Cost Consultant Review

As a QS I cover a range of tasks, including cost planning, value management and value engineering, cost benefit analysis, lifecycle costing, tendering, valuations, change control, cost estimation and review invoices and invoice applications. I also attend regular meetings both internal and external and attend regular site visits where I get to interact with the project teams.

Throughout my apprenticeship I have hugely developed on both my time management and organisational skills. This has been especially important as I have had to balance both university studies whilst working 4 days a week. I also feel that my communication skills have improved, both over email and in person and I have become a more confident public speaker.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the course of my programme. I have been supported by my colleagues and has a very pleasant experience. However, there were points where I felt it lacked structure and progression felt slow which can be disheartening, but overall I think it has been a very positive experience.

I do feel like the programme has lacked structure at points and that what team you were put in when you joined played a huge role in how much experience you gained throughout the apprenticeship as some departments/teams had more work available and some had less. I think the programme would benefit from a rotation scheme, where you get the chance to work in different teams/departments.

I received a lot of support from my colleagues within my team, support was always there and continues to be there where I look for it. However, my colleagues & line managers weren't very well informed on how the apprenticeship schemes worked so lacked the knowledge to help/support me at times. The apprenticeship team also had a number of people come and go throughout my course so sometimes I found it was difficult to build a relationship with them.

I think we received a reasonable amount of support from our training provider. Especially though the university aspect of the course. However, some of the activities we had to complete (e.g. diaries) felt like a waste of time and more of a tick box activity. I also found more towards the end of the course they put a lot of pressure on us that doesn't necessarily help.

There are elements of my degree which tie into my role but overall I believe my ability to perform in my role is improved by the practical experience I am gaining through working rather than the qualification. The knowledge from my degree of course does help to an extent but the main factor is definitely from practical work experience.

Yes, the London office offers a number of sports teams, I have attended pilates classes and I regularly play for the Arcadis netball team. We also have cricket and football teams, as well as a golf tournament. The office also does monthly socials. Amongst my team, we also do regular socials which I am involved in organising.

Yes

I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Arcadis, although I must credit much of my experience to my colleagues within my team who have been very supportive throughout my time here. The regularly social events have really helped us to gel as a team and allowed us all to get to know each other and become friends. I also find the projects and work interesting. As a whole, I believe Arcadis as a company care about their employees.

Go for it! Work hard, be yourself and most importantly (in my opinion) don't be afraid to ask questions - soak up as much knowledge from other people as you can! I would also advise attending as many social events as possible to create relationships and get to know people around the office as they really impact your whole experience.