The new school year has kicked off for 2019 across the country, and for those out there who are parents to school aged children, I’m sure you heard the collective sigh as all the children found their way to their new classrooms and settled in for the first day of the first week. We’d all made it through the chaos leading up to this first school day of the year and are now back into a routine again.
While I was dropping my son off to school for his first full week of primary school (he’s just entered pre-primary) I was reminded how fortunate I am to have a personally fulfilling and financially rewarding career that still offers flexibility in the hours that I work. I did not have to push my son out of the car at the school gate and rush off to be in the office for an 8.30am to 5pm workday. Instead, I was able to accompany my son to his classroom and wait our turn to meet his new teacher. I was then able to stay around and help him settle into his new environment and meet some of his peers and the other parents who were also lucky enough not to have to rush off.
As a real estate salesperson, I am in control of my own “business”, as I can generally plan my working hours around my personal commitments. If there is a meeting for parents at my son’s school or a sports carnival or a fund-raising activity happening, I can juggle my work appointments to attend these various activities and have the best of both worlds. Considering the large number of working mums and dads there are in the workforce these days, there are very few jobs that offer this flexibility that the real estate industry does.
Don’t get me wrong – to be successful in the industry you must be prepared to put in the hours, use a lot of initiative and be intrinsically self-motivated. However, if you are organized and careful with time management then you can have a very satisfying career in real estate and still be very much a part of your children’s day-to-day lives.
Even though I am my own “boss” and ultimately responsible for my own success in the industry, unlike being self-employed, I still work for an agency who takes away a lot of the responsibility that I would otherwise have to bear if I worked for myself. For example, the agency provides me with an office and unlimited access to associated facilities such as printing, scanning, IT and postal services. The agency also provides extensive support in a variety of different areas (eg administrative and marketing), professional insurances and administers staff leave entitlements and superannuation. Being part of an agency within the real estate industry also provides a sense of comradery and lots of moral support – plus there are the annual Christmas Parties, staff birthday celebrations, footy tipping competitions and other various social activities that come with being part of a group of people all working for a common cause.
If you are ever a client or associate of Merrifield Real Estate, I hope you notice that we are a happy bunch of workmates who strive for success in all that we do, while still enjoying a laugh whenever the opportunity arises (mostly at the expense of each other!).
