“I’ve seen the perfect Estate Agent job advertised and want to go for it. The trouble is, I’ve no idea how to put together a CV and Cover Letter that will get me that job.”
Does this sound like you? Then this article is what you need to help write that winning Estate, Agent CV.
Tables of contents
- Why is a stand-out Estate Agent CV so important?
- Tailor your CV and Cover letter to your employer
- How do I tailor my CV?
- Which parts of my CV do I need to tailor?
- Best practice for the structure of your tailored CV
- What should a tailored CV look like?
- Cover Letters – why they matter
- Tailoring your Cover Letter when applying for a role with an Estate Agent
- More points to remember when writing your Cover Letter
- Clinching an interview with a clear, concise and compelling tailored CV
Why is a stand-out Estate Agent CV so important?
Are you looking for a role with an Estate Agency? Have you seen a job advertised that you’re sure will be a great fit for you? Then, among your first considerations should be your CV and Covering Letter. These, closely followed by your LinkedIn profile, will be the first impression that you make on the recruiter or the estate agent in question.
You’ll need a combination of a clear structure and appealing content. These will give you the best chance of attracting your prospective employer and go a long way to getting you that all-important interview.
In this guide, along with a sample CV, you’ll learn how to craft your own attention-grabbing CV that will make you irresistible to recruiters.
Tailor your CV and Cover letter to your employer
You might think it’s enough to put together a standard CV and Cover Letter and fire them off to any number of potential Estate Agent employers. After all, surely all that’s needed is to list your qualifications, experience and previous jobs. Isn’t that right? No, definitely not. If you’re going to create the right kind of impression, you’re going to have to show that you’re genuinely interested in the specific vacancy that’s available with the specific Estate Agent. You need to tailor both your CV and your Cover Letter accordingly.
How do I tailor my CV?
Your first step is to research your target Estate Agent. Find out as much as you can about them – their specialisms, their achievements, how many branches they have and where these branches are located. Check out:
- their website
- the LinkedIn profiles of the managers
- the LinkedIn page of the company
- online customer reviews (from their Google My Business page, for example)
- employer review sites
Carry out this kind of market intelligence research, and you’ll be well-placed to gear your CV and Cover Letter to exactly the needs and aspirations of your target Estate Agent employer.
Which parts of my CV do I need to tailor?
The parts of your CV to focus on are your:
- Personal statement
- Work history
- Skills
- Work-related qualifications and training
Here are some pointers:
1. Make use of the job description
Let the job description be your CV guide. Use it to point the way towards what you should include. Mirror the keywords that the employer has used – the duties, skills, and elements of experience. Be sure to support each skill with real-life examples.
2. Prioritise your skills
Once you’ve worked out what your prospective employer is looking for, prioritise your skills accordingly, putting the most relevant at the top. Do the same in your Cover Letter. If you are unsure of what your skill strengths are, conduct a SWOT analysis to help identify them.
Examples of tailoring your CV…
Is your target Estate Agent looking for someone who is:
a ‘team player’?
Highlight instances when you’ve worked successfully with others and achieved strong results. ‘I worked with the IT department on a new CRM, which saved the company hours of data input time.”
innovative?
Cast your mind back to a time when you introduced a new idea to your current or a past employer – and highlight how your idea proved successful.
‘I came up with a new approach to Social Media use which resulted in an immediate 7% lift in enquiries.
a ‘leader’?
It might be that you’ve never held a leadership position before. Don’t worry. Your prospective employer will know that you have to start somewhere, but you can still show that you have leadership skills. You need to demonstrate that you’ve given instructions, inspired people, or taught others something new.
‘Inducted two new assistants into the department’ or ‘Led a team in a charity fund-raising event’.
a ‘self-starter’?
Describe a time when you pushed yourself to work well on your own.
‘Unprompted, I came up with a marketing plan for the launch of a new service, which then brought in £7,500 of extra sales within a month.’
Best practice for the structure of your tailored CV
Your CV is your first opportunity to showcase your experience, skills, qualifications, temperament and personality. Here are some ‘best practice’ points to help you craft the perfect CV.
Start with your basic personal information
The best CV structure is one that starts with all the ‘need-to-know’ details – your name and contact information. Don’t bother with irrelevant information, such as date of birth or marital status. Don’t forget to include a link to your LinkedIn profile. All these elements should be at the top, in bold. Make sure they’re clear and easy to read.
Personal statement
This is your chance to sell yourself to a hiring manager or recruiter and show why you’re well-suited to the job.
Keep it brief and to the point – just one or two short paragraphs. Tailor it to the specific Estate Agent role you’re applying for.
