You don’t need a degree to become an estate agent, school leavers told

Estate agency has been ranked among the top jobs students don’t need a degree for – which may be of some comfort to those students whose GCSE results yesterday were not quite what they had hoped for.

However, potential recruits are also being warned of a high risk of automation threatening their career, according to job site Indeed.

The website states that being an estate agent requires no formal qualifications and brings an average advertised salary of £20,000 that is boosted by commission.

It comes bottom of a top ten that is led by construction site managers earning on average £50,000, and pilots on £41,153.

Mariano Mamertino, economist at Indeed, claimed: “The rapid growth of online estate agents means some traditional high street estate agent jobs could be at risk of automation.”

Estate agency ranks high for automation along with executive assistants, electricians and power plant operators, although the parameters are unclear as a human would presumably still be needed at some stage of the process.

The salary data is taken from jobs on the Indeed website, while the risk of automation is based on the University of Oxford “The Future of Employment” study.

Rank Job title Median salary in £ Automation risk
1 Construction site manager 50000 Low
2 Pilot 41153 Medium
3 HR manager 35000 Low
4 Executive assistant 30000 High
5 Electrician 28615 High
6 Farm manager 24000 Low
7 Power plant operator 24000 High
8 Sales executive 22500 Low
9 Firefighter 21000 Low
10 Estate agent 20000 High
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14 Comments

  1. femaleagent88

    It wouldn;t be automatition it would be self service, I think people forget how fraustrating slef service at a check out is in your local shop, imagine trying to self service your housing needs your bigget purchase/ biggest financial commitment of your life! And not every one has time to self serivce their housing needs. What a shameful and damaging comment to make, it will cease a housing movement because people will be too afraid to use the system, next you’ll be making professional solicitors automated and the premier property people and purplebricks types will rule the world, then where will we be. Even more unhappy and unsocialble untrusting people….. Great work

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    1. PeeBee

      PLEASE tell me you don’t type your own property particulars…

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      1. femaleagent88

        Great a keyboard warrior, and no your quite right I do not write the particulars, thats admins job not a top negotiators job.

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        1. PeeBee

          Keyboard warrior?  I think not – just someone very concerned that an article having a pop at the educational requirements of a career as an Estate Agent receives a response from someone who can’t spell for toffee or compose a literate post.

          Sorry – but not what I would call a good advert for the industry…

          …and I would expect much, much better from A JUNIOR NEG – let alone one who has decided she is at the top of her game.

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          1. femaleagent88

            Well I have been doing my job for 10 years, have passed my Nfopp exams and deal with all aspects of sale and lettings so yes I do believe I am at the top of MY game and exactly where I want to be. So apart from my spelling I’m doing pretty damn well you arrogant ****. And no I would not expect a junior neg to do that role either, I would expect them to be out there touting for business and getting in the thick of a SALES enviroment, employed to do deals not to type

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            1. PeeBee

              So…

              We’d already established you can’t spell; can’t compose – and now it becomes apparent you don’t comprehend too well either, as the junior neg analogy had nothing whatsoever to do with typing property particulars.

              May I take it you allow yourself to do menial tasks like email clients?  Solicitors?  Or do you leave those boring tasks to the lowly typist (who, in fairness, would be far better at it than you…) leaving you to get on with believing you’re at the top of the game?

              If the answer is the former, then I sincerely hope for the sake of the reputations of both your company and the industry you take the time and trouble to get them grammatically correct.

              Oh – and by the way – before you get all feisty with me again (there are ways to get round the smutfilter… but I think it best not to hand you a pot and a match…) – I’m sitting at my desk typing one of the take-ons that I attended late yesterday afternoon.  I did the other one from home last night.

              And I’ve been doing MY job for nearly 40 years.  I’ll call your Nflopp stuff; the dealing with all aspects waffle – and raise you a couple of Directorships and a dozen or so awards with Regional and National companies… and I’m nowhere near the top of MY game.

              Admin’s sitting at home.  I give the important – literate – people a day off on a Saturday.  Only the dullards – me and my negs – in today…

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              1. femaleagent88

                *thumbs up for most boring convers I’m glad your over 50 and still working Saturdays must be a very very small team you have. Enjoy your final years of tying particulars

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                1. PeeBee

                  Thumbs up right back at you for continuing to demonstrate that literacy wasn’t a requirement in your current job role.

