us an extraordinary position of influence throughout the property world.Everyone at Savills works hard to exceed clients' expectations. One of the advantages of a public company, however, is the meritocracy it creates. This ensures that there is a clear path for advancement with individual achievement recognised by increased financial rewards as well as by promotion. Sports and social activities provide a welcome balance to ensure that business is fun as well.A future with Savills offers everything an ambitious and talented individual is looking for.   Life at SavillsWe work hard at Savills – but it’s important to us that we have fun as well. This is one reason why Estates Gazette regularly identifies us as the number one employer in the UK property industry, and it’s why The Times has named us the sector’s Graduate Employer of Choice for 2007.And it’s why we believe we are different from our competitors, with roles to suit, challenge and inspire people with a wide range of skills and personalities.We are a sociable and lively place to work. Our people get involved in a wide array of networking, entertainment, sports and social activities from informal dining to challenging our peers in other firms on the rugby and hockey field.The opportunities for fun are there for everyone – how much fun you have is down to you. All that we expect in return is that you’ll be the best, whatever you do.   Travel OpportunitiesSavills is a truly global business providing our staff with excellent scope for international experience as their careers develop, either for specific projects on behalf of individual clients, or by way of a posting to one of our foreign offices.Career OpportunitiesAt Savills, we aim to deliver superior performance and market leadership through outstanding people. Our staff are initially selected for their talent and attitude, then trained and developed through taking responsibility to make a real impact on their projects and our overall performance.  Working for Savills, you will benefit from the flexibility such a large and broadly based company provides. You may start out on any one particular training programme or within any one department, however opportunities will exist to move between offices, departments and market sectors throughout your career.At Savills, we have five core business streams within the global property industry. These are:TransactionalWe provide commercial, residential and agricultural agency services, and manage investment, purchases and sales.ConsultancyWe deliver a range of professional property services, including valuations, rent review, project management, planning, building consultancy and research.Property and facilities managementWe manage our clients' commercial, residential and agricultural assets, and can provide corporate facilities management and outsourcing.Fund managementWe offer retail and institutional clients a range of property investment products and services.Financial servicesWe provide mortgage broking, financial planning and corporate finance advice.Training & Career DevelopmentIt is essential Savills recruits and retains the best staff whilst providing them with the necessary training to help maximise their performance and to develop a long-term career with the company. Training and development is seen as key to attracting and retaining staff and we are rightly proud of the reputation we have built through the investment made in these areas and the provision of a dedicated training and development team.During their time with the Company staff take part in a regular review with their manager of their training and personal development needs. A personal development plan is produced which is reviewed on a six-monthly basis in relation to the business objectives of the department and office. This ensures training remains focused and appropriate to the needs of the individual and organisation as a whole.Training is provided in-house for a wide range of subjects both technical and skills based. Where a course is not available in-house then funding is provided to enable the staff member to attend elsewhere. Encouragement is also given to the achievement of acknowledged qualifications ranging from NVQ's to MBA's dependent upon the individual circumstances. Support and funding is then provided to ensure all staff undertake the CPD and professional updating necessary to ensure we provide the highest possible standards of service to our clients and meet the requirements of the many professional bodies represented amongst our staff. Our training and development regime is one of the best in the property industry, and is geared towards enabling our people to reach their full potential.Increasing the skills and knowledge of our people ensures we produce the confident, highly qualified staff we need to be the best. So we focus on making sure Savills people are satisfied with their career and personal development and are able to work well as a team towards achieving our business aims and objectives.It’s an approach that begins to work for you as soon as you join as a graduate trainee. Our two-year graduate programme involves six four-month seats in different departments, giving you a real understanding of the business and how our departments work.As a graduate, you’ll also have regular opportunities to attend technical, business skills and personal development activities – including conferences, courses, lectures, networking and social events – which complement both your practical experience and meet the theoretical requirements of your APC.In addition, you’ll be able to attend the skills courses we offer all our staff on subjects including:    * Networking    * Business Writing    * Leadership    * Pitching    * Communication    * Client Care    * NegotiationYou’ll also be able to discuss your training needs at regular progress reviews, ensuring you receive the support you need.   High Profile ProjectsThe ambitious, energetic and enthusiastic people we want to employ can only be satisfied by the opportunity to work on some of the most important and high-profile projects.Take a look at some of the work that our graduate trainees have been closely involved in, taking exceptional levels of responsibility on projects including:    * The sale of Europe’s largest shopping mall    * The valuation of London’s first Zero Carbon residential development    * The sale of the UK’s most expensive country home   Salary and BenefitsWe offer graduates a competitive package in–line with the top end of the market (with London Weighting where applicable).Other benefits include:    * Discretionary Company Bonus Scheme    * 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays    * Paid study leave    * Season Ticket Loan (up to £5000)    * Group Pension    * Private Medical Scheme (eligible after 1 yrs service)    * Life Assurance    * Childcare Vouchers

Savills recently came first,for the third year running, in the property category of ‘Graduate Employers of Choice’ at The Times Graduate Recruitment Awards 2009, reflecting that a future with us offers every chance to shine. This section covers the graduate schemes that have launched so many successful careers.   