Remember to include your core Estate Agent skills – such as negotiation, marketing, sales and communication.
Don’t forget to mention the scope of your property knowledge. Have you sold residential homes, offices, or other property types?
Work history/overview
This should run in chronological order, starting with your most recent job role and ending with your first job.
Remember to include company names, positions, dates and a brief overview of responsibilities, skills and achievements.
Education, Qualifications and Training
Begin this section by documenting first those qualifications most relevant to Estate Agency. Leave less relevant educational qualifications, such as GCSEs and A-levels, to the end of this section.
Interests and hobbies
Avoid cliché hobbies such as going to the cinema, socialising and reading. Try and mention interests that reflect your interpersonal and communication skills. Where possible, these should be positive activities, such as sport, music, drama, gardening, and cooking.
What should a tailored CV look like?
CV length
Remember – HR managers are busy people and won’t be impressed with waffle. Restrict your CV to a maximum of two pages. Use brief paragraphs, plenty of headings and spaces. Use bullet point lists too. All these techniques will make your CV appealing to read.
Preferred writing style
Your personal statement and cover letter should be written in the present tense, like this:
I am flexible and find it easy to work fluidly on several projects at once.
It should sound current and direct.
Your work history should be written in the past tense, like so:
“I was responsible for analysing product market trends”.
Avoid cliches, such as “I’m passionate about …”.
Don’t bother showcasing qualities that are regarded as a given in any employment – for example, describing your punctuality and reliability.
Format of a CV
Don’t use imagery, elaborate fonts or graphics. To create the right impression, clarity is vital. When you submit your CV, save it as a PDF. This will make it appear professional.
Check for mistakes
Having taken all this trouble to research and craft your tailored CV, it’s an almost criminal shame to spoil the impact with grammatical and spelling mistakes. Use a spelling checker, such as Grammarly, and there’s no harm in getting someone else to read through and check for errors.
Cover Letters – why they matter
Your Cover Letter matters because it helps the recruiter or hiring manager to find out more about you. Think of your application as a page from a colouring book. Your CV is simply an outline. Your Cover letter is where you add the colour.
Your Cover Letter will give your future employer a deeper insight into who you are beyond your work history and qualifications. If well written, it will complement your CV, enabling you to expand on your skills, expertise and strengths. With a strong cover letter, you’ll be demonstrating to your future employer that you’re the person they’re looking for.
Tailoring your Cover Letter when applying for a role with an Estate Agent
Tailoring your application is just as important with a Cover Letter as it is with a CV. Your Cover Letter is how you will impress your prospective Estate Agent employer by underlining that you’ve considered carefully why you are specifically well-suited to filling their vacancy.
Doing so will:
- demonstrate your genuine, authentic interest in the role
- show how you will benefit the Estate Agency
- highlight your most relevant skills and experience
All of this will put you in pole position for an interview.
You’ll need to use the same research techniques you employed with your CV to find out all that you can about the company.
When crafting your Cover Letter:
- Find out who to address it to so as to make the letter more ‘personal’.
- Research the key skills they’re looking for and include those. Omit elements that are irrelevant. Back each skill with relevant experience.
- You can still include skills and experience that aren’t directly relevant, provided they’re transferable.
In essence, your Cover Letter needs to showcase your suitability for the role and your knowledge of and passion for the property sector.
More points to remember when writing your Cover Letter
1. Don’t repeat your entire CV
You need to expand on the highlights of your CV that are the most relevant to the Estate Agent role you’re applying for. You shouldn’t be simply recapping your entire work history.
2. Be specific figures with your evidence and examples
When you can, use specific figures when highlighting your accomplishments. These are much more powerful than general statements. Include a percentage, a timeframe, and an action. For example,
‘I used my marketing skills to develop a plan for the product re-launch. Following my contribution, we increased sales by 17% within two months.
3. Don’t forget soft skills
These matter increasingly to employers. They include skills such as communication, problem-solving, creative thinking and consideration of colleagues. These soft skills aren’t always easy to demonstrate in your CV, so the cover letter is the place for you to showcase them and, again … use specific examples to provide evidence.
4. Explain gaps in your work history.
Are there gaps in your job history? Then use your cover letter to offer a brief yet clear explanation.
Clinching an interview with a clear, concise and compelling tailored CV
Tailoring your CV will allow you to represent your experience and skills in such a way that demonstrates that you are way ahead of the other candidates in your suitability for the role.
Your prospective employer won’t have to spend time working out whether you’ll be a good fit. You’ll have done this job for them!
