How work experience can help you get a graduate surveying job

The summer holidays may provide a welcome break from studying but they’re also a good time to start building up your skills with some relevant experience. Employers value work experience as it demonstrates your commitment to the industry and allows you to pick up fundamental technical skills that will be useful in your job as a quantity or building surveyor. It’s the best way to build up your CV, get a head start in the job hunt and put theory from your course into practice.

Earn as you learn

Many surveying firms offer organised work experience such as summer placements. If your course features a year in industry, your placement employer might even offer to sponsor you through your final year of university – the condition being that you commit to joining them as a graduate later on.

While surveying employers are often keen to recruit non-cognate graduates (those without surveying degrees) to train with them, this route into the industry is still competitive. Amy Whittaker graduate resourcing adviser at Davis Langdon LLP, explains: ‘Candidates with work experience are able to demonstrate the essential passion, drive, ambition and interpersonal skills that recruiters are looking for. We can teach non-cognates the technical knowledge and know-how that they need if we’re sure that they are committed to the industry.’

Research will pay off

Whatever work experience you decide to do, you need to do your research to find out what it will involve: the opportunities at some companies may suit you better than others. Often the smaller practices offer a greater variety of work but they probably won’t advertise organised placements, so you’ll need to be creative in your search.

When it comes to applying, the requirements vary from one employer to the next. Amy urges all applicants to take time and care over their applications. ‘We see a lot of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and poor use of English,’ she says. ‘In an industry where attention to detail is very important, applicants can fall at the first hurdle simply by not checking their content before submitting.’ Leave plenty of time to do your application and, if possible, get someone else to cast a careful eye over what you’ve written.

If you’re lucky enough to be asked to interview you need to have a good understanding of the organisation – again research is crucial. ‘When asked the question, “What appeals to you about Davis Langdon?” we want to find out whether an applicant knows who we are, what we do and what we can offer them,’ explains Amy. ‘Someone who demonstrates that they have a good understanding of our work, along with knowledge of recent projects, will always stand out during the shortlisting phase.’

Impress to get a job

Summer placements often last about six weeks, which is a relatively short period of time to get an insight into a company. But whether it’s a week or a year, you have to make the most of your time there as you never know where it might lead. ‘If someone has had a good work experience placement, recruiters will often consider them for a permanent position once they have graduated,’ says Amy. ‘Try to get a full understanding of the work being completed in order to develop your understanding of the industry – this knowledge is invaluable and will help to enhance your university work, as well as allowing you to compare theory and reality. Aim to build contacts as these will be very useful for the future, both when completing your studies and also when you come to look for a job.’

Build on your experience

Work experience will teach you more about different roles in the construction industry and how they all fit together, which will in turn enhance your knowledge of surveying. To make the most of it you need to be able to explain what you did and draw on examples where relevant. ‘It is worth keeping a diary of your placements,’ advises Amy. ‘This will ensure you won’t forget anything that could be valuable at a later date. When applying for jobs think about how you can use your experience to help you answer questions – your examples will be different from those of other students who may only be able to make reference to university experiences.’