'I get a buzz out of ringing a young couple to tell them the keys are here'

Ciara Lennon/Solicitor, Augustus Cullen and Son Solicitors, Wicklow: A corporate law degree from NUI Galway could have sent Ciara Lennon down the road of commercial law to spend her days dissecting the complexities of Irish and European law.

Instead she chose property conveyancing in a commuter town where the first-time housing market is booming and the investor market is still strong. After her degree she completed an LLB postgraduate course and sat the entrance exams for Blackhall Place to train as a solicitor. A summer job with Dublin legal firm Eugene F Collins was her first introduction to the property business and the firm offered her an apprenticeship.

When she qualified at the end of 2004, she relocated to Wicklow town and started working with the property department of the busy law firm Augustus Cullen. "I like the fact that my day is always different. Auctions are always interesting and I really get a buzz out of ringing a young couple to tell them 'the keys are here'.

"There's usually a four to six-week turnaround with a file and an end in sight in a process. Also, the more you do it the better you get at it, and there is plenty of variety. You need to be very organised and methodical."

Her own search for a home gave her valuable contact with local estate agents and financial brokers and helped to break the ice as the new face in town.

And having recently bought her first house, she can relate to the thrill of that "keys are here" call from a solicitor.