Building Surveyor Review

The insight was perhaps one of the most insightful and engaging weeks of experience that I had taken part in, it allowed you to have your own responsibilities from the get go but also feels as though guidance is always available; so it is not daunting, but an encouraging experience.

As the scale says, for me Savills really did feel like a family, the network of people who went to the same University as me (Reading), was huge and therefore I was taken under their wing almost straight away and it is always did feel like there was someone you could turn to for help.

The structure of the week was very well organised and therefore there was always someone who could tell you what was happening or where you were meant to be. With the 'mentor' system it was clear who you were to report to as such, and this meant nothing was ever over complicated.

As mentioned before the week starts almost immediately. Whether it is talks on the different divisions or being set actual real life tasks to complete, there is always something that is helping to advance and solidify the knowledge gained during your studies. For me in the Building Consultancy team, my University module of Building Pathology was paramount to much of the work I completed an therefore the task really helped me actual life context to the theory learn in lectures.

Again, as alluded to before, this is one of the most structured insight weeks or experience weeks I have been involved in. From the schedules issues out at the beginning of the programme to your own calendar available on insight - it was ultimately very difficult to lose touch with what was meant to be happening.

The office was perhaps not as chatty or vibrant as some others I have been involved in but this is down to the professionalism of everyone involved. However this does not mean that it is not a fun or enjoyable place to work, as it is. Everyone I met was friendly and warm, and this contributed to value of the whole week.

The insight week provided us with an introduction to various departments which allowed us to develop a wider knowledge of the company as a whole and allowed us to identify the ways in which all of the departments come together on projects to work in unison to solve and consult on problems.

By involving you from the get go and in a way throwing you into the deep end it meant that you had to be switched on, innovative and hard working from the start. This meant you had a really accurate representation of what the full time role in that position would be like.

The insight week had a strong motive of trying to get the company's culture across to all of the participants. In my opinion this was a good way of not only us gauging what the company is like but for them to see if we fit their company structure and culture as well.

All the tasks for my team - technical due diligence - were tasks that I would be doing for the rest of my career. Therefore the content of day to day tasks were very much relevant to helping me decide that what I was considering doing was definitely the right pathway.

Yes. The company reimbursed the costs of travel up to £100 and then also covered the remainder - if any where left - in expenses for lunch. This meant the week wasn't a burden to each of us financially and allowed us to feel more valued to the company with their decision to provide the aforementioned expenses.

Yes. On my particular week there were two main networking events, in the form of a networking lunch with the company fee-earners, as well as a more relaxed, social networking drinks evening with graduates. Both of these proved to be very beneficial to amount of people you meet throughout the week and really helps to develop an understanding of the company culture and the kind of people they employ.

They were both very easy to participate in but also very rewarding. The more questions that you asked the more information you received and the more connections you made, as with any networking events. The lunch with the fee earners could have been quite daunting but there easy nature meant that you felt they wanted to speak to you as much as you did with them.

Yes, during the networking events alongside the day to day meetings with other people from the company, there were many different stories and events that I was made aware of. Such things as sport events, trips away and an opportunity called the Victoria Mitchell Scholarship which allowed you to go to under developed countries for a period of time to provide charitable services and help research construction methods in that particular country.

Yes. The insight in summary was an programme which allowed you to develop on your own existing knowledge as well as discovering a whole load of new information which helps you to understand the industry a lot more and the company and its culture a lot more. It is very beneficial.