                  Sorry to see that in your VERY late 20s you still need to work Bank Holidays… never mind – hopefully by 30-odd you might have found a job that both better suits your abilities and temperament and that also allows you some quality time off.

                  Fingers crossed…

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                  1. femaleagent88

                    who said I was working?

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                    1. PeeBee

                      The timing of your post did, actually!

                      I would have expected that someone as “on top of MY game” as you wouldn’t have been kept out of the office on a Bank Holiday by a pack of wazzed-off Dobermans at the door in the race to be first to answer each and every phonecall at the first pip and sell…sell…sell to the unsuspecting caller.

                      I just imagined you sitting there… hand at the ready for the first quick-draw – and then the need to respond took over and knocked you straight off your rhythm.

                      Of course I could have been wrong – it happens.  Often.  Maybe you’re the office part-timer whose presence isn’t required on busy days – but of course that would mean you’re simply fluffing up your feathers on here trying to appear the big bird.

                      If that be the case – don’t worry – every member of staff serve their individual purpose in the overall result… as long as we all remember where we are in the order of things.

                      No doubt you’ll have a cutting response.  I’d try running it through a spell- and grammarcheck first – it’ll improve the quality – and effectiveness – of your posts dramatically.

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                    2. femaleagent88

                      Funny this internet thing, you can actually do anything from anywhere, so no I was not working our office was shut. I think you have more time to bully people than sell houses, I suspect you probably where pushed out of all of your positions, I imagine you to be this short angry person who bullies his staff. Thankfully I have neevr had to sit in a n office with some one with your boring personality who instead of having anything constructive to say about the story has spent his time being upset with me. I am glad I have consumed so much of your time and got your adrenaline levels up, perhaps now you will sell those two instructions you have secured this month! Good luck on your journey to try an dbecome a better person, sadly I think too late in life to achieve that goal.

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                    3. PeeBee

                      Bully?  For simply taking you to task over an atrociously composed and presented post in response to an article basically questioning the educational standards required in our profession?  To which you have gone completely bunnyboiler over, I may add – and to then claim you’re the injured party.

                      Just to piddle somewhat on your firework, I’m sorry to tell you that I’m doing pretty okay, thanks; I’ve never yet been “pushed out” of anything I didn’t want to be in, and I’m neither short nor angry with anything or anyone.  As far as my adrenaline levels go – still flatlining.  Sorry – but you ain’t got me going in any way, shape or form.  Far from being upset with you – I’m thoroughly enjoying our little tête-à-tête and am only sorry it will end when this thread drops into Archive obscurity tomorrow… after all – it’s only you and me reading it now!

                      Which is just as well because you didn’t take my solid advice and check your last post before posting it – and therefore regained some of the credibility you crave.  Unfortunately, going on the all-out offensive isn’t the way to do it – but a few years more experience might hopefully teach you that.

                      However I am going to finish off by agreeing with something you’ve piled in amongst all the vitriol.

                      I am on a journey “to become a better person”.  I’ve been on the journey my whole life; and I will remain on that journey for the rest of it.  It is a goal I will achieve – but never reach – as every day allows further opportunity for improvement.

                      You should try it sometime.  Move away from the fatally flawed belief that you’re at the top of your game – and start aiming to get there instead – one small step at a time.

                      Who knows – one day our paths may cross on the separate – and very different – paths we take to get somewhere near there…

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  2. Woodentop

    They could get a degree if they wanted to and I’m at a loss how on some of the risk ratings. Maybe, just maybe the reports author has no degree!  Medium for  pilot, you are having a laugh. High for an Electrician … robots will be rewiring your property soon! and Low for Sales Executive … errr isn’t everything bought on-line today!

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  3. htsnom79

    Utter garbage.

    Can you get a degree in communication, empathy, urgency and awareness, listening, breaking a general market down to an individual property ( I’m looking at you Zoopla autoval ) ?

    Femaleagent88 has a good analogy with self service at the supermarket, tedious, who enjoys the automated system when trying to get through to any big company these days anyone? anyone? ( Ferris Bueller reference )

    I had some docs through from some faceless business/bureaucracy the other day crowing about how my experience with them has been upgraded to uk only customer service, something I was perfectly used to as normal until they off shored for a decade though I was always nice to Bangalore and was curious enough to ask about their weather

    No you don’t need a degree,  agency is not particularly technical, but you do need to be a particular type of mammal to be any good at it, and that mammal is not the shiny suit of popular imagination..

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