Walter Murphy assisted a certified home appraiser with clients in northern Arizona, utilizing his professional communication skills in the process.
How did you get your internship and why did you choose it?
I got my internship by utilizing my network and cold calling. I didn't expect to do this home appraisal internship however the opportunity presented itself after doing a cold call. I chose this internship because I wanted to be back in Flagstaff around my family. I worked at many different other internships and received other others, but this seemed like the best option with my preferred location in mind. I also chose this internship because I am very interested in the opportunities in real estate, so I took this position just to get my foot in the door and see if this is something I want to pursue.
What kind of work did you do throughout your internship experience?
I did lots of different kinds of work throughout my home appraisal internship. I looked through the multiple listing service (MLS) to identify properties and assisted with writing reports. I also helped measure and take pictures of houses. I was also tasked with driving the certified home appraiser around to the houses, which isn’t glamorous work, but it is a common part of real estate when you’re meeting with residential clients.
What is unique about your situation that influenced your internship experience?
I got to live in my childhood home during my internship which I don't think is common. Honestly, I feel like living at my childhood house made it a lot harder to do my internship. Something about living in such a comfortable environment during this new experience made it not feel as novel, compared to the experience I had starting something new like moving away to go to college, for example.
What transferable skills did you practice in this internship?
I know it sounds basic and I've used this skill a lot before, but communication is something that I had to do a lot during my internship. I would go into the homes of people that I had never met and had to make them feel comfortable with me being there and helping them appraise the value of the house. I used communication to smooth over the feelings of nervousness or anxiety that clients may be feeling about having a stranger tell them what their biggest investment is worth. I wanted to make sure I presented myself as calm and trustworthy.
How did your Applied Humanities major coursework help prepare you for the internship experience?
My previous applied humanities coursework helped me prepare for my internship because there was an entire class dedicated to pre-internship (PAH 383) that helped me build my self-esteem before taking on this job. We learned how to talk about our transferable skills and updated our materials like our LinkedIn profile. It also helped with being able to just narrow down my options to select this internship out of the few offers.