At CQS Solutions, we are passionate about our roles as quantity surveyors, and we like to spread the word about what we do as an industry. We feel like quantity surveying as a whole gets a bad reputation for being boring, repetitive and not an appealing career for young people to venture into.
In this article, we want to discuss just how exciting, expansive and interesting a job as a quantity surveyor can be.
Why is the industry not attracting new people?
There are a few misleading things that people believe about the quantity surveying industry that are putting off young people from considering it as a career for themselves. A few of these things are that the job is seen as boring, dirty, uncomfortable, male dominated and not very innovative. This puts a lot of people off (especially women or ethnic minorities) as they think they won’t be accepted or made to feel comfortable in the job role.
What is the role of a quantity surveyor really like?
- Working in a professional environment that can be fun and dynamic – not on a dirty building site all the time.
- Varied locations – You get to be outside of the office some days, with a varied range of locations. Your career may even lead you to travelling all over the country and world.
- You can specialise – Quantity surveying isn’t all just about maths. There’s lots of room for specialism such as interpreting contracts, managing the processes and risks, negotiating and communicating. It’s a lot more of a wider role than people may think.
- You can make a difference – The industry is involved in a lot of changes due to the environmental climate emergency, such as decarbonisation and retrofitting. People who come into this career can really make a difference.
- Work across the whole supply chain – It’s a good opportunity for anybody who’s interested in buildings and architecture as you get to learn so much about the industry as a whole.
- Adopting new technology – There are lots of new design processes that are being developed in recent years, as well as Building Information Modelling and the Building Safety Act. Read more about bringing the construction industry into the digital age here.
Mentor Schemes
Our Principle Surveyor, Tim Lloyd, has been taking part in mentoring students from Birmingham City University and attending numerous careers fairs to help inspire people into a career in quantity surveying.
We want to promote the fact that there are many different pathways into this career, and you don’t necessarily have to do a full time degree before you start a graduate job. For example, an option is studying the new T levels which will be equivalent to degrees, where you would spend one day a week in work and the other four days in college or university. It’s a fantastic way of gaining hands on experience alongside traditional learning in a classroom.
Do you want to know more about becoming a quantity surveyor? Do you have any questions for our experienced team? Get in touch with us today!