A Day in The Life:
Research Associate
What is your job about?
Commercial agents use CoStar as a way to market their available space to a nationwide audience through our products. As a Research Associate I have a portfolio of properties which I am responsible for and need to ensure all of them are clearly and correctly displayed and that all the information we have is up to date.
What does your typical day look like?
A typical day will involve contacting surveyors to talk about their current availability, recording this accurately and uploading it onto the database as quickly and efficiently as possible. The company's reputation is built on the information it provides to agents, and it is my role to ensure it is correct and accurate.
What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
Trying to fit it all the above into one day! Time really does fly by in the office, and you need to be organised in order to complete all your daily tasks. As I am someone who needs to have things organised in advance, I try and have a clear plan of what I want to do.
Other than that, trying to contact agents can often be difficult as they are always on the move and are rarely office based, which makes my updates so challenging. It is all about being proactive and trying to work with the surveyor to find a mutually beneficial way for the two of us to work together.
And the best part?
The office is a fantastic environment to work in. There is always a great buzz about the place, even though everyone is working hard there are always the sounds of people laughing and enjoying themselves. There is a really good social scene as well, the office is always organising different events whether that's the Halloween ball, race nights, summer BBQ's or fund raising events like the time I was stupid enough to get my chest waxed for charity! You do feel like you are working with your friends rather than just colleagues.
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working as a Research Associate?
Whilst knowledge of commercial real estate is an advantage in this role, it is not essential, and you get a good grounding both in training and on the job. I think the main piece of advice I would give is you need to be a confident communicator with people, be able to organise your days correctly, be proactive and have a good work ethic.
