On Tuesday 9 January, a celebration lunch was held to share the success of seventeen surveyors who have recently passed their APC exams. The lunch was attended by our Managing Partner Andrew Bridge and members of our early careers graduate team; Brogan Fodczuk, Olivia Yates, Ben Minns and Matthias Charlton.
The Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) is an exam graduates must pass to become chartered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) for surveyors. The APC ensures that candidates are competent in their field of work and meet the high standards of professionalism required to become a chartered surveyor or planner. These are a mix of technical and professional practice, interpersonal, business and management skills.
All seventeen who were sponsored by the organisation to obtain the qualification already had an accredited degree. Surveyors Bill Davies, Ruth Eyles, Lily Hives, Daisy Howes, Ally Palmer, Sarah May, Lucinda Gent, Rory Garside, Jack Dutton, Marcus Baumber, Callum Wooff, Sophie Ward, Sophie Kelly, Kate Manners, Chloe Dowd, Henry Mawhood and Jessie High had to complete two years’ experience and structured training. The candidates then had to submit a case study, summary of experience and CPD record and attend a gruelling one-hour-long interview.
Olivia Yates, Head of the Graduate Team, said: “We are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication that our candidates have put into their APC. It takes a huge amount of commitment to achieve success and their dedication has paid off. We wish them all the best with what lies ahead in the next part of their career path."
Brogan Fodczuk, our Early Careers Advisor explained: “When graduate surveyors first join us, they are automatically allocated a mentor, supervisor, and a doctor. They will meet with their doctor several times during the two years to ensure that formatting and competencies have been met in terms of their presentation. Even after they have qualified, we offer support to monitor continuous improvement.”
When Henry Mawhood joined our telecoms team in 2022, he had worked for a specialist telecoms firm after graduating from university with a degree in real estate in 2020 and was partway through his APC structured training. Henry said: “I was interested in joining the telecoms team at Fisher German because it’s a niche market, I wanted the opportunity to complete my APC and gain additional specialist knowledge which appealed to me. I have learnt so much since joining, no two days are the same and you have lots of support along the way which is great.”
Rory Garside, based at our Worcester office in the utilities and infrastructure team came to Fisher German as a graduate in 2021. Originally from mid-Devon, Rory graduated from Cardiff University. Rory said: “The APC scheme was held in high regard and career progression was important to me. I was made to feel part of the team and given responsibilities right from the start I was able to go out to meet clients and I get to work on some really interesting projects.”
“I am really proud that I have now passed my APC, I am sure that was due to the level of support I received. Nothing was ever too much trouble, and my colleagues were very generous in letting me take up their time to help with revision. There was a big support network available which included line managers and peers.
Lilly Hives, joined in 2021 and is based at our Market Harborough office in our rural property management team. Lilly graduated from Newcastle University with a Geography degree and then gained a master's degree in Rural Estate and Land Management at Royal Agricultural University. She said: “I now feel able to have my own clients as I know I have the continued support and knowledge of the team around me to lean on if I ever need it. My plan now that I have passed my APC is to take on more responsibility and I would now like to help and support others in their APC process.”
Jack Dutton, works in our commercial transactional team at our new Birmingham city centre office. Jack joined as a graduate in 2021 after graduating from Reading University, he did some work experience at our Worcester office when he was in the sixth form. Jack said: “During my time at Fisher German I have had the opportunity to work across most of the primary commercial functions, including agency, valuation, lease advisory and property management.”
Lucinda Gent, who works in our utilities and infrastructure team at our office in Ashby completed a placement year at our Worcester office. Lucinda said: The placement provided an insight into the graduate training available, and I was offered a job following my placement. My line manager has been really supportive throughout the APC process, and it has been a really rewarding process after months of revision.”
