Member Article

Building a career in house-building

When Matt Hartley, a 23 year old graduate from Northumbria University, received an email from his university careers service advertising a place on Barratt Development’s graduate scheme, he was immediately drawn to the role. “A career in house building was not something I had previously considered,” admits Matt, a graduate in Business Management, “but as soon as I spotted the Barratt Graduate Scheme it immediately appealed. There was a huge variety to the role, with rotations across all departments including commercial, land, technical, finance and sales. There were areas of the industry I never knew existed, and that variety really excited me.”

With the UK suffering from a chronic housing shortage and an estimated 250,000 new homes needed each year to meet demand, the house building sector is showing no signs of slowing down soon. While there has been a focus on a shortage of skilled trades people in recent months, the industry has more than traditional labouring roles to fill. With graduate roles available in everything from Sales and Commercial Development, to Land and Construction and a popular Graduate Scheme - which has seen the UK’s biggest house builder awarded first in the sector for the fifth time running in Job Crowd’s ‘Top Large Companies for Graduates to Work for’ - Barratt is demonstrating that the house building sector is an attractive career path for graduates post university.

It’s a route that Matt has found ever more appealing the further he progresses with the scheme. He commented: “My first year included six eight-week rotations, experiencing every department in the business and helping me gain an all round perspective of the industry – which is hugely beneficial when you are just starting out. It’s given me great exposure to the business and helped me to focus on the big picture, which is essential when you’re working in the house building sector – there’s a relationship between all departments, and each area has to work together, from first acquiring land to the final sale to the customer.”

Despite having no background in the construction sector, Matt says this shouldn’t be a concern for graduates considering a career in the industry. He continued: “There’s been excellent support in each area of the business I’ve worked in, so not having a background in construction has in no way held me back. Throughout my last 12 months I have been faced with a number of projects that have been areas that are completely new to me, but the mentoring I’ve received has helped me face these challenges head on and gain knowledge in areas I wasn’t necessarily confident in before joining the company.”

After Matt has completed his six rotations across the different areas of the business, he will specialise in one department for 12 months in order to develop his expertise with the view of gaining a permanent position. He is now encouraging more graduates to apply for roles in the house building sector, and gives this advice to anyone seeking a role in the industry: “The house building sector is a hot topic at the minute, so my advice to anyone seeking this sort of role would be to keep up with news in the sector and the trends affecting the industry. Being able to display a solid understanding of the industry, as well as the business, from both short and long term perspectives is a key attribute that will stand you in good stead when you apply for your first role.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Savage .