Sometimes in life we get more than we bargained for…
3 Years ago our colleague Nour attended our Guest Lecture to Maths, Stats & Finance Students at Glasgow University, but she has a confession to make – she only came along because a free lunch was on offer! Little did Nour know, this decision would have a major impact on her future! Read on as she recounts her journey from Maths Student to Qualified Quantity Surveyor…
My career path has been somewhat non-traditional.
When I was in school I chose to pursue a degree in Maths, Stats and Finance because I loved maths and enjoyed the practical applications of it in finance. I must admit, my family were wary – I come from a background of mainly medics and when I said I wanted to study maths they asked me if I wanted to be a teacher. (Spoiler: I did not become a teacher).
I hadn’t even heard of Quantity Surveying until I was in my final university year. Doig+Smith invited us to an hour-long introduction to Quantity Surveying, immediately after a Medical Statistics lecture. I only went because we were offered a free lunch.
During the introduction I actually found myself more and more intrigued by the role. As a person who is quite methodical and organised I found that this career path had real potential for me. I also liked the ability to use numbers to create something tangible, rather than just look at accounts constantly. I interrogated my now colleagues on what the role required and asked about the application process. “I can’t even spell psychometric,” said Gordon. Music to my ears.
At this point, I already had an offer to pursue a career in finance so choosing to switch into a completely different career that I had only recently heard of was quite a risk. But I’m really glad that I took it.
After procuring my BSc (Hons) in Maths, Stats and Finance, I took a few weeks off for travelling before starting work with D+S. I then applied for my MSc in Quantity Surveying at Glasgow Caledonian University.
I worked full time 4 days a week during term time and took 1 day a week for university. The part time nature of the studies meant I could focus on work and manage my course load effectively.
I completed my Master’s degree 9 months ago and I can really appreciate my professional growth in the last 2 years.
When I first started as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor at Doig+Smith I was mainly tasked with looking over completed works and checking the calculations as part of the QA process. Now as a qualified Quantity Surveyor I have my own project and I am helping to create the same documents I once had to check.
During this transition from Trainee to Graduate, my colleagues have been incredible. When I first started I asked so many questions, and I still do now. I also received a lot of support on my dissertation “UK Passivhaus Schools: Are They Worth It?” My line manager, Ian, helped me gather my data, and Dean read over my first draft.
I may be biased, but my dissertation is topical and interesting given the current push to build Passivhaus schools, and although I am not currently involved in one I am hoping to be in the future.
Since graduating, my next goal is working towards getting chartered. D+S has weekly training sessions which keep us all learning. These have been invaluable, especially whilst working from home when I can’t ask quite as many questions as I would normally. I’m also working towards increasing my confidence and experience as I start to take on bigger roles in projects. I’m excited to see where I’ll be in another two years’ time!