James

Qualifications:

BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying and Construction Commercial Management Member of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

Profile

I joined a local brickwork and scaffolding company as an apprentice quantity surveyor working 4 days a week in the office and 1 day a week attending Nottingham Trent University. My part time university degree took 5 years to complete and during this period I moved company to a large national main contractor where I was based in the home counties. I stayed at this company for 6 years where I progressed from glorified tea boy to a Chartered Surveyor (Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) who was responsible for running my own construction projects - roughly up to a value of £40m. Towards the end of my tenure, I decided to take a year sabbatical to go travelling and visiting 19 countries over a period of 10 months, having to return early because I spent all my money having too much fun!

On my return I was head hunted to work for 3 other companies in central London where I have been working for the last 13 years. I have been fortunate enough to have worked on various interesting and large-scale projects from working on a £150m premier league football stand to a £400m headquarters for a European bank.
I am now employed as a Commercial Director for multi-national main contractor with a £2,5bn turnover, although I still commute into London from Higham Ferrers everyday – as it’s the best place in the world in my opinion!

I was part of a quantity surveying apprenticeship.
I was lucky in the sense that my mum found the job opportunity in a local paper and suggested I interviewed for it. After googling what a quantity surveyor was, I decided to go for it.
I had just completed day 1 of selling stationary over the phone (which I absolutely hated) when I found out I got the apprenticeship. That call genuinely changed the course of my life.
I always knew I wanted a degree, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study, having fell out of love with drama in Year 13. I always thought I would end up studying that at university but having changed my mind so late left me in a bit of a pickle.

I also knew I did not want to pay for university myself and doing an apprenticeship was a great way to achieve that – I should add that was when the university fees were only £1800 a year!
I interview a lot of young Quantity Surveyors’ and one of the first things I look out for are those who have done a part time degree, as they have 5 years industry experience compared to no industry experience for a new graduate.

I completed my degree whilst working full time. I would travel to Nottingham Trent University 1 day a week for 5 years. It was a great way to get a degree for free whilst getting proper experience in the role I was studying for. I cannot recommend this approach enough.

Advice to students

Don’t try and map out your entire life in one go. Go with the flow and take opportunities as they arise. Don’t be scared to go outside of your comfort zone both geographically and mentally.
If something doesn’t work out don’t beat yourself up about it, at least you’ve tried, and no doubt learned something. You will have plenty of time to get where you want to go.

Additional Resources

Careers in Construction