The life of an intern at Bannon
To start with a few things about myself, I am 22 years old and graduating as an estate agent in Berlin. I currently work for Germany’s leading nationwide residential real estate company with over 16,000 employees, Vonovia SE.
As part of an Erasmus-funded exchange, my school offered me the opportunity to go on an internship to work in Dublin. The Property Management Team at Bannon agreed to host me. The team consists of 15 surveyors and one facility manager. I started work on a Monday morning at 10 am and was greeted by the team leads who in turn introduced me to all the teams in the firm. After hearing the great news that my internship would include attending a property conference, team building quiz and departmental Christmas party, I was eager to get started! I was partnered with one of the property surveyors who went through the management property portfolio and gave me advice on the go-to areas in Dublin.
My first week consisted of observing how Bannon manages assets and the role played by property management surveyors. This included conducting site inspections, reviewing tenancy schedules and leases and cross-checking against the Bannon reporting platform. I attended the SCSI PMFM Conference which consisted of a day-long industry conference filled with talks and insight into current talking points in the Irish property market.
The Pub quiz was very enjoyable and gave me a chance to find out more about the people behind Bannon and how they ended up in the property industry. I personally could not have asked for a better start and first week.
My second week consisted of working with surveyors on setting service charge Budgets for 2023 and reviewing insurance information for service providers. I met with the Facility Manager and saw the assets in real life, offering insight into how assets are managed on the ground. I visited several of the large shopping centres in the Bannon portfolio including the Pavilions Shopping Centre and The Square Tallaght, attending weekly operations meetings discussing the running of the centre and key metrics such as weekly footfall.
Heading into my last week there could not be a better send-off, as the property management department is having its Christmas Party, God knows why in November!
From my time with Bannon, I have found them to be innovative and striving to exceed clients’ expectations, or in this case – employees. And speaking for myself and my internship they surely have! My only complaint is that the internship is too short and should be prolonged indefinitely.
