It’s the aspirations of many to move clientside and whilst it is competitive it is achievable. Here are some tips:
🏗️Typically the clientside teams are much smaller and they don’t have the bandwidth to train and develop their hires as much as the consultancies do. As such they are looking for those which have 5 years plus experience. If you are not at that level yet, gain as much experience as you can within your consultancy.
🏗️We would advise completing your MRICS chartership before moving clientside as whilst its not mandatory, it can help you stand out and consultancies are often more set up to support the qualification.
🏗️Developers are also looking for experience in the sector they specialise in ie if you are looking to work for high end residential developer, look to get that experience before moving clientside, if you want to work for a hotel developer, get stuck in to those projects and put yourself forward for them internally
🏗️Be cautious of moving to any developer just to move clientside. It’s better to move to one with a pipeline and access to funding to ensure your role there will have longevity.
🏗️Ensure your CV reflects the experience you have on projects so far and make it clear what you have done across each project stage
🏗️A client secondment can definitely benefit a search to move clientside so it would be great to put yourself for such an opportunity if you can
🏗️Speak to Search consultants so that you are on their radar when a role comes up.
🏗️Be resilient, it might take a while to make the right move, but initial move to clientside is the hardest. Going forward it will be easier!
