Careers Spotlight: Quantity Surveyor

Quantity surveyors estimate and control costs for large construction projects. They make sure that structures meet legal and quality standards. Quantity surveyors are involved at every stage of a project. Whether they’re working on residential, commercial or industrial projects, clients rely on them to ensure that the final outcome is value for money.

What does a quantity surveyor do?

As a quantity surveyor you will be responsible for helping to estimate costs, quantities, and project timelines and providing this information to clients. You will be liaising with a variety of other teams and helping to keep a project on track.

The job role of a quantity surveyor involves the following duties:

• Talking with clients to identify their needs

• Estimating quantities, costs and time scales for material and labour

• Preparing tender and contract documents

• Identifying and weighing up commercial risks

• Assigning work to subcontractors

• Valuing completed work, managing budgets and overseeing payments

• Ensuring projects meet legal and quality standards

• Ensuring that clients get value for their money

• Advising on the maintenance costs of specific buildings

• Submitting regular budget reports

• Following building regulations and health and safety

• Working at a client’s business, in an office or on a construction site.

How to become a quantity surveyor

There are several routes to becoming a quantity surveyor.You could complete an undergraduate degree in quantity surveying or another relevant subject, such as construction, maths or geography.  Alternatively an apprenticeship with a construction firm is a good way into the industry. Apprenticeships are open to anyone over the age of 16. As an apprentice, you will be fully employed by your company and expected to work a minimum of 30 hours a week. Your time will be split between on-the-job experience and a college or training provider.

The expected salary for a quantity surveyor varies as you become more experienced.

Newly trained quantity surveyors earn in the region of £30,000 while senior or chartered quantity surveyors can earn in the region of £45,000 - £65,000

Hours and salaries depend on location, employer and any overtime you may do. Salaries and career options also improve with chartered status.

If you would like to find out more about being a quantity surveyor click on the link below:

Boosting your CV

In this section we have looked at how boost your CV.  A good CV will get you noticed and invited for an interview, but no further.  The key to a successful interview lies in soft skills.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills relate to how you work. Soft skills include interpersonal (people) skills, communication skills, listening skills, time management, and empathy, among others. They are among the top skills employers seek in the candidates they hire, because soft skills are important for just about every job.

Over the next few editions of the careers newsletter we will look at different soft skills and how you can improve them

Communication

Communication, while complex, is a vital part of succeeding in just about every avenue of life. It’s one thing to know what’s right or know what to do, but it’s another thing entirely to be able to clearly communicate that to the right people at the right time. Developing strong communication skills, both verbally and in writing, is an essential soft skill for the modern workplace.

Interpersonal Skills

Closely related to communication, interpersonal skills are all those intangibles you need to relate well to others, build relationships, and generate the necessary rapport to make inroads and win discussions.

If you’ve ever been in a discussion and emerged from it unsure how the other person convinced you to agree, you were dealing with someone with exceptional interpersonal skills. While some people are born with naturally strong interpersonal skills, everyone can learn strategies to improve in this area.

National Careers Week

Monday 6th March marks the start of National Careers Week 2023.  

During the week students will be working on careers focused activities during form time.  

We would also ask that you discuss careers with your student.  A conversation about what you actually do when you go to work can be incredibly powerful for a young person who is just starting to think about the world of work.  If you have changed careers at some point this can be a really useful for a young person to hear about as many young people worry about choosing the wrong career and realising that people change careers will help reduce the stress when they are thinking about their future career.

The National Careers website has a wealth of resources to help you start the discussion, just click on the link below 

Current Opportunities

This month we have an opportunities to learn participate in virtual work experience and an online conference about careers and next steps

What University? & What Career? Live

We are excited to announce that registration for our first ever virtual event dedicated to increasing social mobility – What University? & What Career? Live - Access for All - is now open! 

The objective of this free, online event is to broaden access to information about university and apprenticeship opportunities, as well as the wide range of support available. Most importantly, the event will inspire, motivate, and engage students from all backgrounds! 

The virtual event will be taking place on Tuesday 21 March, and we’d love for you and your students to join us!

Whether your students have their sights set on going to university or are interested in learning about apprenticeship opportunities, we’re keen to ensure that they have access to information and advice about their school leaver choices. Attendees will have the opportunity to:

• Engage in a packed programme of free webinars covering topics such as: How to access support and guidance at university, Neurodiversity as a superpower in the workplace, and Future-proofing your career.

• Ask questions during presentations and through advice chatrooms 

• Browse and download a wide range of useful resources, from information on scholarship opportunities to advice on making the transition from school or college into the workforce 

• Plus, much more!  

For more information regarding the event visit: https://www.whatcareerlive.co.uk/access-for-all-2023

How to register: 

All students and teachers will need their own individual log in details to access the event. You can do this one of two ways: 

1. To register a group of students on their behalf, please fill in the attached group booking form and return it to schoolliaison@vmgl.com by Tuesday 28 February

2. Alternatively, each user can fill in this short online form to create an account https://accessforall.vfairs.com/en/registration  

Springpod Virtual Work Experience

To celebrate National Careers Week Springpod have created a programme of on demand virtual work experience.  Please click on the link below or scan the QR code to learn more