Quantity Surveyor

Balfour Beatty Construction

After Jayne Blyth completed her A levels, she was offered the job as Trainee Quantity Surveyor with Balfour Beatty Construction.

"This involves studying a part-time degree on a day release basis whilst performing my day role for the remainder of the week. I chose to study at Salford University on the BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying course lasting five years because it is an RICS accredited university. The advantage of studying part-time is that I can apply the theory based learning from university into day-to-day practice in my working day. The experience gained within my role at work has also proved to be beneficial when completing course works.

Working as a Contractor's Quantity Surveyor means I spend most of my time on site, which gives me a varied and interesting day. My current roles include, site measures, tender enquires, valuing subcontractors work, negotiating final accounts, payments and orders. I have been involved in numerous initiatives including; the construction of a multi storey car park, shopping centre, student accommodation and a primary school all of which have given me a valuable perspective on site functions.

Combining work and a degree gives many challenges leaving little spare time, however the experience gained over the five years whilst studying for a degree will be invaluable to my further career prospects."