In the housing sector, we do more than provide homes - we create opportunities, build communities and make a real difference in people's lives. Whether you’re just starting out or are looking to make a change, there’s a place for everyone in housing.
This toolkit has been developed as part of the CHOOSE HOUSING presidential campaign, by Elly Hoult, to provide resources and guidance on how to raise awareness of the career opportunities the housing sector provides.
Unbranded, the toolkit provides the resources for ANYONE to walk into a community event, school or college and promote housing as a career of choice.
This is not just Elly's campaign; we need everyone to play their part in recruiting the next generation of housing professionals across the UK.
In the toolkit you'll find tips and resources on:
A resource folder with housing career handouts that you can adapt and use to inspire the next generation to CHOOSE HOUSING:
- CHOOSE HOUSING PowerPoint presentation
- CHOOSE HOUSING video reel
- Handout: Why you should CHOOSE HOUSING
- Handout: What is the housing sector?
- Handout: Jobs in housing
- Handout: Housing qualifications options for starting and progressing your career
- Social media tile backgrounds and information.
All the resources are unbranded, so you can download them and use them as your own. We also have CHOOSE HOUSING exhibition stand backdrops, and are able to produce any of the resources in the folder as print ready PDFs. Please email marketing.communications@cih.org to find out more, or to make a suggestion for additional items you'd like to see in the resources folder.
Tell us your #ChooseHousing stories
Help us to inspire others! Tell us how you are helping inspire others to #ChooseHousing and we’ll feature on our socials, on the Choose Housing web pages and in our Knowledge Hub. Get in touch by emailing marketing.communication@cih.org.
Working with the community
Where better to promote careers in housing than in your own communities. It’s easier to talk about housing as a career when people already know who you are and the beneficial impact your organisation has in the local area.
Connecting with people often works best as part of wider community activities, making yourself, your colleagues and organisation a trusted resource.
- What are you already doing to engage at a community level?
- Can you integrate discussions about housing as a career option into what you’re doing locally? For example, working with primary and other school pupils on litter pick-ups, organising nature activities, setting up youth advisory panels etc.
If your organisation isn’t community based, can you work with the community and young people/schools in areas where you have more homes? Are there employability programmes or local career fairs you can tap into?
Working with schools and colleges
Working with schools needs a light touch – it’s about building a relationship and getting the trust of teachers and pupils as early as possible in their education. It’s also about working with key partners.
Just as you and your colleagues are the experts in housing, when trying to engage with young people it makes sense to work in partnership with those agencies who already have direct contact with schools and access to pupils.
Local authority education teams, local Chambers of Commerce, and other employability programmes are often keen to work with industry partners.
- Provide meaningful work placements
- Arrange site visits
- Deliver school talks
- Deliver a career talk within a classroom environment
- Take part in employability activities
- Attend local careers fairs in schools and colleges
- Mentoring
- Curriculum development activities
- Provide support with employability skills, such as conducting mock interviews for pupils
- Deliver masterclasses on topics such as CV writing or interview techniques.
Top topics and tips promoting housing as a career of choice
Here are some top tips you may find helpful in your engagement activities, and links below to download resources you can customise and use.
- Is the focus on:
- Raising awareness
- Actual opportunities.
- Where you have a few group sessions listen to what they want to know about and how they want to learn about housing.
- Listen, adapt and be as interactive as possible if you’re in a classroom or group setting.
- Include quizzes and Q&A
- Consider using Mentimeter for interactive quizzes – lets people use their phones to comment anonymously (Needs access to reliable Wi-Fi network).
- Be sure to feature any young people, and real career progression stories of people you already employ, especially if they’re from the local area.
- Highlight the variety of jobs available in housing (not just housing officer). There are over 200 different roles to choose from in social housing alone. There is information on this in one of the handouts.
- Explain that housing is a career where personal qualities and experience often count for more than academic qualifications, which can be gained later once in work.
- Encourage people to think about the skills they already have and how these might relate to working in housing. For frontline housing professionals it’s good to have:
- A desire to help people
- Good listening and communication (people) skills
- Empathy and being able to relate to people
- A problem solving approach
- Confidence to assess situations as they arise
- Flexibility to adapt to changing situations
- Ability to cope with challenging situations
- Ability to work as part of a team
- A desire to keep learning.
