Project Manager

Career Path

During college, the pressure to attend university made me ‘rebel against the system’ and I sought sanctuary in the Eastern Daily Press careers pages. A small add caught my eye – ‘trainee quantity surveyor position’. What on earth was that?

Having studied the role and company, I managed to secure a trainee position at Davis Langdon, even better, they would support my career progression by sending me on a part time release course at Anglia Polytechnic University, now ARU.

Having obtained an RICS accredited degree, my next goal was to become a chartered professional and with the support of an excellent graduate development programme, obtained chartered status (MRICS) the following year.

After a further 18 months, I decided to change my professional discipline to project management, better suited to my personal attributes and I have continued to manage projects to this day.

In 2013, I joined Seajacks, putting to use my quantity surveying experience within their contracts department. An incredible opportunity, working on huge vessels within the offshore oil and gas and renewables industry. This would be short lived as I joined REAL Consulting as a senior project manager in 2015.

The roles of quantity surveyor and project manager have provided me with great opportunities, working in the Middle East and Europe, but I have always taken great pride in delivering projects local to my home city of Norwich.

I will never forget the training and opportunities I was offered during my early career, the amazing professionals and teams I have worked alongside, and the projects I have delivered.

Current Role

Partner

Salary Range

Varies significantly, depending on role, responsibility, qualifications and experience.

Salaries of £30k to £100k+ can be achieved, for those at the top of their profession.

Typical Day

Every day is different and each project is unique with their own individual challenges to overcome.

A typical day includes attending or chairing meetings, rushing to site to review potential challenges, reviewing project risk and potential mitigation, problem solving and mediating between the team, contractor and clients and of course, trying to have some fun along the way.

Things I wish I’d known

I wish I’d known more about the construction industry during high school and at the start of college and the different roles available. There is so much variety, suiting varying personalities and skillsets and I would have tailored my choices to suit a particular role.