Am I suitable for a career in property/surveying/RICS?
Discussion
Hello All,
I am looking for some advice on where my next career move should be. I am thinking about a career in property but nothing is set in stone. To give some background:
I am 29 years old. I have just finished managing the renovation of my fourth property. I have been successful, and prior to this I was in project support roles which I hated. I am based in Leicestershire with easy access to St.Pancras in an hour, and will travel within reason. I have a 1st Class Business and Marketing degree from a former polytechnic.
Aspects I am looking for - I am (unfortunately) money motivated, enjoy thinking strategically, love solving problems and like working within a team and bloody well making things happen! I imagine many would say I would be a good candidate for a client facing role, but I never find there is any money in them. I can often see things from various viewpoints and like to think I am quite level headed.
I am not good with written analytics/spreadsheets, writing reports all day, being stuck in one place, and quickly get fed up of chasing people (one aspect of renovating that I don't enjoy). I appreciate there is no perfect role and there may be aspects of this I will need to do, which is fine.
I have thought about going into domestic surveying but I am TERRIFIED of heights, and don't like the idea of writing reports every day, unless they are semi automated now? There seems to be so many career options - commercial property, building surveying, land surveying etc. but I am hesitant of getting into a role I don't enjoy again - I am getting older and want to get on with my career!
Are there any other roles/avenues I should be looking at? Any thoughts/questions inputs are gratefully appreciated, especially from those in these current roles with a view of what they are like day-to-day.
Tom
I am looking for some advice on where my next career move should be. I am thinking about a career in property but nothing is set in stone. To give some background:
I am 29 years old. I have just finished managing the renovation of my fourth property. I have been successful, and prior to this I was in project support roles which I hated. I am based in Leicestershire with easy access to St.Pancras in an hour, and will travel within reason. I have a 1st Class Business and Marketing degree from a former polytechnic.
Aspects I am looking for - I am (unfortunately) money motivated, enjoy thinking strategically, love solving problems and like working within a team and bloody well making things happen! I imagine many would say I would be a good candidate for a client facing role, but I never find there is any money in them. I can often see things from various viewpoints and like to think I am quite level headed.
I am not good with written analytics/spreadsheets, writing reports all day, being stuck in one place, and quickly get fed up of chasing people (one aspect of renovating that I don't enjoy). I appreciate there is no perfect role and there may be aspects of this I will need to do, which is fine.
I have thought about going into domestic surveying but I am TERRIFIED of heights, and don't like the idea of writing reports every day, unless they are semi automated now? There seems to be so many career options - commercial property, building surveying, land surveying etc. but I am hesitant of getting into a role I don't enjoy again - I am getting older and want to get on with my career!
Are there any other roles/avenues I should be looking at? Any thoughts/questions inputs are gratefully appreciated, especially from those in these current roles with a view of what they are like day-to-day.
Tom
Quite a lot to unpack there - I'm MRICS and have tried my hand in a number of areas.
I'm going to pick up heights first. I'm scared of heights but have pretty much conquered it by facing it head-on. Even this sort of shizzle no longer phase me
I've tried the residential stuff. Nowadays it's a numbers game, usually completed on a tablet. Reporting tends to be streamlined.
Typically you have Quantity Surveyors (yawn), Building Surveyors (interesting work and often in demand), Commercial Surveyors (loads of subsets - Industrial, Office, Retail, Landlord & Tenant, Rating, Leisure, Investment). Often do well, but niches can be up and down.
I'm in Telecoms. A crazy market where Landlords and Tenants are at war and every single transaction is absolutely war-like. Nowadays I'm mostly doing rent reviews, and projects, with a bit of specialist stuff on the side. I used to be out on the road 3 days a week anywhere in the UK or Ireland.
I think to me you need to have a key reason to become Chartered other than just to make money.
I'm going to pick up heights first. I'm scared of heights but have pretty much conquered it by facing it head-on. Even this sort of shizzle no longer phase me
I've tried the residential stuff. Nowadays it's a numbers game, usually completed on a tablet. Reporting tends to be streamlined.
Typically you have Quantity Surveyors (yawn), Building Surveyors (interesting work and often in demand), Commercial Surveyors (loads of subsets - Industrial, Office, Retail, Landlord & Tenant, Rating, Leisure, Investment). Often do well, but niches can be up and down.
I'm in Telecoms. A crazy market where Landlords and Tenants are at war and every single transaction is absolutely war-like. Nowadays I'm mostly doing rent reviews, and projects, with a bit of specialist stuff on the side. I used to be out on the road 3 days a week anywhere in the UK or Ireland.
