Savills, Insight Week Review

The Insight provided me with a great deal of understanding of how the firm operates, what services it provides and the sectors the firm covers in their consultancy practices.

Since during the insight you are provided with work from current graduates, they are either very busy covering their own deadlines or they do not have sufficient amounts of work for you to get along with. During some days I was able to gain significant amounts of work, but during others I had minimal opportunity to show what I was capable of.

The insight programme was excellently structured by the HR department and each day was individually organised via a scheduled timetable. This ensured that we were at the correct places at the correct times and that we were able to get the most out of the week.

I very much enjoyed the insight overall and made some good friends during the week. During the Insight you are placed with a group of around 20 who are all of similar age and general position during their undergraduate studies. Some were undertaking undergraduate real estate degrees, whereas others were looking to undertake a Masters in real estate the year after. Since we were all from similar backgrounds, the atmosphere was great and we frequently spent our lunchtimes together.

There was not a great deal of invesment into our training and development since the insight only lasted a week. However, I certainly gained greater understanding of the industry and different tasks employees are involved in during the day.

I certainly was able to gain a great deal of understanding of what a full time role consisted of at the firm. Obviously I was unable to follow all employees around the firm at all times, but I certainly gained an understanding of the day-to-day role of the graduate I was shadowing and the team he was in.

It certainly helped me understand the company culture and their grounding principles. Most importantly it ensured my understanding of the work-hard, play-hard culture that drives the property industry. All employees seemed to thoroughly enjoy working for the firm and continously expressed how their colleagues have become some of their closest friends since beginning as a graduate at the firm.

It was certainly valuable, especially the departmental talks which provided an overall thorough understanding of the firm, once I combined all my understanding of the different departments. I am now even greatly interested in pursuing a career in the real estate industry and am looking to undertake a Masters at London Southbank based on feedback I have been given from colleagues during the week about the course.

There were many opportunities to speak with current graduates at both social events outside of working hours and during the working day. During the week, we also were able to meet and ask questions to Savills employees at a lunch meet & greet where I gained a great deal of information into each of their roles and how much they enjoyed working for the firm.

I really enjoyed the social event opportunities. I was not only able to gain a significant deal of understanding of the firm and how much employees enjoy working for Savills, but I was also able to create relationships with current graduates that I will continue to contact in the near future as I enter a graduate role in the industry.

Yes, I found out about the extra-curricular activities some graduates were involved in, especially sporting activities such as Rugby sevens and football. I am sure there is a huge variety of activities and often firms take part in tournaments where they can socialise and compete with other competing firms in the industry.

I would certainly recommend the insight. The insight was very well organised and enabled me to learn a huge amount about the firm, graduate roles and the industry overall. The only drawback of the insight is that I believe insighters should be put within a team where they are able to gain work from all members of the team, not just the graduates they are shadowing.