Training for jobs that don’t yet exist
Up-and-coming property professionals need cross-sector expertise and multiple analytical abilities as they train for jobs that don’t yet exist, says UTS head of the School of Built Environment, Professor Heather MacDonald.
While there can be no doubt the property and construction industry will continue to grow, MacDonald says it’s impossible to predict what the workforce will look like in a decade’s time.
“Our challenge is to prepare people by ensuring they have multiple analytic abilities that can be applied across a range of disciplines The key is flexibility as we educate people for jobs that don’t yet exist,” she says.
The UTS School of Built Environment has a reputation for creating some of the most progressive, future-focused thinkers and leaders in the construction, property, planning and related industries.
The school has recently introduced three new postgraduate masters degrees that bring together property development with planning, investment or project management.
“Over the last few years, we saw that students with the most job opportunities were those who combined a few different areas of expertise. They were seen as more flexible employees – so we’ve developed specific courses to support this,” MacDonald explains.
The school’s first round of students has just finished their introductory semester, and MacDonald says the feedback so far has been “extremely positive”.
The model draws on that found in the United States, where degrees are adaptable and students “can mix and match their subjects”, MacDonald says.
“Importantly, we’re teaching people lots of different analytic approaches and how they connect.
“Someone with both property development and planning expertise can apply their understanding of planning governance to the design and management of large developments, for example, or someone with both development and investment skills is better placed to evaluate the future stability of investment assets,” she explains.
MacDonald has just returned from a study abroad tour of six Asian cities, and says the feedback she received confirmed UTS’ focus.
“Those who go far know how property works at a material level, but also understand the world of finance and the broader political regimes.
“It’s no longer about training people for specific jobs – but teaching them how to think.”