Applications for our one-week, virtual ‘Insight’ programme will open on Monday 23 January. The course, which will run from Monday 3 April to Thursday 6 April, gives undergraduates with an interest in surveying or planning, an overview of the basics to help them make further career decisions.
The programme, which has previously unearthed new talent, has been specifically designed for undergraduates not taking traditional property courses. It has been especially successful in finding new utilities and infrastructure surveyors, a sector that is in high demand for candidates.
Our Early Careers Talent Advisor, Marie-Ange Ehrhart, said: “We found that many of the candidates for graduate vacancies we were interviewing took a more conventional route into surveying. While they do a fantastic job, it was clear we were missing out on those with great potential who may not have considered surveying as a career. We decided to launch the Insight programme as a way of broadening the net for talent and educating non-cognate students on careers within surveying and planning. It’s been advertised on university job sites such as Handshake, and we’ve seen strong interest for the initial courses we’ve held.
“We’ve also encouraged interviewees who we felt had great soft skills, but not necessarily the technical knowledge needed for surveying, to take part in the programme before potentially offering them a role. The course is already proving to be highly successful, with four candidates being employed full-time this year after completing it, and a further six with us on summer placement.”
Trainees attending the programme learn from qualified and graduate surveyors and planners within the firm and are paired up with a ‘buddy’ who can help with any queries. They are also given practical tasks to work on based on actual jobs our surveyors and planners do day-to-day. Once the programme is completed, trainees then have the skills needed to boost their chances of securing a placement or graduate role in surveying or planning.
Lewis Agius completed the programme and is now working as a graduate; he saw the opportunity on Leeds University’s careers page after graduating in Geography. Lewis said: “After graduating I wasn’t sure what sort of career I wanted, so I initially found myself working at Halfords as a sales advisor. I was looking for other jobs and saw a vacancy for a surveying role with Fisher German. I thought it might be a great career to get into as you spend a lot of time outside and working on all sorts of different projects. At the interview, it was recognised that I had potential but not experience, so it was suggested I complete the Insight programme. The course was incredibly useful and opened my eyes to how interesting surveying could be as a career.
“After passing the course, I applied and I got a job as a graduate surveyor within Infrastructure Services and it’s been fantastic so far, no two days are the same. I’m facilitating land access on a range of projects and I’m often getting out on-site while works are going on, which is great. Everyone here has been so welcoming and the job itself is very similar to what I learned during the Insight programme, without it, I’m not sure whether I would have got into surveying, so I’m really glad I did it. I’d recommend it to anyone considering surveying as a potential career.”
Anyone interested can apply by clicking here from 23 January 2023 when applications for the next programme open.
