In Hong Kong, housing directors sit pretty high up the job league. There are always more applicants than positions, so membership of the Chartered Institute of Housing is highly prized; to get in, people study five nights a week and Saturday afternoons for four years. In the UK, it's a different story. A career in housing is something that many drift into rather than set out to do. As we reported last week, a poll of graduates thinking of entering the public sector found that only one in 50 wanted to work in housing, while students at the London School of Economics, home to two of the country's most eminent housing academics, weren't even aware of it as a career option.

Here, having MCIH after your name is not so valued by employers – which presents a problem to the institute, currently facing a bumpy ride over its finances (see page 9). Its income savaged by the state of the stock market, the institute's AGM is voting on a fee increase for its 18,000 members. An unpopular move, but it may not have a choice.

The task facing the CIH is how to open up the club to raise its income. There are, after all, estimated to be more than 100,000 people working in the sector. The CIH is exploring various new "associate" levels of membership for those without the academic qualifications or experience to qualify for full chartered status.

The key is to get employers to value the CIH initials so that more people will strive to get qualified

But at the same time, the key thing is to persuade employers to value the CIH initials so that more people will strive to get them – like the Royal Institute of British Architects or Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, where membership is almost mandatory for people in the relevant sectors. Perhaps it's time to reassess what employers really think of the CIH qualification and ask them how they would like to see the game raised.

The institute must also help to raise the profile of the sector and interest more potential applicants. For example, how many organisations go to university careers fairs? How many take sixth-formers on work experience or send their housing director to talk to the local school? At the moment, housing is hardly out of the papers. It shouldn't be invisible as a career.

Source

Housing Today