Technician Review

I work beneath the surveyors in my team, assisting in a wide range of tasks within property management such as credit control, tenant liaison, service charge budget setting, account reconciliation, client reporting and recommendation. I work on a wide range of properties (e.g. industrial, residential, offices, retail) across the south west of the UK, making frequent visits to Cardiff due to a number of properties I work on in the city. I have a small portfolio of single let properties I manage which range from anything between Merthyr Tydfil to Windsor.

I have developed existing skills in service charge budget setting and service charge accounting. I have learned the credit control function in great detail, particularly in relation to the law surrounding commercial and residential tenant default. I have improved my client and tenant interaction greatly and believe this has been fundamental to the success I believe I have had in my role.

It is fantastic and is an excellent way to learn the role whilst on the job. I previously attended university as the apprenticeship was not a route that I realised even existed in this type of industry. It was not the right fit for me as it was not applicable enough to the real world experiences I had had through work experience. The apprenticeship is the perfect balance of on-the-job learning through experience and taught university material for the more academic and detailed sections of the industry.

The university course has appropriate modules in appropriate detail, however, the actual teaching varies quite significantly between lecturers (i.e. some are absolutely brilliant and inspiring and others seem entirely disinterested in their own subject). However, there is a clear structure to the apprenticeship programme within my company and this is communicated clearly to my manager who then communicates this clearly to me.

My employer is incredibly supportive and never has any issue with taking university days. They are extremely flexible when it comes to university days and allow me to change the days to best fit my study requirements (particularly around exam/coursework deadline time). I will be enrolled on the APC training programme later this year which is extremely well-structured to obtain the correct training and sufficient CPD for my requirements.

I receive plenty of information regarding my course materials along with online webinars and mandatory professional practice workshops. There is an online Virtual Learning Environment where students can post questions to their module tutors for the other students to see or if it is private, a messaging system only for the tutors. They respond very quickly on both of these, usually within a day and have been excellent with any issues or difficulties one may have with their work.

As my role is heavily legal- and compliance-based, the course gives me the academic, detailed knowledge required to perform the tasks required of me (particularly in relation to reading of leases and legal positions in regard to tenant default). This goes hand in hand with the experience gained through actually completing the work.

There are many graduate-level professional networking events within my local area and the wider industry (e.g. Surveyors' 7s rugby in London). I'm also a part of our office softball team which plays in a casual league within the industry. Alongside this, there is always the opportunity to go for a drink after work with colleagues as the there is a very friendly office environment.

Yes

It is a leading company in the industry with the perks that come with it (e.g. pension plan, medical scheme, good remuneration package etc.). There is a strong connection with other offices all over the UK and an extremely friendly atmosphere within all the offices I've visited so far. This view is reflected by my colleagues who spend time in other offices more frequently than I do.

It is the most important factor to realise that this industry is about the people and the relationships you build with them. You can be excellent on paper but if you are not friendly, interested and enthusiastic at interview you will be very unlikely to succeed to gain a place within the company. On the other hand, that is what makes working here such an enjoyable experience; you are surrounded by like-minded, pleasant people.