Building Surveyor (Year Placement) Review

I am currently three months into my year in industry with Faithful+Gould in Bristol, and so far it has been a great experience. I have learnt so much already and my skills such as design, report writing and AutoCAD have improved massively. Doing a year in industry will help me massively in my final year at uni. If its something you're considering i would highly recommend it, especially with a company like Faithful+Gould.

I feel very valued working here. I often get asked to help out on other projects. there is also a great social aspect to working in this team. with regular socials and after work drinks which is a great way of networkingn and bonding with the team.

My line manager and other members of the team are happy to take me under their wing and help me when needed. Anything I am unsure of they are happy to explain and help me with.

I pretty much have a full workload, from when i get into the office till i go home. the first couple of weeks were a bit slow until i found my feet and got set up on the computer system, but since then i have had a constant supply of projects to be working on.

i feel i have been given quite a lot of responsibility. For example, i did a site visit with a surveyor on the team to carry out a feasibility study for some works. the following week he was out on other site visits and as i was the only other person to visit the site i was tasked with writing up the feasibility report for the client (including costs for the proposed work). My line manager went over the report before it was issued to the client and was impressed with my work, which was a nice boost.

As previously mentioned my skills have improved massively. most notably my AutoCAD skills. I did have some past experience of using Revit while at university on some projects, but my skills were limited. i have learnt a great deal from having to use AutoCAD almost on a daily basis during my placement. my report writing skills have also improved, it is much more professional.

there is a good atmosphere in the office, everyone is really friendly and easy to talk to or to ask for advice. There are plenty of opportunities to socialise via work nights out and 'thirsty Thursdays' drinks after work.

i haven't had any issues, it has been very well organised and has helped me develop.

Prior to working on actual project there were several days worth of online training courses to complete which were pretty straight forward. As previously mentioned, if im unsure of anything there is always someone there to ask for help in order the complete the task.

i hope to be offered a job before going back to University to finish my degree and i would definitely accept. it is a great company to work for and i'd be more than happy to begin my career as a Building Surveyor with them.

i am the only 'year in industry' student in my department, however there is a group called 'NextGen' who are made up of colleagues at the early start of their careers. I've joined and they have some great opportunities for networking with other people within the same industry.

I'm based in Bristol, the cost of living is average, i haven't noticed a massive difference compared to where i'm from, other than the rent. The rent in Bristol is quite expensive a bedroom in a shared house is around £500pcm, back home i could rent a 3 bedroom house for that.

there is a great club scene in Bristol, its not short of places to go at the weekend. you have plenty of choices of clubs, bars and restaurants to go to.

As previously mentioned there are many opportunities to attend work socials. there is also a football team for the office and opportunities to raise money for charity.