Building and Project Consultancy Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Savills, I have been given a rich insight into the life of a Building Surveyor. I have worked with some fantastic individuals with a huge breath of knowledge and experience, all of whom have been so helpful and welcoming. Working here has affirmed my desire to progress in a career in building consultancy.

Very much so, I have worked with people who are clearly passionate about what they do and want to get others excited about the industry. I was trusted to work on some really interesting surveys and my efforts never went unrecognised.

My team were always approachable and happy to help, although I worked during a busy period everyone was happy to explain things to me. As well as people in my team, the HR and admin support were always available to assist and very responsive. I never felt lost and unable to ask questions, this really helped me to get a full understanding of any task I undertook and develop my understanding of them.

I always had work to be getting on with, however never felt inundated. However it wasn't just the work load that was just right, but the quality of the work I was given. Everyone on my team were really great with providing me with work that would be beneficial to my learning, rather than just giving me jobs they didn't want/have time to do. The work load varied from writing up reports, doing research and assisting on surveys and site visits. Everything was very well balanced, I would never be doing one single job for days on end, this kept the work day interesting and engaging.

I think the team trusted me with some key responsibilities such as writing up reports, doing preliminary research, attending meetings and site visits. Although I was given a good level of responsibility, I was never left to my own devices and always had a colleague with me to explain the process and purpose of what I was doing. I got the impression that the team had a good level of faith in my capabilities and that I was making a valuable contribution!

I would say I have learnt a similar amount in this month as I have done on my first year of university! Savills absolutely invest in the Summer Scheme Internship students, with at least two talks a week from various team members within Savills, meaning you get a well rounded image of how each division works within the company. The technical terminology and skills I have learnt and practiced have been completely invaluable, I feel like I will go into my second year of my degree armed with a huge amount of additional knowledge about building pathology and surveying practices. I really can't thank the team enough for all they're fantastic advise and guidance!

Really friendly, I did worry that working for such a large organisation it would feel slightly cold and impersonal, however everyone in the office was really easy to talk to and from a variety of backgrounds. The atmosphere in the office was a perfect combination of relaxed and professional, most of the time people are busy getting on with work and the office can be quite quiet, but you always felt like you can casually chat with colleagues. It wasn't uncommon to have lunches with people in the office, which was a nice way to get to know people in my team as well as others.

Very well organised. My IT account was up and running straight away, which is more than can be said of anywhere else I have worked! We were given a brief schedule of various events taking place during the internship before the start date. Any forms and admin tasks you needed to complete you were always sent prompting emails/checklists, this made the whole process very clear. The overview talks were really well organised and everything throughout the placement ran very smoothly.

As I have mentioned, the Savills overview talks were really informative, it was not something I expected so it was a really great bonus. The time that my team spent with me talking about their experiences and they're knowledge of different areas was a large investment of their time and it was really appreciated.

Very appealing indeed, I will absolutely be pursuing a place at Savills for my sandwich year, as well as the graduate scheme.

Yes, me and the other two interns had a few lunches together. I was unfortunately unable to make the drink social, which I hear was really fun. The team went for lunch on my birthday which was lovely!

I continued to live at home during my placement and this wasn't in Southampton, however lunches in the area are very reasonable.

I unfortunately have never experienced the nightlife in Southampton, but as it has a large student population I am sure that it's out there! The Guildhall has been recently developed and the surrounding areas look full of culture.

During my placement I didn't have an opportunity to do any out of work activities, as my team were very busy and I live quite far from Southampton.