Leaving Quantity Surveying
Been working 4 years as an apprentice QS for a tier 1 MC and don’t enjoy or get any fulfilment from this job. I also feel really stressed from work. Looking at my seniors I can’t see this changing.
This is what I’m sick of;
The repetitiveness of everything - putting together enquiry emails, obtaining quotes, comparing, agreeing terms, then putting together contracts. client valuation, CVR, value and paying subbies/consultants
Design is never complete - I spend months and put a lot of work into procuring a package, the order finally gets placed, our design team realise the scope doesn’t comply with something, the whole scope has to change and the quotes gone up by £30-£70k to accommodate changes
Operational team - most of them have no commercial awareness, will cancel trades last minute, sign off a load of work that’s not been installed correctly costing £1000s to correct, they will go ahead and instruct variations without letting me know in advance or after, they can be mean and rude, I’d like to see them do what a QS does and then find all that time to go out on site for hours walking around, killing some time and having a nice chat
The commuting - approx 1 hour and 40 minutes a day door to door. That’s 33 hours and 20 minutes a month
Flexible working - there is none, leave the house at 7am get home at 5.40-6pm. The job requires full on-site working, home working is looked down on. I agree a QS should be on-site at much as possible
Disputes - usually between me and subbie. I keep it cordial and professional but some of them are so rude. It’s usually about a variation, my BOQ, them not getting picked for the project or contract terms they have signed up to. I often make exceptions and try to understand from their point of view but their whole attitude can be negative from the beginning and it just gets worse. I hate confrontation and I start to get clammy and nervous when subbies start to get confrontational. I understand it’s part of the job but I hate it and never realised before coming into this profession that people speak to others like that in a work environment.
Feeling unsafe on-site - I’ve seen some terrible accidents, near misses. The thought of them alone, genuinely makes me feel unsafe walking site
The stress - I think this is in every job but when your trying to deal with an ongoing dispute, get an order out the door and are getting emails and calls coming out of your ears about other packages all at the same time my brain can’t function
Everyone on the project team looks run down - this scares me the most. A lot of the senior people look overweight, underweight, scruffy, sweaty and unkept. I think people don’t have the time and energy to look after their health, well being and appearance outside of work because work consumes them. I look more run down (eye bags) tired since starting out as a QS and overall have less energy
The pay - I feel like the pay isn’t worth the stress. I get £32k including car allowance. Understand this goes up to about £50k-£60k at QS level. When I look at the quantity surveyor on my team and their responsibilities, I’d rather not have all the stress and get paid less.
Bonuses - are non existent when there’s any type of accident on site. Even if there is a bonus it’s like £2k. When I look at how much money I saved the company and the companies yearly turnover it doesn’t make sense why the bonuses are so bad
Things I do like;
Different site locations - I like that every few years I get to work on a different project in a new location
Workload - I like that I get to manage my own workload, each day it’s up to me what and how much I get done
Other QS - all the QS’s I have ever worked with have always been really kind and supportive
Anyway I could go on forever, what other job roles can I apply my skills to?
I don’t want the last 4 years to be a waste but I know ultimately I don’t want to progress into being a quantity surveyor much further. I will however complete the apprenticeship as I only have one year left and it’s a free degree which I am doing well at.