Part 2: Recruiting Quantity Surveyors when there aren’t any!!

By flexibility in the search for Quantity Surveyors, I mean do not limit your search to a QS who is 25-35 with excellent all round skills and local experience. This demographic makes up 15% of the total QSs worldwide and everyone wants them. They are in high demand and their salaries are escalating rapidly!

Good alternative options lie with:
a. Estimators looking for a career change and a chance to learn cost planning rather than lump sum tendering – however slightly tricky as Estimators are very well paid these days.
b. Contract Administrators who want to move away from site and persue a career path within an office environment and put a suit on! They often have excellent first hand experience on how a building goes together.
c. Construction Planners with abilities in estimation – often forms part of their role. However again the dollar factor can get in the way here as they are very well paid all over the world.
d. Building Surveyors looking for a change and a pay rise. BSs often retain estimating skills when pricing up scopes of work and have excellent technical knowledge too.
e. Carpenters who have priced work – often this skill group have excellent first principle estimating skills that can be added to. Perhaps someone who wants a steadier income.
f. Engineers who have specialised in the costing side of their specialism – often you will find the building services crowd have good first principle costing abilities. In a shrinking pool of available candidates we need to look in other pools. I think one of the biggest challenges faced by growing QS businesses these days is the sourcing of relevant staff. And not only finding them – but then keeping them!! But that’s another topic all in itself.

Happy hunting.