Pole positions

Just starting out in your career or looking for a new challenge? Recruiter Richard Gelder highlights four of the most in-demand roles in the built environment.

Project managers and quantity surveyors

Despite the recent contraction in construction output, both project managers and quantity surveyors continue to be in short supply, according to Richard Gelder, director of construction and property at recruiter Hays. Right now there is no let-up in demand for those people,’ the number of people compared with the level of demand. It’s certainly the case that, in some of the UK’s regional markets, such as the West Midlands, north-west and Leeds, demand is very high.’

Estates surveyors and maintenance surveyors

There is huge demand for both estates and maintenance surveyors at the moment, Gelder reports. Counter-intuitively, given the cutbacks sustained by local authorities over the past 10 years, demand is being led by the public sector. As austerity has bitten, the public sector has really started to look at how they make up the shortfall in funding and for a lot of them it has come back to what they have lots of, which is often buildings and land,’ says Gelder. ‘What you’ve seen is a lot of work around unused assets and how they can be strategically realigned.’

BIM managers and related roles

It has been a hot topic in construction for some years now, so it is no surprise that experts in BIM are in high demand. If you look over the last two to three years, BIM has really settled down and has become part of the picture, whether you’re a contractor or a consultant,’ says Gelder. ‘As BIM continues to evolve and just becomes best practice, it’s very much a key area of demand, whether you are a BIM manager – which is a role that has only existed for a few years – or someone coming in who can use the technology.’

 Experts in advanced building management

As priorities in the built environment shift ever-more towards environmental responsibility, those professionals who have developed an expertise in advanced building management systems are needed more than ever. They are typically mechanical and electrical (M&E) engineers by background,’ says Gelder. ‘With building management systems, that is related directly to sustainability and energy efficiency. They are becoming totemic issues in the industry and that is only going to go in one direction.’

How do we start closing the industry’s skills gap?

Most of our Twitter followers felt the solution lies in better training, but they were split on whether it should be aimed at up-skilling the current workforce, or using it to inspire the next generation while they’re still young.

 

 

Poll undertaken for RICS Modus Magazine in September 2019.

Supporting in-work training

The majority of RICS courses allow you to study at convenient times, alongside your day job. This means you can immediately embed the skills and techniques you learn.

 

Article first published in RICS Modus Magazine September 2019
Excerpt from Training courses 2020 catalogue

Why choose RICS for your training?

Clients across the globe are demanding greater certainty and seeking professionals who work to the highest standards. As the leading professional body in land, property, infrastructure and construction, RICS is committed to promoting and enforcing the uppermost technical and ethical standards.

Whether it’s through the RICS pathways to qualification, the guidance and standards RICS professionals adhere to, or the CPD commitment they undertake – all instil professional excellence that inspires market confidence and trust. It’s why RICS also delivers training so closely aligned with these standards and RICS’ competency frameworks. We want every course delegate to have confidence in the quality and relevance of what they learn.

We’re here to help you to become qualified, upskill technically, comply with international standards, and develop management and leadership capability. We’re here to help you succeed at every stage in your career.

Last year we trained 15,709 built environment professionals; we delivered 630 courses.

Our delegates said

98% - their course met with the learning objectives

98% - ranked their RICS Trainer as ‘excellent’

95% - they would recommend RICS in-house training to a colleague

A world of ways to undertake training with RICS

People prefer to learn in different ways. Finding time to fit your studies around a busy work schedule can also be a challenge. With this in mind, we offer a range of course formats.

Face-to-face	benefit from high interaction with the trainer for support, feedback and networking with your peers.
E-learning	short, succinct and detailed modules that fit around your daily schedule, covering technical and management topics.
Web classes	learn wherever is convenient to you, through chat and interaction with the presenter and other delegates.
Online programmes	combines a range of ways to learn, including live web-classes, set reading, and case study based activity.
Distance learning	online, detailed, self-paced, you will learn new skills and fundamental concepts as well as how to apply them.

* Earlybird discount on face-to-face courses. Save 10% when you book six weeks or more in advance.

Bespoke needs

Our in-house training is always carefully created to meet the specific learning development needs of your people and business.

Just as individuals require specific outcomes from the training they receive, the firms we work with are no different – therefore open conversation is important to us.

We want to be sure of your objectives before we take the next steps of designing what could range from a one-off course addressing a certain skills gap, through to mapping out a full comprehensive structured training programme for teams or individuals within your organisation.

Experienced

Last year we delivered 172 training programmes to 109 companies, working across all sectors

Flexible

Collaboratively working towards your budget, timescales, location and objectives.

Confidential

Training delivered in complete privacy, whether on your premises or through secure online channels.

Relevant

Training delivered by practicing professionals, incorporating real life scenarios, the latest standards, best practice and project examples.

About our courses

Our training portfolio is based around RICS’ Competency Frameworks. These competencies define the knowledge, skills and experience required to become an RICS professional. To support individuals looking to become RICS qualified or those who wish to learn the fundamental skills required of a particular profession,

we’ve introduced new online programmes which comprehensively cover the key competencies they will need.

An important benefit of training people in this way is that they are not only more likely to gain the ability to undertake tasks and processes to the highest of standards within their chosen specialism, but also offer greater awareness and capability to perform within multi-disciplinary project teams and businesses.

This approach also underpins many aspects of the training we offer to professionals looking to progress their career. It can allow them to move into different areas, as well ensuring RICS professionals are able to maintain

their competence through CPD and remain up-to-date and compliant with the very latest standards, legislation and industry best practice.

Coming in 2020 are exciting new programmes designed to help professionals develop leadership capabilities both within specific sectors and across the entire real estate asset life cycle.

Our courses can be broadly categorised as given below –

·         Construction courses: Face-to-face and online learning              

·         Real estate courses: Face-to-face and online learning

·         Business skills courses: Face-to-face and online learning

·         APC courses: Face-to-face and online learning

·         Dispute Resolution Services: Face-to-face and distance learning courses

Excerpt by Maria Duhan, RICS Global Director of Training, RICS Training 2020 Catalogue