ABI SETS OUT TO INSPIRE A NEW GENERATION OF SURVEYORS

Abi Linford of our Professional team played an important part in encouraging young people to consider a career in property when she was invited by RICS to take part in its Inspire Schools event.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is taking steps to attract a new generation into the field, and has organised a series of INSPIRE workshops to work with 13 to 15-year-olds to engage with them and get them to consider a career in surveying.

Abi, who at 28 has worked with Harris Lamb for three years, said she was delighted to have been asked to take part.

“This is a really proactive initiative from RICS. With 53 per cent of the current RICS membership aged 50 and over, the industry needs to do something to ensure that there is a future pipeline of talent.”

“In order to help tackle the skills gap, the RICS INSPIRE initiative aims to engage more school-age young people to consider a career in surveying, and I was asked to attend Lordswood Girls School to help host one. Over the two-hour session, we aimed to give students a hands-on understanding of what Chartered Surveyors do,” she said.

The students Abi was working with were challenged to provide advice to a hypothetical client in relation to the development of a community centre.

“The scenario even included the surprise discovery of Great Crested Newts – something that our Ecology team are well-acquainted with! Each team presented their ideas really well and some of the ideas the groups were coming up with showed real initiative, it was very rewarding to be part of it.”

“I hope that the exercise gave the teenagers taking part some food for thought and shows them that they could have a real flair for a career in the sector,” she added.

The workshops aim to raise awareness of careers within Chartered Surveying, as well as showcasing a range of routes into the industry: apprenticeships, vocational degrees and Masters degrees following unrelated degree subjects.