The Role Of A Quantity Surveyor

The current demands for quantity surveyors is exceptionally high, and some reports even state that it is easier to employ professional ballet dancers. The quantity surveyors play an essential role in an engineering lifecycle, making sure that projects are running on budget, time and to the plan. Demand for the candidates with experience and the correct skills is said to continue according to predicted growth for all the sectors in engineering, which includes power, rail along with built environments.

With all these available opportunities, here is some information of the best ways to build a career that is successful when it comes to quantity surveying. Our commercial management and quantity surveying recruitment experts share a few of their insights.

Obtaining The Right Training And Education

There are a number of educational routes when it comes to quantity surveying, yet the candidates will require a degree. Or they will need to work towards 1 in one of the junior roles. There are degrees available for quantity surveying, that are accredited with the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), yet you are not required to study this subject in order to enter this profession.

The graduates from other subjects in their degrees are able to take postgraduate conversion courses, that are also accredited with the RICS. The initial degree can be from any subject, yet those that help assist with providing the necessary knowledge that includes construction or building, structural or civil engineering, geography, economics, land and urban studies or mathematics. Postgraduate courses take 1 year full-time to complete and about 2 years if they are taken part time. It is worthwhile to note that many of the commercial managers begin their careers as quantity surveyors.

Our recruiters have found that most clients evaluate the candidates according to their standards, where a person has managed to progress up “from the tools” as well as received training while on-the-job would usually recruit the type of people with similar career paths. However, when it comes to skills in quantity surveying, which is in high-demand, most employers approach the candidates with the most flexibility. In fact, there are employers who are even willing to hire graduates which have not yet reached an accredited status while supporting the individual to complete this status with a job.

Hands On Experience And Practical Skills

Over and above training and education, clients are also in search of specific core skills like a logical and practical mind, innovation and creativity, IT skills and financial management, strong numeracy, strong communication skills and the abilities to work alongside all types of people. Practical working experience is an added bonus when you start out, and as your career progresses obtaining experience in specific skills like in built environment, power or rail is particularly advantageous. This is a necessity as the role of a quantity surveyor is changing dramatically – check out this post from AndersElite.

The Average Salaries

It is vital to have a realistic expectation when it comes to salaries, especially at the entry levels. Our survey tool for engineering salaries offers salary information that is live from more than 14,000 people that are working currently in engineering. Data outlines salaries that range from £25,000 and £30,000 for entry-level quantity surveyors, along with educated non-degree candidates that can expect to be earning on the lower-end of the scale. Experienced and senior quantity surveyors usually earn from £65,000 and £80,000 with the salaries for the commercial management positions, exceeding this dependent on the experience and role.