Industrial Placment Student- Building Surveying Review

I am currently still undertaking my placement and so far, I am having a great time. It's really motivated me to do well in my final year and pursue a graduate role with the firm I am currently working at. Every one welcomed me to the team despite how nervous I was on my first day (being late didn't help..be much more organised than me guys), but I could tell every one made their efforts to make me feel part of the team from the very first day.

My colleagues are brilliant. I am only 4 months into my placement but I felt like every one in the team was approachable and friendly from the very start. I could really tell they wanted me to do well in my career as everyone always provides me with valuable information whenever I asked. overall, very down to earth team who trusts all new colleagues with important responsibility.

People are always here to give you advice and answer any questions, despite their workload, they understand what it's like to be a new graduate or student. Very intelligent and empathetic people who are open to give as much advice as they can to help you succeed in your career. I am looking forward to pursuing a building surveying career with a firm like this (or even with this firm if I'm lucky)

There are some weeks where you have a fully packed schedule and you're running in and out of the office. I think you are kept busy with projects through out the week but there are some Mondays where you occasionally have to find some work to do. However, my line manager always made sure I had work (relevant work too!) throughout my time during my placement. Important attitude to hold as a placement student is to regard everything as a learning opportunity.

As a placement student, I knew I wasn't not going to be chucked into the deep end in the very early stages eg. taking on client meetings, leading projects. But I was given a considerate amount of responsibility and was quite surprised to be meeting clients and carrying out site/building inspections so early into my placement. Its a great feeling to know your senior colleagues have that trust within you to take on an important workload.

This placement has applied so many things I've learned in uni into the working world. Honestly has been so insightful and I haven't even finished this placement. I've learned that everything I've learned in uni is only a fraction of what the job role requires as a building surveyor and its still a huge learning experience eve after you graduate.

The atmosphere was always positive and energetic as my whole team consisted of young seniors/ graduates and recently chartered employees. It was evident that the team had a work hard party hard personality. I did think I would find it slightly hard to fit in to the team but overall everyone has been very friendly and polite. Its great that there is always a social event to look forward which fits peoples interests. There are some very busy periods in the office where colleagues have a huge work load and dedicate their time to clients/ projects so it can get quite (but very rarely), However this just reflects the professionalism of the company.

Organisation was brilliant. There was always a task allocated to me and always people in the team who needed assistance with their projects. The company uses a business system which ensures all colleagues dedicate full working hours to projects/ clients. The director oversees the productivity of all employees within the team so it means you will have to have work allocated to you. There is also an abundance of support with career progression, particularly with the APC programme which is the route to getting chartered in the building surveying progression. Placements/ graduate schemes are organised in a way to help you get the best out of your professional career and help you become a better person.

They have invested a lot in terms of providing me with advice on my next steps after I graduate from university and I have had the reassurance of keeping in touch with colleagues/senior colleagues for support in my final year. I firmly believe that if I keep in touch with my colleagues they will continue to provide me with the brilliant advice they have been giving throughout my placement. There is an in house APC support system in place to ensure employees have the best support and advice for career progression so I couldn't have asked to be with a better firm.

As I have only been with the firm for 4 months, Its a bit early to predict whether I have a graduate job bagged with the firm however, I would love to work for them. After completing my 3month review with my line manager, I have been told that I have been performing well so its only a mater of being consistent and improving each day to achieve my goal of working for the firm after I graduate.

As the team is young, the social scene is great within the firm. It's full of new graduates/ recently joined employees so there plenty to talk about with colleagues. Things to look forward to include sports activities, nights out, after work drinks (Even though I don't drink, it was lovely to have colleagues inviting you to spend time with them), annual Christmas parties, summer parties.

The cost of living was not too bad for me as I have always been living in London and I am studying at a London university. There was nothing shocking about the cost of a sandwich in central London. However, for people joining the firm that are from outside of London be prepared to spend a bit more and have the intention to save up as much money as possible on don't blow all your earnings on a night out. It will reflect your lack of self discipline to your colleagues when you talk about how broke you are haha.

Working in London, next to the top universities in the world/ Country (Kings, UCL, SOAS), the night life is obviously great! There's plenty of activities and things to get stuck into so you'll never be short of ideas/ plans. Travel links are brilliant and commuting is very easy in London. Shame about the cost though!

Yes there were! We have graduates who dedicate their time to organizing sports activities for us newbies which helps with settling in and getting to know the team outside of work. I particularly enjoy the football matches. I am yet to join in a team rugby match and I can't wait to get involved in the next few events.If sports aren't your thing, then I'm sure there are some hipster colleagues around within the firm who enjoy doing activities similar to your interests. A very diverse team!