This month marks a two-year milestone for me at Vickery Holman. In the grand scheme of a career, this perhaps doesn’t sound much, but having started as a 3rd year UCEM Building Surveying student and now having completed my degree after 5 years (since 2019), my breadth of knowledge and experience has advanced significantly through the varied workload we are exposed to as Building Surveyors at Vickery Holman.
When I decided 5 years ago that becoming a Building Surveyor was probably the ultimate balance for a practical hand and logical mind, I couldn’t have fully anticipated the level of work required throughout the degree course, with circa 32 individual assignments of 1500-4000 words each completed, culminating with an extensive planning & conservation directed dissertation. Balancing these demands alongside continual full-time work was, to be truthful, challenging by all accounts. The demands of a part-time degree course are often overlooked, particularly at BSc level, and if you value your spare time like I do, there is much to be compromised. However, the flexibility afforded by Vickery Holman’s drive to progress graduate independence in workload has paid dividends, which enabled me to structure my personal workload around the requirements of completing my degree through UCEM.
Training continues towards sitting the APC next June, at which point I will have amassed almost 3 years of direct surveying experience (minimum 400-day requirement having started the APC in 2022) alongside my 7+ years of construction experience and knowledge accrued through various building projects across Cornwall and Devon. Having a practical understanding and exposure to different construction fields has probably been the biggest aid in running the construction projects I have coordinated to date, now ranging from £30,000-£550,000+ on a range of commercial properties, historic and private residences. This experience has also aided the many types of survey we do, where I am beginning to specialise in surveys and works to a range of historic buildings.
It is also positive to see the emergence of several new MSc apprentices at Vickery Holman. This is an option which simply was not available in Cornwall at the time of starting my degree in 2019, and having worked alongside many apprentices at UCEM, it would appear to be a very good option for anyone working in practice full time, with the benefit being a structured training programme from day 1, resulting in sitting the APC after 2-3 years. One of the many advantages of a Graduate position with Vickery Holman is the inherent sense of progression afforded by your personal growth as a surveyor, be it Building Surveying, General Practice, Property Management or Agency.
Personal growth is also established through the many avenues of business development and networking we undertake as surveyors in an active market. Having joined RICS Matrics Devon & Cornwall in 2022, with the separation of the committees later that year to form the clean-slated RICS Matrics Cornwall, I am currently operating in a Vice-Chair capacity, and it has been fantastic to see the growth over a 2-year period. The RICS recently confirmed that Matrics Cornwall ranked in the top 6 of all UK committees, ahead of Birmingham, London, Cambridge, Bristol, Edinburgh and Northern Ireland for number of events held and most engagement. With the committee comprising 5 Vickery Holman Graduates, this reflects the input and impact that surveyors in Cornwall make to both the RICS and the wider market. With this trajectory in mind, I look forward to providing an update next year.
