Quantity surveyor Review

My role involves submitting Forecasts to Complete to the client on a monthly basis, liaising with the site team to assess Applications for Payment from the Subcontractor. Drafting Subcontracts and ensuring that they are sent to the Subcontractor and returned signed, inputting payments onto the payment system ensuring they are paid in accordance with the Subcontract and that the Subcontractor knows when they will be getting paid.

Specific job related skills such as inputting payments onto the payment system and how to write Subcontracts and the documents that get sent etc I have learnt on the job, however skills such as team work and communication I have developed through working within a large team and talking to the Subcontractors.

I have really enjoyed my apprenticeship so far and I know that I've made the right decision with taking the first steps in my career to becoming a quantity surveyor and progressing as far as I can. I enjoy learning within the work place and also at university to continue my education.

The structure of the apprenticeship is very clear, I am to work a set number of hours a day within the office and one day a week during term time at university. Once university has finished I am to sit the interview with RICS in either November 2023 or April 2024 to become chartered.

Costain have a wide selection of online training courses in which each employee is able to complete, we can search for different areas of training and choose which courses we feel are relevant and that we wish to complete. We can also request external training courses. I also receive support from my fellow colleagues who are always happy to provide support.

We have access to online resources such as Moodle and online libraries where we can do additional research, we have access to the powerpoints that are given to us in the lectures and are able to email for additional support. The quality of teaching from some of the lecturers could be improved.

At the moment I do not feel that what we learn within university has a great deal of relevance to the role. It does however help to have an understanding of the different elements on site and the background to construction and basic things about computer programs such as CAD.

As far as I'm aware, there are not many extra curricular activities that we are able to participate in. We have two company events a year, both in the summer and near Christmas which are always good for networking, and there is a summer football tournament which takes place.

Yes

Costain is a brilliant company to work for, willing to push you in your career and make sure that you get the best out of both work and your education at university too. The people that I work with are very supportive in terms of sharing their knowledge and helping myself to learn more about the job.

When applying for the job it is important to carry out research first, both about the job and the job role- thinking of whether this is right for you and whether it is something that you could see yourself doing in the future. I also think it is important to research the company first and see if this is someone that you could be proud to work for.