On Wednesday 24 July, a celebration lunch was held to share the success of five surveyors who have recently passed their APC exams. The lunch was attended by the Head of our Advisory Services division, Liberty Stones along with members of our early careers graduate team; Mo Cox, Olivia Yates, Kate Manners, and Flo Gilman.
The Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) is an exam graduates must pass to become chartered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The APC ensures that candidates are competent in their field of work and meet the high standards of professionalism required to become a chartered surveyor. These are a mix of technical and professional practice, interpersonal, business and management skills. All candidates were sponsored by the organisation to obtain the qualification.
Surveyors Olivia Howard, Oliver Rudd, Samuel Miles, Edward Adams, and Matthew Johnson had to complete at least two years of experience and structured training. The candidates then had to submit a case study, summary of experience, and a CPD (Continuing Professional Development) record and attend a gruelling one-hour-long interview.
Preparation for the APC takes several months to ensure each candidate has obtained an appropriate level of experience across the different competencies they choose to take. We offer support throughout this process in the form of training days, Doctor support meetings, an allocated Supervisor and Counsellor and a mock interview process.
Olivia Yates, Head of the Graduate Team, said: “We are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication that our candidates have put into their APC. It takes a huge amount of commitment to achieve success and their dedication has paid off. We wish them all the best with what lies ahead in the next part of their career path."
Flo Gilman, a surveyor in our minerals department has recently joined our graduate team. She is eager to contribute to the expertise in the team and help ease the transition for new graduates entering the workforce. She said: “Starting a new job can be daunting, especially for recent graduates, I understand this firsthand, and I want to be able to reduce the pressure for both new and existing team members.”
Edward Adams joined our telecoms team in Banbury as a graduate in January 2022. He had originally wanted to work in rural estate management after studying rural property management at Harper Adams University. He saw a graduate vacancy advertised on the website and thought a career in the telecoms sector would be interesting. He said: “I liked the idea of how niche the telecoms sector is but at the same time how vital the infrastructure development is for the development of the UK. ”I have received so much support from the grad team to help me pass my APC.”
Olivia Howard, who works in our rural property management team from our office in Doncaster, said: “I joined as a graduate in October 2022 after doing a short summer placement with the infrastructure team in Ashby. The APC process was daunting at the start, but with the help and support from the graduate team and other colleagues, the process was made much easier. Now that I have passed, I am looking forward to continuing to learn and develop in my role as rural surveyor.”
Matthew Johnson works in our infrastructure team, based in our Newark office, added: “I am proud that I have now passed my APC and I am sure that was due to the level of support I received. Nothing was ever too much trouble, and my colleagues were very generous in letting me take up their time to help with revision. “
Samuel Miles is a member of our infrastructure team in Stafford, having joined us in January 2022. He holds a degree in Real Estate Management from the University College of Estate Management. Reflecting on his journey, Samuel said: “The APC process was quite the roller coaster—I changed my pathway twice and navigated various technical competencies over a span of 2 years. I had to seek experience beyond my department, which required perseverance. Throughout this journey, the graduate team and my colleagues provided incredible support. Now, I eagerly aspire to further growth in my current role and wish to assist new colleagues on their own APC paths.”
Congratulations once again to all the candidates that have successfully passed their APC this time.
Find out more about our early careers.
