Apprentice Quantity Surveyor Review

My role deals with the financial dealings required in a project. My work involves communicating with the client, organising payments and creating documents for each of these

I wasn't very comfortable using excel before, however the more and more I am using this on a daily basis the more confident I feel and learn new things.

At times the work can be quite interesting however as I do not have the theoritcal knowledge required for this role, it can get quite difficult at times also

Transport for London values its apprentices, however once I settled into my placement since the team are very busy with their own work I can feel isolated, and feel as though a lot of expectation is put on me

The year I enrolled on this particular scheme, it was going through changes which were not communicated very well with us. As a result we are starting the theory based learning a lot later than other apprentices across the company. It seems as though we have just been left to get on with it

As mentioned above, as the structure of my particular scheme has changed, not much information has been provided to me and other members. We are due to start online learning from January which I feel isn't the best way as I feel more comfortable being taught by a human being rather than sitting in front of a computer just reading and listening to pre recorded lectures

As a whole the company does organise meet and greet events which allows us to meet people from different areas of the business, but in terms of doing things which will help me gain my knowledge in order to get my qualification, it seems as though I am left on my own to do the things that will support my learning

I had to take a 40% pay cut which is quite a big step down. Working in central London can get quite expensive when it comes to buying food, the overall salary does not come close to what I was used to however this was my decisions so must accept this

Apart from the up coming Christmas dinners, there are not many activities outside of work. I like to do my own reading and hobbies once I finish work.

Yes

It is a great company to work for, with a lot of benefits. It can be quite demanding at times, but it is a safe place to be.

Take every opportunity that comes your way. Don't get disheartened if you get knocked back as sometimes the company requirements and what exactly they want are not clear. There are always opportunities to grow you just have to take it up when the chance comes.