I think to me you need to have a key reason to become Chartered other than just to make money.
surveyor said:
Quite a lot to unpack there - I'm MRICS and have tried my hand in a number of areas.
I'm going to pick up heights first. I'm scared of heights but have pretty much conquered it by facing it head-on. Even this sort of shizzle no longer phase me
I've tried the residential stuff. Nowadays it's a numbers game, usually completed on a tablet. Reporting tends to be streamlined.
Typically you have Quantity Surveyors (yawn), Building Surveyors (interesting work and often in demand), Commercial Surveyors (loads of subsets - Industrial, Office, Retail, Landlord & Tenant, Rating, Leisure, Investment). Often do well, but niches can be up and down.
I'm in Telecoms. A crazy market where Landlords and Tenants are at war and every single transaction is absolutely war-like. Nowadays I'm mostly doing rent reviews, and projects, with a bit of specialist stuff on the side. I used to be out on the road 3 days a week anywhere in the UK or Ireland.
I think to me you need to have a key reason to become Chartered other than just to make money.
I'm more scared of the sI'm going to pick up heights first. I'm scared of heights but have pretty much conquered it by facing it head-on. Even this sort of shizzle no longer phase me
I've tried the residential stuff. Nowadays it's a numbers game, usually completed on a tablet. Reporting tends to be streamlined.
Typically you have Quantity Surveyors (yawn), Building Surveyors (interesting work and often in demand), Commercial Surveyors (loads of subsets - Industrial, Office, Retail, Landlord & Tenant, Rating, Leisure, Investment). Often do well, but niches can be up and down.
I'm in Telecoms. A crazy market where Landlords and Tenants are at war and every single transaction is absolutely war-like. Nowadays I'm mostly doing rent reviews, and projects, with a bit of specialist stuff on the side. I used to be out on the road 3 days a week anywhere in the UK or Ireland.
I think to me you need to have a key reason to become Chartered other than just to make money.
t coming out of the masts than the heights!Being able to write things is key for us as we still do a lot of specification work.
I love being a BS as it's so varied, give it 6 months and what I'm doing on a daily basis will be quite different.
Bungleaio said:
I'm more scared of the st coming out of the masts than the heights!
Being able to write things is key for us as we still do a lot of specification work.
I love being a BS as it's so varied, give it 6 months and what I'm doing on a daily basis will be quite different.
Bit of training, a suitable safety monitor and it’s fine. t coming out of the masts than the heights!Being able to write things is key for us as we still do a lot of specification work.
I love being a BS as it's so varied, give it 6 months and what I'm doing on a daily basis will be quite different.
I’m constantly astonished though at the number of professionals who have absolutely no regard for EMF at all.
Thank you for your response, I agree about the heights, I just need to get a grip but it niggles at the back of my mind.
You have definitely given me something to think about. I am going to contact a few local companies to talk about residential surveying and seeing what my options might be, keeping an open mind to what other options might be out there!
You have definitely given me something to think about. I am going to contact a few local companies to talk about residential surveying and seeing what my options might be, keeping an open mind to what other options might be out there!
I'm a chartered building surveyor, who, like many BSs ,moved into project and programme management on qualification because it is more interesting, better paid and has better career prospects.
I do relatively little service delivery these days - my role is based around managing key client relationships, leading our business in London and managing our Govt and External affairs function. In any practice of any scale, client account leadership is where the big money is, followed by Ops roles, followed by service delivery.
To get a board level role in a decent size practice you have to have done at least one big (£50m + pa) P&L role to prove you understand the nuts and bolts of how the business works. This means you have to be numerate, commercially astute and able to demonstrate people leadership. All the way up, your ability to produce high quality written work - and oversee others doing so - will be an important core skill.
Feel free to ask any specific questions
I do relatively little service delivery these days - my role is based around managing key client relationships, leading our business in London and managing our Govt and External affairs function. In any practice of any scale, client account leadership is where the big money is, followed by Ops roles, followed by service delivery.
To get a board level role in a decent size practice you have to have done at least one big (£50m + pa) P&L role to prove you understand the nuts and bolts of how the business works. This means you have to be numerate, commercially astute and able to demonstrate people leadership. All the way up, your ability to produce high quality written work - and oversee others doing so - will be an important core skill.
Feel free to ask any specific questions
Depends on number of factors regarding how easy it would be for you to do surveying as a career such as any degrees you hold already, professional experience and which area. I have worked or work in predominantly commercial surveying, development surveying, land buyer/acquisitions surveyor roles which I will comment on.
