Life as a Trainee Surveyor

Last week, we caught up with one of our Trainee Surveyors, Calum Dunbar, who gave us a bit of insight into his role at Allied Surveyors and explains how he juggles work and studying!

 

Q: How long have you been in the industry and how long have you been with Allied?

A: I Joined Allied Surveyors in 2017 as a Trainee Surveyor when I was 17 straight from school after doing a bit of work experience during the summer. I'm currently working within the Inverness office. 

 

Q: What is your traineeship made up of? 

A: My training is a good mix between classroom and work based learning. I have been lucky enough to work with a lot of highly skilled surveyors who have taught me a lot about surveying. I am due to graduate from university in April 2022 and will then have an extra year of structured training in Allied to carry out my APC- this stands for Assessment of Professional Competence – and is the training scheme that graduates need to complete on the job to qualify as a Chartered Surveyor.

 

Q: How do you manage to incorporate studying into your working day?
A: I attend Glasgow Caledonian University on a weekly basis. As a result of the pandemic, learning has been online which actually has worked out really well and saved me a huge amount of time commuting back and forth from Inverness. 

 

Q: Have you always been interested in property? What first made you realise you wanted to be a surveyor?
A: I have always been interested in property. When I first worked with Allied during the summer, I got a real feel for it and it definitely inspired me to start a career in the industry. 

 

Q: What’s a typical day like for you?
A: I am lucky to work on a big variety of things including mortgage valuations, single surveys and EPC’s on lots of different properties, ranging from studio flats to million pound mansions. The Inverness office covers a large geographical area, which means that I get to do a lot of travelling around the Highlands as part of the job- some of the views are incredible! 

 

Q: What are some career goals for the future?
I hope to graduate next year and then carry out my APC in the next 3 years which will allow me to become a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.