Shadowing Week with our graduate, Ana

The graduate ‘shadowing week’ is the part of our graduate programme where our grads spend time on sites buddying with either a Property Manager or Development Manager to see what a day in their role is like. We set a few of them the task to write about their experience and today, as part two of a three series blog, we are sharing Ana Poianu’s story.

There are so many industries out there that I didn’t know existed and property management was, for sure, something that I knew nothing about. I was looking into construction management schemes but not having a construction related degree my chances were close to zero. That’s how I discovered the property management industry and FirstPort, and I have not looked back.

So, here I am today, in my 7th week of the Graduate programme and I am spending the week shadowing Yanina Copes at Wembley Park, getting to know the insights of Build to Rent. It is a growing sector and, despite the Covid crisis, it is still rising at a fast pace.

I arrived on Monday morning at Emerald Gardens and I found Yanina dealing with lots of task simultaneously. There was an absence call from the Concierge which meant an urgent call to the agency to arrange for someone else to cover the reception. At the same time, there was a leak in the other development that Yanina manages, Elvin Gardens, which contractors were investigating. It took a few hours for the contractors to discover the cause of the leak and another few hour to clear it out. All this time Yanina and I went backwards and forwards to check on the progress they’d made and to manage the process.

Despite the emergency situations Yanina faced, she ensured things were running smoothly for the residents, that the development was safe and secure, and that they were receiving an excellent service from the on-site team. I quickly realised that the day of a Development Manager almost never looks the same as there are a lot of unexpected things that can happen and, sometimes, they all happen at the same time. It takes someone who can work under pressure and is able to prioritise.

I found this role very suited to Yanina and her persona is just inspiring. She works really hard and makes sure the other members of the team take pride in their roles. She praises her team and outlines her expectations clearly.

The rest of the shadowing week I spent looking through the systems that we use, site inspections, the health & safety management system and personal development results for the team. I have a special interest in health & safety, so I requested to have a look at a fire risk assessment.

I’ve also spent some time at the concierge desk where I was able to observe their interactions with customers and see the high level of service provided.

This week has given me, not only the opportunity to learn lots of useful things for my future career, but also to meet some inspiring people whom I’ll always remember. Thank you FirstPort for a great start in my property management career!

I hope you’ll find my article useful if you are thinking of joining a graduate programme with FirstPort in the future.  For more information, click here.