My top tip? Just go for it. Take every opportunity you can and do your research. With hard work, you’ll get the most out of your apprenticeship and will be so glad you went for it.

As a level 6 building surveying apprentice, no day is ever the same. However, a few things are always consistent it’s exciting, interesting, and varied, with many opportunities to stretch myself and learn.

The funny thing about my journey into real estate, is that I never expected it to be the career for me. My school was fortunate enough to have a separate careers adviser who sent me an invitation to attend a Pathways to Property summer school. Whilst working in property wasn’t in my career plan, it was fully funded so I decided to give it a go. Honestly, it turned out to be the best thing I ever did. The summer school experience was incredible; I met so many friends, spoke to experts in the field and forged a network of connections, opening my eyes to the vast and varied career opportunities available to me within real estate.

A partner of Pathways to Property, I was introduced to real estate consultancy Hollis. Through talking with them on the many early careers programmes they held, I became confident about the apprenticeship scheme. I wanted to quickly get going in the industry but was aware that a university qualification would help me go further; an apprenticeship was the perfect choice.

In my apprenticeship, I very quickly learned to manage my time, balancing four days of working and one day of studying. Whilst it’s a busy role meeting work deadlines and keeping up with university duties, being in the working world has allowed me to expand my skills and learn new services I wouldn’t have access to being solely at university. For example, I have learned to operate a H360 camera to undertake site inspections and started to study the ESG BREEAM training.

Aside from learning innovative new processes, my day-to-day involves undertaking building surveys and working within our dilapidations service. Already client facing, I attend site with our clients, whether they be asset managers or head of sectors, and talk through their projects with them. I have learned to write detailed reports and have recently been negotiating dilapidations claims up to £150k. I have been given a great deal of responsibility through my apprenticeship and am enjoying every step along the way.

A day in my life as a Building Surveyor could involve heading to site, presenting to schools the pathways available in real estate, or promoting the incredible mission of LandAid, property’s charity. There are so many avenues you can explore, whether that be different services or sectors, and the opportunities are endless within them. And if you are considering alternative options to the traditional University route, I couldn’t recommend real estate apprenticeships enough. I’ll finish my degree already having years of work experience, is that not a win win?!