careernav.

There are often exceptional careers that are highly challenging, make some serious money and are in great demand. But few people know about them.

Perhaps the occupation that best fits this statement is a Quantity Surveyor. The confusion stems from this career has absolutely nothing to do with surveying. They do not traipse through paddocks and look through theodolites nor work in isolation like surveyors do. Rather quantity surveyors are responsible for ensuring building developers get value for money through the monitoring of project costs from start to finish.

You prepare cost estimates and cost plans, audit projects and manage construction costs, and administer construction contracts. It’s a project management role across residential homes, industrial sites and commercial infrastructure development. They deal in large budgets and have the capability of saving millions on a project. Consequently they are well paid and possess a skill that is highly mobile on a global basis.

So if you’re relationship and interpersonal skills are exceptional , you have the need to be intellectually challenged and manage projects then a quantity surveyor may well be for you. It’s a bit like engineering requiring exceptional analytical thinking, but don’t let the word surveyor confuse you.  Expect to wear a hard hat rather than gumboots!

If you wish to read more about the career of a quantity survey then please go to
www.careernav.com.au/career-finder/profiles/quantity-surveyor.