- Highlight some of the many benefits of working in housing:
- It can be a secure, long-term career
- Pay and prospects for career advancement are good
- No qualifications are needed to start your career
- There’ll be opportunities to train and learn throughout your career
- Social housing landlords are located throughout the UK, meaning there’s the potential to work locally, in their own community, or move to other areas.
- Be honest and don’t sugar-coat it. Working in housing:
- Can be challenging, especially when working with customers who are in difficult circumstances, though there’s great satisfaction when you can help
- Can involve unsocial hours – tenant participation officers and other staff involved in community engagement activities, for example, sometimes need to have evening meetings with tenants.
- Don’t forget to include information or a local contact for where people can find out more if they are interested in finding out more about a career in housing.
IMPORTANT! Remember everyone you’re talking to, as well as potentially being the next generation of housing employees, could be existing or future customers too.
Promoting careers in housing: A social media guide
Showcase careers in housing on social media
Social media is an effective way to reach young audiences and career changers.
We have put this social media guide together to give you inspiration and ideas on how you can support CHOOSE HOUSING and showcase the variety of career opportunities available within your own organisation.
Platforms to utilise include:
- Snapchat
- TikTok
- YouTube
Think about what platforms your potential audiences are using.
Tailor your messaging to your target audience:
- 13–15-year-olds - raising awareness of the diverse careers available in housing and what the sector does
- 16–21-year-olds - will be more interested in your current career opportunities and progression
- Career changers – focus on transferrable skills and personal qualities required to work in housing.
Think about your own organisation, your vision and values, and link those into key messages about the benefits of working withing the housing sector showcasing:
- Diverse careers
- Social impact
- Inclusive opportunities
- Future-focused
- Professional development and progression
Finally, be honest, we know working in housing can be an enjoyable and rewarding career, but it also can be challenging and involve working unsocial hours.
You will want to adhere to your organisational tone of voice, but when targeting younger audiences in particular try to keep the tone less formal, friendly and inclusive.
A day in the life series
Platforms: Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube
- Insight into the day-to-day activities of key roles
- Quick interviews or testimonials
- Showcasing career highlights.
Example post:
"Think housing is just bricks and mortar? Think again... discover careers in finance, technology, and social change that make a difference every day. #CHOOSEHOUSING"
Top five reasons to work in housing
Platforms: Instagram, LinkedIn (carousel, reels)
- Graphics of ‘Top five reasons to work in housing'
- Use stories, polls or live Q&A sessions to explore this content.
Example post:
"Want a career that makes a difference? Explore jobs in housing where you can help transform lives and build stronger communities. #CHOOSEHOUSING”
Short video stories or vlogs
Platforms: Snapchat, YouTube
- Videos with young professionals sharing their career journey
- Behind the scenes of large projects or developments
- Explainer videos about career options in housing:
- School and college leavers
- Graduates
- Career changers.
Example post:
"Why I chose a career in housing: Meet David, our most recent graduate recruit. #CHOOSEHOUSING”
Other content ideas and topics to consider:
- Explaining entry level routes into housing
- Qualification pathways
- Career pathways
- Professional development and progression opportunities
- Real impact stories:
- Communities
- People supported
- Homes transformed
- Key calendar and awareness days: e.g. National Apprenticeship Week, National Careers Week, Learning at Work Week.
Keep your visuals bold and simple if you can, but also authentic and unfiltered. If showcasing people, make them relatable and representative of your target audiences and the communities in which you work.
To help you below you will find the CHOOSE HOUSING logo and some social media templates you can use you get you started.
#CHOOSEHOUSING
Follow and tag CIH into your social media posts so we can help spread the message.
Get involved and keep sharing your #ChooseHousing stories
Join us in promoting housing as a career of choice. Whether you’re an organisation looking to engage with the next generation, or a partner ready to support this cause, CHOOSE HOUSING offers something for everyone.
Help us to inspire others! Tell us how you are helping inspire others to #ChooseHousing and we’ll feature on our socials, on the Choose Housing web pages and in our Knowledge Hub.
