Graduate profiles

Lindsay MacGregor, 30

"It's not a place that suppresses you if you are slightly different or quirky. I don't have to wear a suit, and I can express my personality here."

Current department:

Client Solutions

Joined C&W:

September 2007

Degree:

Fashion Management at London College of Fashion. Then an Estate Management MSc at London Southbank University.

Lindsay, you went from fashion to property: what happened there?

After my Fashion degree, I worked in buying both here and in Italy, and in sales. In the end it wasn't for me. I'd always craved a bit more of a corporate structure, and I'd always wanted to work for a global organisation. The problem with something like fashion is that you don't have any qualifications to fall back on. They give you so much training here. You don't know how important that is unless you've experienced the opposite.

Was that shift to C&W tricky then?

I couldn't have worked in somewhere that was very dry or old fashioned. Cushmans is a global company, and more forward looking. When I came in for my interview here I got a smile and was made to feel relaxed. It's not a place that suppresses you if you are slightly different or quirky. I don't have to wear a suit, and I can express my personality here.

How has Client Solutions been keeping you busy?

It's akin to an advertising account management role. You are the central person who your client comes to, and you filter business down to whoever needs to do the job. So, if someone wants to dispose of a factory in Hungary, you would talk to our Hungarian colleagues. I've then also been working mainly on the Nokia portfolio review for the past six months or so, looking at their 460 properties globally. Plus, I do a lot of property databases, and some of the more technical stuff in the department.

Sounds pretty varied!

Yes, I would find it very difficult to describe a typical week because I don't think there is one.

So what kind of person do you think succeeds at C&W?

It's very simply someone who gets the job done. Whatever department, you ask them to do something, they do it, it gets good results. I think a great personality also helps and different personalities suit different departments. So yes, a great personality coupled with a great work ethic is what you need, nothing more.

And what about the social activities and sports?

Cushmans really push that and it's wonderful. But also, it's ok if you don't do any of it. It's ok if you come in and do your job, and that you leave it there. I know they are always trying to promote that there are all these sports and things to do, but that might scare some people off. It doesn't have to be like that for you, you can do it your own way.