Apprentice Quantity Surveyor Review

I am an apprentice quantity surveyor on the m1 junction 13 to 16 smart motorways project that costain are undertaking for highways England (our client). My job is to manage and pay subcontractors who are working for us in order to complete the smart motorway to the standards set by Highways England.

I have learned a lot of new skills which range from learning new computer programmes to more basic skills such as scaling and quantifying drawings. Day to day skills are mostly maths based as I am constantly working out payments or areas or multiply rates in order to come to a final figure for something.

I enjoy my programme a lot, it can be quite manic at times because I have a lot of responsibility for my job but then I am also working towards a degree at Coventry University. If you learn to manage your time you can place objectives in importance order and get through everything eventually.

On my apprenticeship I am at work 4 days per week and then at Coventry University 1 day per week. I am expected to work from 8 am until 5:30 pm when I am at work so the days can be quite long especially taking into account commuting on top of that.

I receive a lot of support via my line manager and boss and I also get contacted by a learning and development manager who isn't based at my site who checks in to make sure I have all the resources required and I am getting on with my modules at Uni.

I attend the weekly lectures as programmed and I have the availability to email lecturers with any questions I have. There are also module reviews done during modules so this is again an opportunity to speak up if you are struggling with anything and the lecturers are usually quite good at responding quickly.

There are definitely basic functions on my university course that help me at the work place however my job is based on a motorway project and my university degree is often related to house building so there can be some confusion at points between the two. Overall however there are a lot of overlaps which apply.

There are a lot of activities at my work which can be done inside and outside of work. For example to promote physical well being there was a skipping challenge at work, there are also after work exercise classes such as yoga and football so overall there is a lot of opportunity for extra curricular activity.

Yes

They are a great company to work for, they provide a lot of incentive such as 6 monthly pay reviews, share saver scheme, pension contribution, private health care, etc.

Don't hesitate to apply, they are a great company to work for, be sure to be diligent and helpful. As an apprentice you have less responsibility so it is a great opportunity to learn as much as you can while doing your qualification so you ultimately can become fully qualified and have years of experience when going into your discipline.