Dmitry Fedorov, project manager for the development of JYSK - a global retail chain of stores and webshops, shared his history of becoming a specialist in the field of real estate with fourth-year 'Expertise and Real Estate Management' specialty students.
Dmitry is currently engaged in the rental of commercial real estate for JYSK in the Baltic countries and Belarus. He is an external student specializing in 'Economics and Production Management (Construction)' at BNTU.
“Construction site” and “construction” are two different things
“I didn’t come to higher education right away. I made a certain choice of university and specialty. My decision was balanced and based on the experience gained at work. I managed to get a secondary specialized education and work for several years in the field of construction and real estate before I make a decision and enter the university.
In the beginning, I entered college with a degree in 'Industrial and Civil Engineering'. In practice, I worked as a road worker, laid tiles. After graduation, I decided to change the vector of study, because I realized that the concepts of “construction site” and “construction” are two different things. So working on a construction site was not my plan.
During my distribution, I worked as a design engineer at a design institute. How it was: come in the morning, open AutoCAD and after 8 hours you close it.
After some time, I discovered the real estate industry, which hooked me. So I decided to direct my professional and career development in this sphere.
I worked in a real estate agency, which became a good school to enter this area. Studied making cold calls, was engaged in the sale of real estate in the secondary market. I got acquainted with projects of various sizes, from small apartments to $ 1 million suburban real estates. But I wanted to move further towards professional development. I did not see further prospects and growth, i.e. in 5 years you sell apartments, in 10 years you sell - nothing changes.
So I decided to continue my education. It was important for me to immerse myself deeply in the profession, to receive an engineering education and knowledge both in the field of construction and in the economy and production management. Since real estate professionals must understand all stages of the process. In addition, my secondary special education has become a good basis for continuing my studies in the construction field. Working now with real estate project management, I regularly use the knowledge I get at the university and practice all the skills: planning, forecasting and the economic feasibility of projects. I can also manage the production and engineering component of the project. ”
Dmitry explained to students the process of search and retail space evaluation work. Together we have figured out how to examine the category of a shopping center, learned what an anchor tenant is, compared types of rental rates. We got acquainted with the types of commercial conditions when renting a room and calculated the costs and profits on the example of renting one retail space.
One of the students Eugene shared his impressions of the lesson:
“Firstly, I liked the format of the lesson. This is not happening often when we can listen to professionals who really work in the sphere and can share real experience.
Secondly, there was a lot of practical information on the analysis of commercial real estate: what are the criteria for selecting objects, what should be taken into account when drawing up a lease agreement, and methods for obtaining metrics for analysis. All on business and without much water.
Thirdly, Dmitry gave some advice on self-development and the formation of himself as a specialist in this field.
I already had experience working on the analysis of commercial real estate and I like the work as an analyst. The real estate industry is attractive cause it is related to my specialty. Dmitry openly approached communication with us and suggested, if you have any questions and suggestions, write to him. So I did that. It is interesting to find out more information on this topic and continue to develop in the field cause his example is a great prospect in career growth, which does not end not only with the company but even with the country.”
Thanks to Dmitry for sharing his experience and valuable advice for our students who are beginners in the field of construction and real estate. Also thanks to associate professor of the chair “Economics, organization of construction and real estate management” Irina Viktorovna Shanyukevich for organizing this meeting.
We would like such events to take place at BNTU more often. The experience of people who already work in the field helps partly to avoid some mistakes at the very beginning of a career.
