Today marks the end of a rather significant chapter in my life, and the start of a brand new one. Four weeks ago I handed my notice in at my current job having accepted a job working in the family business. I have worked with BAM Construction since the end of my second year at University. Over the last six and a half years, BAM have nurtured me and brought me from a bumbling University student to a calm and collected Chartered Quantity Surveyor. BAM have thrown me into various scenarios that have enabled me to grow and progress well in my time with them.
In the early days, I worked on a site that was running very smoothly and had very few problems. This was a great introduction to the industry, and where I realised that I really knew squat about the job I was actually training for. The real world is very different to the world portrayed by University lecturers and so I began learning how to be a Trainee Quantity Surveyor from scratch, with very little help from my University background. Don’t get me wrong, the lessons learnt at University were invaluable, but didn’t seem to apply to the real world when I was starting out.
On completion of the school, I moved back to the head office for tendering. This was somewhere I had not been to since my interview so, to me, it was a big scary place. It turned out to be very different. The office atmosphere was a lot more subdued than the site atmosphere, but not at all scary. Everyone was friendly, and even the really senior staff would happily talk to you as an equal. It was at this point that I realised I had landed on my feet when BAM Construction offered me a job.
After spending some time working on a hospital project in South Wales, I went to work on a new Bus Station in Bath. It was the first job I was going to work on from start to finish so I was looking forward to it. Having just moved back to South Wales, I was not looking forward to the commute. The job was an absolute nightmare commercially giving me endless experience with all sorts of different problems leading to me successfully completing my RICS APC and receiving my Chartership in 2009.
I landed a job of my very own at the end of 2009. I was going to be the lead surveyor on Staple Hill Primary School in Bristol. At first I was a little nervous, maybe even scared, but then I became excited. This would be the first job where I would be able to prove myself. It was a great feeling, especially knowing that there would always be plenty of support available if I needed it. So I threw myself into it, joined the team and we delivered the project on time and under budget for the quality the client wanted. It was absolutely brilliant. The project team I was working with were always really friendly and dynamic, ready to deal with any issue that arose. We had a great relationship with the client and even a great relationship with the PQS so it seemed that, again, luck was on my side. The support of the team, and the relationship with the client has meant that we will walk away from the job in profit, which is brilliant in these markets.
So why then would I choose to leave such a brilliant job? Well, there aren’t very many reasons anyone would leave a job with BAM. I am going to work for a (relatively) small construction company in South Wales, run by my parents, and owned by my grandparents. The biggest benefit to this is that I will be closer to home when our little one arrives in February, and that is a huge plus point to me.
BAM have given me a brilliant start to my career and I’m especially grateful to them for all the support they have given me in my time with them. Now it is time for me to start the next chapter of my life with CP Construction. I am looking forward to the new challenges presented by the completely different market I will be working in and hope to enjoy my new job as much as I enjoyed my last job.