Alex Law has successfully completed a one year apprenticeship with Astons as a quantity surveyor. Here is his story about why he chose to do an apprenticeship and the benefits of learning this way.
I’m Alex Law, I’m 19, and I’m currently training to be a quantity surveyor.
I have always been interested in the building industry as my family have been heavily involved in it.
I chose to do an apprenticeship as I never really fancied the university route, and doing an apprenticeship meant I could not only learn in my chosen career path but I could earn an income to fund myself. I find this way much more effective as I can practice as I learn, so the skills stick with me better.
It’s also very useful having supportive colleagues who help me with my questions to guide me to become better at the role. It also fits in a lot better with my life outside work. I train in athletics, in particular long jump, which I’ve been doing since I was 12. I train a couple of nights a week, competing on various weekends. I have to put a lot of time into this as I have competed up to international level in the past years. Being able to do my BTEC and NVQ, which are coursework based, means I can work around what I do in my own time without the added pressure of exams.
I have gained various skills since taking on my apprenticeship and also improved skills which I already have, for example, I now know how to create BOQ’s (Bills of quantities) and improved on some of my computer skills by using new programmes which I had never used before.
Astons are a very friendly company and supported me by allowing me to do this apprenticeship with them. Everyone I work with in the office is friendly and supportive and has given me help whenever I needed it.
My plans for the future are to complete my courses with the highest possible grades, which I am on track for, then to progress my training to become a fully qualified quantity surveyor.