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Q: What is your job description?
A: As a Real Estate Agent I work with buyers and sellers to assist with their real estate transactions. When working with sellers I will give a presentation to someone who is interested in selling their home in the hopes that they will sign a contract with me to be their agent. After the contract is signed I spend my time marketing the property and arranging viewings with potential buyers.
When working with buyers I find people who are interested in purchasing a property and I show them potential properties that fit their criteria. Once we have received a contract from a buyer or have submitted a contract on behalf of a buyer I will negotiate the terms on the behalf of the clients. Once the negotiations are complete I oversee the process of going from contract to closing.
Q: How did you choose real estate as your occupation?
A: I was interested in houses from a young age. After I tried out my first “real” job post college, I found that I wasn’t exactly cut out for a 9-5 desk job so I decided to go for my real estate license. I knew that it would give me the freedom of a more flexible schedule and the opportunity to do something varied.
Q: What does it take to be successful in real estate?
A: Being successful in real estate takes an immense amount of drive and determination. It can be a very difficult industry as it is usually based 100% on commission.
Q: What is your dream job?
A: My dream job would be to stay in real estate but to open my own brokerage.
Q: What real world experience did you get during school?
A: School is a very social atmosphere. A lot of what you learn from being social with friends and acquaintances, you can use in the real world. Hopefully you have learned to treat people with respect; I find that this can get you a long way in business.
Q: What advice can you offer to students?
A: It is important to have fun but try to think about the things that interest you — make an effort to get involved and find out what you can about these interests. The things that you do today can shape what you will be like in your future.
Always try your hardest but don’t be afraid of making mistakes. You’ll never know if you don’t try. But always remember to have fun!
Q: What did you major in during college?
A: I majored in sociology and minored in history. Once I decided to go into real estate, I took a real estate course to further explore the industry and prepare for the licensing exam.
Q: What did you do with your sociology degree?
A: Became a real estate agent! Just kidding–there’s quite a bit you can do with sociology. Sociology is the study of society–particularly patterns and trends of social relationships, human interaction, and culture.
There are many different career paths you can take with a sociology degree. You can take on a researcher or consultant role which would entail a lot of research, policy analysis, and program development.
This means you spend time collecting and analyzing data, drawing recommendations, preparing reports, giving presentations. This can be in a variety of settings like a government agency, a business, a school, etc.
You’ll also find a lot of sociology majors in sales, marketing, customer relations, or human resources. Others enter arenas like criminal justice or counseling.
Q: How long did it take for you to acquire your real estate license?
A: In order to take the licensing exam, you’re required to take a licensing course. The length of the course differs by state. Mine was 45 hours. You can typically find courses offered at an accelerated pace (i.e. one week or two weeks to complete) or spread out over a longer period (one or two months). Mine took about 2 weeks and I passed the licensing exam shortly thereafter.
Q: Do you get paid enough?
A: Yes and no. You can definitely make decent money (I always say when it’s good, it’s good). The problem is that it’s inconsistent…it depends on how the market is doing, how many sales you’re making, etc. To compensate for the inconsistency, I also work at a restaurant so I have a steady stream of income rolling in. Bottom line–the money has potential to be good but you can’t count on it (especially now with the real estate market in somewhat of a crisis).
