Meet some more non-cognates

Sophia Spanton (24)

Original degree: Media Studies, currently: an assistant PM at T&T and in the second year of an MA property development and construction course at Nottingham Trent University

My father's a builder. He even built our first house, and once I remember I helped him underpin a wall… Over time I became interested in the idea of turning old properties into somewhere liveable.

After A-levels, going into construction didn't occur to me, but after my media studies degree I felt I wanted to do something tangible. Media Studies was about creating an ad, or a piece of paper - you're always selling something.

I actually started a full-time MA, but then thought: "hang on - I can't be a student again!". So I went to my tutor, who suggested trying sponsorship at T&T.

I thought my media studies degree would be a waste of time, but it teaches you communication - the act of conveying details is so important in this job. And the degree has also given me a lot of confidence when I'm dealing with groups or making presentations.

I'm now an assistant PM - I think this role gives you a broader picture compared to being a cost consultant.

At work I'm lacking in some areas, but the good thing about a part-time course is that you have people around you - I've got 30 people in my office. In fact, I've learnt more so far in my job than I have on my course.

When deciding whether to take a conversion course you have to be brave, and definitely research the modules. Make sure you get work experience too, and make sure the university is RICS accredited. Also be prepared to absorb all of the information around you. But just go for it, this industry can be so rewarding. It's not just about muddy sites - you have to think outside the box.

My first job here? We had some pigeon problems with our building so I had to research pigeon scaring! It meant looking around for people with hawks.

Now I'm mostly working on school projects, Leicester College in particular.

Jonathan Leng (31)

Original degree: Mining Geology, currently: working part time at Davis Langdon and in second year of part-time MSc quantity surveying course at London South Bank University

I should be working for a mining company right now. After graduating I did work in that industry on and off in Australia. But there was a global recession in metals in the late 1990s and ended up coming back to the UK and working as a commodities analyst for a while.

I decided to go for QSing because I wanted to get closer to industry and also to get out of London. I worked for Systec for five months but moved to Davis Langdon because I wanted better training.

At Davis Langdon to start with my colleagues assumed I didn't know anything, but you are given a lot of responsibility very quickly.

I'm on a good range of projects. I'm responsible for an £800,000 small extension to a school. I'm the main QS on the project, but I'm heavily supervised by a senior surveyor.

I'm also working on a £13m civic offices scheme being supervised by a partner. It's a high profile building - the police and local government offices of Runnymead Borough Council. We're working with prestige architects - Feilden Clegg Bradley - and there's a strong sustainable element, which adds extra interest.

The course gives you a good grounding in measuring and estimating. I found it difficult before I had that grounding. Getting up to speed in these areas has been the hardest part of the course for me because I don't do much of it in my daily job at Davis Langdon. But my background as an analyst has helped me with the financial side of this conversion course.

Philip Hitchell (27)

Original degree: Human Geography, currently: a cost consultant at EC Harris and in the second year of a part-time MSc quantity surveying course at London South Bank University

My original degree was in human geography. It's about the way people affect geography, so it's social, economic and cultural geography, looking at populations and the built environment.

I chose the MSc quantity surveying course because I had a long standing interest in property, and during my holidays in between university I helped friends renovate properties.

Then I looked at surveying after my human geography degree - applied for a few different types then decided on QSing. Had a few friends and contacts in the industry. It's always good if you can get an inside angle, see what the day to day responsibilities are like, and see what the job progression is like.

In the conversion course I took there was some repetition with the modules, but you can get exemption from this.

I'm hoping to take my APC in a few months. At the moment the workload is manageable, but ask me later in the year and I'll say something different!

I'm keeping the diary for the APC, but next year will be heavier with the assessment. Luckily we have in-house coaching at EC Harris.

For the first six months at EC Harris all non-cognates have support roles for a project surveyor. Now after six months I'm just about getting direct client contact.

I'm working now on an Academy in Lewisham. There was a lot of pre-contract work, but now the work has just started on site.

I'd always say doing a course part-time is better - you can't say no to a firm giving you funding, and the day a week to study, and time to do the APC.

Ned Roberts (29)

Original degree: Archaeology, currently: working full-time at Gleeds

After university I started working for a firm that built tennis courts, synthetic pitches, stadiums and so on. I was a contract supervisor. Three years later, after my last job - a big stadium job worth half a million in Chemlsford - I moved to a construction recruitment company (Linsco) in Nottingham. I was there for two years. During that time I realised the firms I talked to were all saying that there were not enough QSs around. They were always on the lookout. They were struggling to get hold of them. Then an opportunity came around to do a five-year degree sponsored by Gleeds. When Nottingham Trent saw my application they suggested the part-time two-year MA in property development and construction course. It was the best route for me at that point as I was 26 and didn't want to spend another five years studying.

My original degree has come in useful - as well as a pure QS here I also work with the management consultancy team. So sometimes I'll work with funding applications. We deal sometimes with the HLF and English Funding, so there's some crossover there. Gleeds is using my degree, they recognise it.

My first reason to do a conversion course was to complete my APC. You can, in theory, do it after one year after finishing a two-year MA, but I wouldn't recommend that. For me that was far too early. It's taken me longer to get to grips with the nuts and bolts issues. It's all very well learning about contract administration and law, but you need to spend time on the jobs.