Apprentice Surveyor Review

I work in retail occupier agency. This means I act on behalf of some of the biggest most exiciting retailers across the country. This can include acting on behalf of them to help them occupy new units or dispose of their existing ones. One project I am currently working on at the moment is disposing of the Co-Operative Bank units across the UK e.g. I recently sold the building they own in Swindon.

I have now sat in a retail seat since the beginning of my apprenticeship scheme. Although I predominantly focussed on Landlord Schemes such as Edgware Shopping Centre (which I still work on now) and Here East in Hackney Wick, the knowledge required to work on any project is very similar regardless of 'which side of the fence' you sit on. My knowledge and understanding continues to increase and existing skills such as communication, public speaking and displaying some form of confidence can always be improved upon regardless of which seat I sit in within the company.

Overall I generally enjoy the programme. I do believe it is down to the seat and the team I sit within. I am not a person for change and especially now that I am comfortable with my surroundings, my work, workload and the people I sit with, it does make day to day life more enjoyable. Regardless of what company you work with in, an agency seat is known to be very social, so that also have its perks. Ofcourse there is the aspect of university, where times feel depressing and tough but it's all worth it in the long run!

Internally the programme structure is great! The concept and design seems flawless and smooth. As the first big intake on the apprenticeship scheme, it was a learning curve for both the apprentices and the company. It is still a learning curve now for us. We often struggled at university due to lack of support, but after voicing our concerns, we were soon able to get a more streamlined stucture implemented for greater support at university.

The support from our employer honestly can not be faulted at all. Whether we have any questions, concerns, worries, need time off, having personal issues (it could be anything), the support from our employer is amazing. The support comes from so many people too. This includes day to day line managers, heads of teams, members of HR, mentors, the buddy system, the reverse mentoring system and even the global president taking the time to sit with the apprentices to show his support for all of us.

All support is support as I answered in the question above. There are so many people across the business willing to support you in life, especially when working towards your qualifications. Line managers are great and work closely with HR to ensure we have enough time to complete assingments for university, and advise and assist us when needed.

I think the qualification helps me perform better in my role personally because some of my modules for my qualification are required day to day within my role. For example and method of valuing in retail is In Terms of Zone A (ITZA). This is a module studied during my qualification so is aplicable for my day to valuing life at work. However when working in another teams such as Transaction Management, it is hard to say whether the qualification is applicable. I can only speak on working within my current team as this is the only team I have sat within.

There are many different activites avaiable to get involved at work which is great. This includes 'Thirsty Thursday's' which are drinks to encourage the whole office to network and intergrate. There are also many sports teams which people can get involved in, including Hockey, Netabll and Football. We play sports competitions against other property companies which is also another way of networking. Every team within the company has a budget to socialise. This allows people to host networking events related to property for many to attend. For example graduates may host a network brunch on 'The future of retail' whilst Partners may host a networking forum for 'Changing the Face of property'.

Yes

I would recommend to a friend due to the experiences I have gone through and the opportunities available to them. Of course it is great that you can do a degree apprenticeship, but I have made genuine friends and had amazing life experiences that I don't think I would have anywhere else. I am lucky to have experienced so much exposure and am even managing my own small client base only a year and a half into my apprenticeship. There is also the chance to grow (you see many success stories of others who have started as apprentices and are succeeding) and there is also the chance to work around the world!

My honest advice would be to be yourself! It sounds like those typical things that people say but truthfully I was honest about my ambitions in my interview. I showed how driven I am and how willing to work I am and I think that paid off. My A level grades were not amazing as I am not the most textbook smart person, but I do believe that showing them I was capable and driven and excited is why I have a job here today.