A Career in Real Estate

Shubika Bilkha is the Business Head of The Real Estate Management Institute (REMI), a leading provider of real estate education in India. REMI provides certification programs, executive courses and customized training workshops specifically designed for the Real Estate industry. The programs cater to three segments of people- students looking at building a career in Real Estate, people at the mid stages of their career looking to upgrade their skill sets, and owners/senior leaders in Real Estate who are overcoming various challenges to run their business in an evolved environment. REMI has partnered with a number of institutions locally and globally, one of them being the Institute of Real Estate Management in the US, one of the largest Real Estate education bodies globally.

Qualifications for a career in Real estate

 Accodring to Shubika, one of the most interesting elements in Real Estate traditionally is that there have been no ‘qualified’ people per se. Everyone in this sector have learnt on the job. As the sector gets more organized, the regulatory frame work changes. There is increased transparency and increased accountability of key stake holders, and the requirement to have skilled people across various segments become of paramount importance. “What you need is a very strong understanding of what are the key concept, calculations, the policy, development control regulations in one’s area, legal aspects and approval process – all these aspects will essentially determine how your business will pan out. With the understanding of these basic laws and policies, you can undertake any role across the real estate sector. We focus on giving students a holistic view of the sector, where we cover key concepts & terminologies, legal aspects, documentation, the clauses in the documentation, construction process, etc. across our 30 programs that cover technical, business and entrepreneural skills”, she said.

Need for labour

A recent report by KPMG stated that the skill shortfall in the Real Estate sector to build out the government agenda is 75 million. “Wherever you go across the RE sector, most companies will tell you that there is a scarcity of talent. The people that they take on board will require long periods of training to get them up to a certain level. Our courses give students a complete understanding of these required skills, so they could branch out into the architectural side of Real Estate, Legal, Sales and Marketing, or Business Development. There are a number of roles that students can apply to, on completion of the programs”, says Shubika. REMI’s ‘industry-ready’ programs lead students to finding employment at Real Estate big-wigs such as Lodha, Kanakia, DLF, JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, Magicbricks, 99 acres and more.

Flying solo

Becoming a real estate Developer is all about raising the right kind of capital, having the access to Real Estate to be able to do so. The cost of land is high, and that makes it tough to become a developer. However, Shubhika believes one can put themselves on the path to entrepreneurship within an organization itself. “What I find with companies is that there is an encouragement to be entrepreneurial within the organization itself. You see lot of companies moving towards ‘succession planning’, which is where they identify their top performers, and give them the ability to develop themselves within the organization. There are a lot of ‘intrapreneurial’ opportunities that are also available across the companies”, she connotes.

Perks of working in Real Estate

 There are lots of jobs up for grabs in this sector, especially considering that the Government is planning to build 20 million affordable homes by 2022. ‘Smart cities’ are coming up, and there is a huge need for housing across various stratas. We live in a developing economy. The key to taking a developing economy to a developed economy lies in the infrastructure.. The more graduates that get mobilized, and take up jobs, the better and more professional the sector will get.

“The industry is going through a complete transformation. The old outmoded notions about RE are being discarded, there is an influx of capital in a more channelized way. The opportunities are limitless. The graduate salaries are quite attractive, and the ability to earn incentives in this field are very high.

In other words, the sector has become very monetarily lucrative. The incentives that you earn in the first two years of your career is higher, compared to other industries”, Shubika

Real Estate is slated to be a 180 billion dollar economy. There are jobs up for grabs and positions to be filled, and the sector is growing tremendously. “There is a basic need of housing, office and infrastructure in our country. Each company that survives this transformative phase will be the ones employing at a large scale, and offer new entrants a great opportunity to build their career”, she signs off.