Quantity Surveyors manage the costs on a construction project. They help to ensure that the construction project is completed within its projected budget. Other job titles for Quantity Surveyor include ‘cost consultant’, ‘cost manager’ and ‘cost engineer’ – but is the Quantity Surveying profession right for you?
This blog takes a look at some of the skills and personality traits that tend to be a good fit for Quantity Surveyors. Of course, there are a vast range of personalities within construction and also Quantity Surveying. So, everyone is capable of progressing to the dizzying heights of a Commercial Manager or Commercial Director with dedication and hard work but if you naturally attain some of the traits and skills we are going to look at, the QSing profession may be more suitable to you than others and make the career far more enjoyable!
Numeracy
With the primary responsibility of QS’s being the management of costs and finance on a construction project, we feel it will come as no surprise that good numeracy skills and a love of math will certainly be a benefit if you’re considering studying or becoming a Quantity Surveyor. Some day-to-day tasks are likely to include:
· Price and cost forecasting
· Preparing budgets and Bill of Quantities
· Measuring and valuing work
So if you enjoy number crunching, perhaps QSing could be a good career for you.
Good Social & Negotiation Skills
If you consider yourself a social butterfly and enjoy engaging with others, you may be well suited to the Quantity surveying profession. Day to day tasks will often involve working in teams, attending construction sites, and engaging with others to understand what stage the project is at in order to build your own applications for payment or assess tier 1 and 2 contractor’s applications. Likewise, good interpersonal skills will aid in negotiation which is commonplace for Quantity Surveyors.
Spreadsheets
As a practicing QS, it is safe to say that spreadsheets may become your best friend and quickly. Many of your day to day tasks will be formed in spreadsheets, either Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. So if you already consider yourself an expert or pick up how to use new software quickly, that’s another huge tick in the QS arsenal. Producing comprehensive reports and processing large quantities of data all help to set you apart from other QS’s. If you’d like to learn some extremely useful Excel tips and tricks check out our excel tutorial videos, we’ll pop the link in the description below!
Attention to detail and employing a methodical approach to work.
Due to the large volume of data and figures you are likely going to need to produce and analyse on a daily basis, QSing lends itself to someone who has a keen eye for detail and enjoys being methodical in the approach to work and solving problems. It is probable that much of your work will be scrutinised and inspected due to the nature of the data being commercially sensitive on a lot of occasions; and to make sure it is legally compliant and in accordance with the respective construction contract.
