Assistant Quantity surveyor Review

It was a very insightful experience into the construction industry, which I mainly enjoyed very much. I learnt a great deal about the job of being a quantity surveyor and the role I had within the team on site. There were some tough days to get through, but all in all, it was a very good experience.

I became a very well respected member of the team during my year out, due to the fact that I became a constant member of the team. Most of my colleagues during my placement year had left for various reasons, so many relied on my knowledge as I was there for so long.

I did receive quite a bit of support from my colleagues on site during the year. My direct line managers and colleagues gave me a lot of information to understand quickly, but I had learnt a lot from previous experience with the company such as specific computer programmes. However, there were periods where I was left to myself where I did have to learn stuff by myself to increase my knowledge.

Most of the time, I was very busy during the working day. So much so, that I did work longer hours on many days in order to get all the work required completed. I was trusted with a lot of work due to my previous experience and knowledge which in all made me very, very busy.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my year out as I was seen as another member of the team. Due to only being a placement student, I was still only seen as an assistant surveyor, helping across all the newham schools whereas each job had their own more qualified surveyor to which I would help with issues.

The skills that I learnt during my placement year will be very useful to my further studies and beyond. Due to being sponsored, all of the company specific documents and programmes will remain very similar when I return. Furthermore, bringing a real life context to my studies will really help showing how what I have learnt so far and am due to learn is used and completed in the industry.

Due to the complexity and difficulties faced on the projects I was working on, there were a lot of days with a tense atmosphere on site. However, we could still talk a lot about home and social life's without them interfering with our work. The main office is a completely different atmosphere as everyone keeps very quiet to get their work done, with little chat between workers about anything but work issues, so felt very different.

A lot of the information was well organised, as on my first day, it was very seamless with the initial office introduction and getting my laptop and various other bits of stuff required for site. However, I was informed that there was a student placement booklet to complete covering various construction roles, but nobody explained this document, nor did anyone check how far I had completed of it by the end of the placement.

I did receive the training explained to me as the vital training days for the start of a career at Morgan Sindall on your placement year. However, I believe I missed 1-2 days training in terms of the minimum amount required for staff. Further to that, due to the problems on site, I believe that I did not spend as much time being tutored by line managers and/or a buddy, especially with the filling out of the student placement booklet.

I am currently sponsored by Morgan Sindall to undertake my degree to the best of my ability, and in return work summer placements, my year out placement and work for a period after my graduation to gain my full surveying qualifications. As long as I do not mess up my degree work, I am due to go back to work with Morgan Sindall.

There was the opportunity to go out for a few drinks on an occasional basis with my work colleagues. I did take up the opportunity to go on some of these nights out, which were quite enjoyable. I did not get to see many placement students as they were only 3 of us through the business unit on completely different sites.

Living and working within the greater London area has always been known to be an expensive area to live, and this was no exception. Food during the day was quite expensive, as was amenities like rail travel. Luckily, I did save some money by living at home during the year, much cheaper than renting a flat.

Many of the places that we went out to during nights out were bars. These bars were chain bars, where I have been to similar ones across the country. Therefore, I knew what to expect for a good night out and these expectations were met. However, around my house, there is very little in terms on nightlife so this is why the figure is lower.

Most of the workforce did not get together for activities other than these specific nights out. Most had to travel quite a way to get to work, so most nights out had to be thoroughly planned, and many had family commitments to make, which I believe are more important than other socialising.