Life of a Building Surveyor – Part 6

At the end of September I attended the RICS Matrics Annual Dinner in Edinburgh. The evening was great, with good food, entertainment and best of all good conversation. I used to find networking daunting and tedious but over time my opinion on it has changed.

I first came across networking at university where we would receive occasional visits from the Matrics representative to encourage us to meet fellow students and young professionals. I was, admittedly, a slow starter but made my way along to some events and, despite being a social person, was terrified at the thought of speaking to a prospective employer who may quiz me on a subject I wasn’t comfortable with. I used to see speaking to others within the industry as if it was all a test and they were trying to catch me out, in hindsight this couldn’t be further from the truth. Networking is all about building relationships and getting to know one another.

Since graduating, I have become more and more comfortable with the concept and the reality of networking. It is clear to me now that the Matrics representative was encouraging us to do something that really would benefit us in the long run. Starting out networking should be seen in the same light as your first day at school, at first you know no one, but over time you grow a network of associates who you still know, socialise with and can trust many years later. Networking is the same and growing your network at the beginning of your career is crucial and can benefit you greatly in the long run. As a graduate surveyor it is important to get to know other professionals operating at a similar level in the industry because as their career progresses and they climb the ranks, so will you. Establishing that relationship early can be incredibly beneficial.

Networking events range from a chat over coffee to far more exciting concepts. In the past month, individuals in our office have been fishing, played tennis, sang at karaoke and joined a networking football league. The beauty of networking is that there is a format for everyone.

Neil Dickson

Building Surveyor

And that’s a wrap – this was the final part in Neil’s Life of a Surveyor series but keep an eye, he’ll be back in early 2019 with his next series.