Trainee Quantity Surveyor Review

I am in the role of a trainee quantity surveyor and on a daily basis I do quite a lot of things which include monitoring costs of Plant, labour and materials and forecasting the cost for next month. Internally, I interact with the team of engineers to gain a better understanding of the construction techniques which is very useful for my development. I am currently on the Clarges Estate project which is a $150m development by British Land and specifically I am working for Expanded which is the Concrete structure arm of LOR

I am working towards a Bsc Degree in Quantity Surveying which I will achieve in 4 years time which seems a long way off but in reality it is not that long away and I am picking up vital on job skills from my work peers which I can use to aid my development in both my degree and also my day to day job role. I have been on several internal training courses which include Excel training and Navisworks training which are both needed in my job role so this was definitely a benefit to me. The vast majority of my learning has taken place in my office and on site as seeing something first hand is how I feel that the best learning takes place.

I enjoy my programme to a great extent as there is such a great span for development and progression within the company. I really enjoy working in a team at work to get a specific job done more efficiently and effectively but also working individually equally. The programme has exceeded my expectations at the start and has given me a platform of skills and knowledge to take with me throughout my career.

I feel very valued by Laing O'Rourke from an early stage as whenever I have completed my work load or surpassed expectations on a specific task I am told how well I have done or in cases, where I can improve on my work. Construction criticism is valued as highly as awards and commemorations which is great for my development in the future and I will know what to do better next time to improve on my performance. In my specific project, I am valued as a trainee QS by the senior QS on the project as I am trusted with a great deal of work that has high importance and at such a young age this is great for me dealing with working under pressure.

The programme is very well structured and is perhaps the best out there of its kind. This is because not only does Laing O'Rourke send me to University one day a week for 5 years and provide me with on the job work experience for the other 4 days in the week but it provides 2 modules a year which is a chance for the cohort group to come together to share their experiences and learn from eachother. This way we can develop as a group of the same cohort in the apprenticeship and not only as an individual within the business.

The training provider of London South bank university is fairly good at providing support for the BSc Quantity surveying degree. The lecturers are usually able to help with queries that I may have and I can articulate these comments to the lecturers at the end of a lecture but the difficulty is when I am outside of the lecture times and attempting to communicate a lecturers via emails or arranging a tutorial, it can sometimes be difficult to get this extra help from the uni which can sometimes be vital for last minute revision or work on coursework.

A lot of support is provided by the training team at Laing O'Rourke as they are regularly in contact via email or in person or on the telephone to check up on our development and see how we are doing in general. This is very reassuring that the company have invested a great deal of money in putting a team there in place purely for our development as a cohort. There are also a lot of training programmes that are provided to further our development such as training courses on managing work load and communicating confidently.

The salary is not great and as I am 19 years of age I am envisaging leaving home within the next few years however the salary provided for the apprenticeship programme will not allow me to achieve this goal anytime soon and means that I still have to be fairly dependant on my parents to provide bare essentials for living around London. There is potential to progress within the company during the apprenticeship which would mean receiving pay rises or bonuses accordingly.

Outside of work there are a few opportunities for social gatherings within the apprenticeship cohort as in general the apprenticeship isn't as coroporate as the company as a whole so there is always an opportunity to get to know peers outside of the work environment for various events which may include sports events or attending a few pubs and clubs which are always great fun to break out of the 'corporate work environment'.

Yes

Yes, because it provides all of the apprenticeships with an equal and fair platform to begin their career in the construction industry but also it notices talent and potential from early on in ones career and from that is able to provide awards and benefits to those individuals. It truly is a great company to work for as LOR look after their people with great care and understanding and invest so much in people development.

For those who are applying for LOR, I would say to be yourself from the start as the most important thing which Laing O'Rourke will notice in you is personality and what you can bring as an individual to the business that they haven't already got. At the age of 18 when applying you will have limited experience so what is important is to sell yourself as an individual as ultimately the company are investing as you as a person and the potential you can show.