Most routes into these areas require Real Estate undergrad, as it allows a simpler route to becoming chartered (i.e 2 year apc process). However, people with degrees in other areas do end up doing these jobs also. Being chartered surveyor is not a mandatory requirement for these roles (i'm not chartered but undergrad in Real Estate), particularly if you work client-side. If you want to work for an agency, the need to become chartered will be higher or mandatory. Land buyers typically are not chartered and those that are typically became chartered having worked for an agency on a graduate programme. I don't see land buying/acquisitions surveying particularly difficult careers compared to others, if I'm honest. Being able to run a development appraisals can be learned quickly, along with understanding of the planning system, the real skill is being a deal maker and having an "eye" for development. You can get Land buying jobs without formal education by starting as an assistant etc (i've known P.A/executive assistants become land buyers/development surveyors having worked in the Land departments and wanting more),but won't be easy.
Development surveying is a very broad term but typically means running a development site through Riba 7 stages (link 1) with mainly managing consultants. Commercial surveying is basically agency work in sectors such as retail, offices, industrial. You can also do this client-side which is typically called an "Estates Surveyor" where you can work for a private company or local authority managing their property portfolios such as rent reviews, new lettings, asset management etc.
Money can be okay (20-30 at grad level, 30-50 after 3-5 years, then 60+ at management level) but can be very good if you work your way up or land buyer/development surveyor for a small/private equity firm who offer big land bonuses (e.g my last role bonus was 0.25% of acquisition purchase price on £20-30m land budget).
Also these jobs do get you out and about. Being based in Midlands is also useful as there are plenty of developers on your doorstep from SME to the big PLC developers. You won't need to worry about needing to move to London unless you wanted to work as an investment analyst/asset manager for a fund/bank.
What I would ask you, is why do you want to be a surveyor and not carry on doing your own renovations and move into development yourself? undoubtedly your earning potential is going to be far more than working as a surveyor. I wonder the same about a lot of people in the industry. I myself bridge between the two neither fully committing to doing my own stuff full-time or putting effort into my career (for example I really cba to become chartered even though I can within 12 months or so).
Link 1 - https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resourc...
Most routes into these areas require Real Estate undergrad, as it allows a simpler route to becoming chartered (i.e 2 year apc process). However, people with degrees in other areas do end up doing these jobs also. Being chartered surveyor is not a mandatory requirement for these roles (i'm not chartered but undergrad in Real Estate), particularly if you work client-side. If you want to work for an agency, the need to become chartered will be higher or mandatory. Land buyers typically are not chartered and those that are typically became chartered having worked for an agency on a graduate programme. I don't see land buying/acquisitions surveying particularly difficult careers compared to others, if I'm honest. Being able to run a development appraisals can be learned quickly, along with understanding of the planning system, the real skill is being a deal maker and having an "eye" for development. You can get Land buying jobs without formal education by starting as an assistant etc (i've known P.A/executive assistants become land buyers/development surveyors having worked in the Land departments and wanting more),but won't be easy.
Development surveying is a very broad term but typically means running a development site through Riba 7 stages (link 1) with mainly managing consultants. Commercial surveying is basically agency work in sectors such as retail, offices, industrial. You can also do this client-side which is typically called an "Estates Surveyor" where you can work for a private company or local authority managing their property portfolios such as rent reviews, new lettings, asset management etc.
Money can be okay (20-30 at grad level, 30-50 after 3-5 years, then 60+ at management level) but can be very good if you work your way up or land buyer/development surveyor for a small/private equity firm who offer big land bonuses (e.g my last role bonus was 0.25% of acquisition purchase price on £20-30m land budget).
Also these jobs do get you out and about. Being based in Midlands is also useful as there are plenty of developers on your doorstep from SME to the big PLC developers. You won't need to worry about needing to move to London unless you wanted to work as an investment analyst/asset manager for a fund/bank.
What I would ask you, is why do you want to be a surveyor and not carry on doing your own renovations and move into development yourself? undoubtedly your earning potential is going to be far more than working as a surveyor. I wonder the same about a lot of people in the industry. I myself bridge between the two neither fully committing to doing my own stuff full-time or putting effort into my career (for example I really cba to become chartered even though I can within 12 months or so).
Link 1 - https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resourc...
Edited by Maralago on Thursday 8th September 15:34
Edited by Maralago on Friday 9th September 18:48
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