Graduate Planner Review

My day to day tasks involve: carrying out site appraisals on prospective sites; assisting senior members of the team with large scale planning applications; preparing planning statements; managing my own small-scale planning applications; liaising with the local planning authorities; submitting planning applications; attending site visits; managing projects from start to finish and liaising with clients.

I have learned the key skills which are required to be a Chartered Town Planner. I've further understood when carrying out my day to day tasks, how to ensure I am constantly abiding by the RTPI Core Principles and Code of Professional Conduct. It has also allowed me to understand why we do certain tasks such as carrying out conflict checks.

I have really enjoyed the programme. It's been a great chance to meet others on the course and around the business who started at the same time as me. The course has been extremely relevant to my job and it was useful to meet others in the course who work in the Local Authorities as I now have contacts which are useful for the job.

The University themselves were quite disorganised, however the Apprenticeship coordinators at Savills were amazing. As it was a new course there were a few teething issues at first however Savills allowed for these to not be too disruptive and did everything they could to sort out any problems. The structure of the programme was very good as in the first year it was more lecture based, and second year was more private study which was useful for studying alongside a full time job.

I received a lot of support from my team together with support from the Apprenticeship team. I would meet the Apprenticeship coordinator monthly when I first started so they could ensure everything was going to plan and if I had any problems they could report them back to the university.

My mentor supported me through the training a large amount. We made sure we had monthly catch ups to check my progression and when I was getting closer to key submissions we would meet weekly. He also reviewed my coursework if I required to make sure it was the best it could be.

It will enable me to become a Chartered Planner which will allow myself to be regarded well within the industry and when advising clients. When applying for the qualification, you have to really think about what you've done and how it applies to the key principles of being a Chartered Planner.

Yes, I'm part of the netball team and attend many of the graduate client events. There are also many opportunities to entertain clients which is a great way to build a professional relationship and understand their exact needs. This is something I really like about Savills as you're liaising with the clients from the outset, rather than when you're at a certain level.

Yes

It's a great place to work. There's a large amount of graduates which join every year which allows a lot of people to be in the same boat and relatable. The job is so varied everyday and we get to work with some of the industries largest clients.

Do you research on the market, but also just be yourself. If you have any extra curricular activities these are great to mention as they allow you to be memorable. Prior to your interview / assessment day see if you can find out who you'll be talking to so you can see what projects they work on. This will show you're interested in the industry but also done your homework.