Apprentice Quantity Surveyor Review

I am an Apprentice Quantity surveyor and on a day to day basis, I assist the commercial team and higher level Quantity Surveyors in tasks. I liase with subcontractors, I examine and fill out contracts, I am in charge of helping to process payments to subcontractors once their works are completed along with shadowing my manager in many other tasks that make a QS so even if I can’t do it directly yet, I’m still learning along the way.

I have managed to develop my IT Skills as quantity surveyors use Excel spreadsheets a lot- I make and use them on almost a daily basis. My admin skills have also been developed - I am in charge of foldering and organising different types of files and documents. My time management skills have also improved as I’ve learnt to subconsciously know the times of the month when payments have to be made and do them before the deadlines.

I enjoy this programme a lot - both aspects of it. The college block is great as the teachers are all very helpful and encouraging. During the block I also made friends with many of the apprentices as we stayed together. I also enjoy the work aspect as my line manager is very helpful and always there to support me in any way

The programme is pretty structured. The college blocks are for a few months then we are working on our projects for the majority of the year in order to gain as much experience as possible. All the staff seem to know what they’re doing and how and when to help us.

I receive lots of support from my employer. The people at BAM are all lovely and friendly so it is always easy to communicate with them and ask them for help. BAM also gives us many benefits - economically too e.g. a living away allowance or paying for our travel.

Our training provider at Leeds college of building give us loads of support. Each unit has a different teacher and they all give us loads of resources and knowledge in order to get good grades in each unit. It is almost impossible to fail as long as you put in effort to complete the work and meet deadlines.

My qualification helps give me more educational knowledge that will provide a boost and more in depth background to the things I do on my project. Even if some of them aren’t being applied directly on your project, it still gives you the foundation to being a well rounded quantity surveyor.

There are lots of activities to get involved in. We do monthly lunch meetings in which we all see the team and eat and drink and discuss everything that’s going on or will happen onsite. This gives everyone an opportunity to communicate any issues or queries we have face to face.

Yes

It is an amazing opportunity to be paid to learn and work towards your chosen career at the same time! The people at BAM are all lovely and helpful so it is easy to assimilate. The college block is not too taxing as the teachers are helpful and all your peers are around you to give you guidance if need be.

Make sure you show that you are passionate about the construction industry and the job role. They won’t want to hire someone who won’t appreciate what BAM do. Key tip: make sure to make a note of all of BAM’s achievements and any news and history of them as it shows you know a lot about the company and are truly interested!