High Calibre PeopleWe always seek to employ only the highest calibre people – people we believe can make a real difference to our business almost as soon as they join us.So, if you join Savills as a graduate trainee, there are two major factors that ought to give you a great deal of pleasure. First, that you will get to work closely with some of the very best minds in the global property industry and second, that we believe you have the potential to be one of these people.You ought also to remember all the time that Savills people are given every chance to succeed – often beyond their own dreams and ambitions. Some 40% of our main board directors also joined the company as graduate trainees, demonstrating quite what can be achieved here by the right personalities.So, if you believe you can help us perform even better, you may be just the kind of person we’re looking for. Residential (RICS) Residential is about far more than just selling houses. Although this is an important part of our business, we are also at the forefront of social housing, residential development, portfolio management, valuation and investment. We are also the leading agent for the sale of large country properties and prime London residential properties.In fact, residential chartered surveyors cover all types of real estate used for residential purposes by the public and private sectors. This means it is a diverse area of practice, with employment opportunities across private, commercial, not for profit and government organisations. Areas of practice include: agency purchase and leasing, management of public and private property, landlord and tenant, valuation and surveying, investment and development and planning.Within London, our residential graduate programme involves time spent within a number of departments, including Valuations, C2 and Leisure, Auctions, and Investment and Development.Our current programme is also closely linked with our commercial business which, subject to availability, may enable graduates to rotate between the two sectors during their training. Opportunities may also from time to time be available outside London.Commercial (RICS) The work of chartered surveyors in the commercial area covers all types of real estate used for business purposes, principally involving retail, office, industrial and leisure. In fact, the only exception is real estate related to agricultural or residential use, but Savills’ expertise in these other areas gives us exceptional strength in today’s markets where mixed used development is so important.The greatest number of graduate trainee places are in the main commercial centres such as London, Manchester and Birmingham, but there are also openings within commercial property teams in smaller teams and offices.If you are based in London, your first year will give you an excellent grounding in a diverse range of commercial practice areas by spending four months in each of the following environments:    * Agency/Investment    * Valuation    * ProfessionalYear two will also typically involve four-monthly rotations but can sometimes involve longer stays in your allocated departments – flexibility is the key. The focus of this year is on completing your APC experience and looking to establish a career move to a chosen department.As a graduate trainee outside London, you are given an individually tailored regional office placement, which provides you with excellent experience and increasing levels of responsibility. The number of rotations is likely to be smaller than in London, but in all cases the breadth of your experience will be easily enough to give you everything you need for the APC. Rural (RICS) The work of rural chartered and technical surveyors is constantly changing, driven by the evolving demands of the market place. In addition, rural asset management and development draws on a wide range of professional and technical skills and knowledge.This means that qualified technical chartered surveyors need to be genuine experts in the field, with particular experience of rural estate and environmental management, consultancy and planning, rental and lease review, auctioneering and valuation. As a Savills graduate trainee, you will receive all this and more.Graduate trainees are usually required to have completed relevant degree courses approved by the RICS, allowing APC training to commence immediately on starting work. At Savills, however, we are prepared to consider outstanding graduates from other subject areas and welcome interest from such applicants.Planning and Development (RICS) Development is a specialism that can significantly influence the social, environmental and economic characteristics of how land is used. The development schemes that Savills are involved in vary in size and location, but are invariably significant due to our range of established clients. Graduates will be placed into teams nationwide, because we see development work as the key to the future and growth of the business.Our graduates will gain a wide range of experience of residential, commercial, mixed use and leisure within these development teams. This will be based on activities including development appraisals, consultancy, valuation, marketing and sales of various development opportunities, as well as day-to-day experience of general planning work.Some offices have specialist Planning departments, where you will also have opportunities to strengthen your knowledge and experience.Work within our Planning teams involves a wide range of experience, including:    * Consultancy and advice on sustainable development    * Urban design    * Statutory planning processes, including influencing development plans (Local Development Frameworks)    * Seeing proposals through the development control stageRICS Chartered Planning and Development surveyors need in-depth background in many skills in order to provide specialist knowledge and advice, including spatial planning, planning process, valuations, development appraisals, project management and property marketing.Building Surveying (RICS) Building surveying is one of the widest areas of surveying practice, involving all aspects of property and construction from supervising large mixed-use developments to planning domestic extensions.This makes the work of a chartered building surveyor diverse and constantly interesting, including everything from the conservation and restoration of historic buildings to contemporary new developments.We are looking for graduates for teams in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. An individual training programme is developed for all graduates recruited into this specialist area.To apply for this graduate scheme you will need to hold or be working towards a relevant degree with full RICS exemption. It will help if you have relevant work experience in this specialist area.We also take on sandwich students, with good people skills and a great attitude, who we like to get involved with everything (but we don’t use them for photocopying). Auto CAD and general ICT skills are desirable, and a full driving license is required.The activities you may get involved in include:    * Measured surveys    * Cost control    * Dilapidations    * Design works (using CAD)    * Specification writing    * Control works on site    * Contract administrationBe warned - if you decide to join us, you may never to leave. Nine out of 10 Savills’ Building Surveyors joined us as graduates!Planning (RTPI) Our experienced planning consultancy teams are located in 14 Savills offices across the UK, totalling 160 planning professionals to comprise one of the UK's largest consultancies.A career in Planning may be of interest if you have studied social science subjects such as Geography, Planning, Land Management, Urban/Regional Economics or subjects such as Architecture and Urban Design.Our teams have a highly successful record, working mostly for developers, landowners, funders, local authorities, Regional Development Agencies, English Partnerships, and other bodies. We offer a combination of planning, urban design and environmental assessment skills. Savills specialises in releasing development, using its commercial awareness and planning skills to ensure that plans become reality.Planning is about the influence of social, environmental and economic considerations on physical space – in other words, what can be built where? RTPI planners have particular skills in planning processes and techniques to influence plan making and decisions over whether a development should gain planning permission. They therefore work on spatial issues including socio-environmental matters and urban design, providing specialist knowledge and advice to clients.Savills is an RTPI learning partner, providing corporate RTPI membership as a single professional route to chartered planner status (MRTPI), requiring core competencies in spatial planning and planning processes. The RTPI Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) route involves working through professional development with a mentor, a log book and a written report.