We caught up with Qasim, a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, from Arcadis to find out about his experiences at the firm and his unique journey to becoming the youngest ever Chartered Surveyor.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I am a Chartered Quantity Surveyor at Arcadis with just under four years of experience offering Quantity Surveying, Employer's Agent, Contract Administrator & Due Diligence services with various consultancy, contracting and local government organisations.
I have acquired experience as a Quantity Surveyor through working with clients within various real estate sectors including education, residential, commercial and healthcare. I have also briefly gained international consultancy experience within the residential sector through temporarily supporting the delivery of cost planning services on schemes globally.
I am a mentor for several upcoming Quantity Surveyors within the consultancy market and am currently an APC (Assessment of Professional Competence) supervisor supporting a candidate new to the APC process. During my career so far, I have been a regional business representative for diversity and inclusion and I have been involved with several initiatives which have allowed me to represent and promote the construction industry to the best of my ability.
What stood out to you about Arcadis when considering your next career move?
Various organisations within the consultancy market were eager for me to join them! I was fortunate enough to have offers from Arcadis and two other big firms, so it was a really difficult decision to make but I was reassured that Arcadis would be best placed to help me realise both my immediate and longer term ambitions.
I was correct in believing they would support my immediate ambitions and I have hope that they will also be the firm to support my longer term ambitions!
What is a ‘normal day’ in your role?
There isn’t a normal day in my role; the variety of services we offer are too vast for us to get into a routine at work.
How would you describe the culture at Arcadis?
As a whole it’s a very respectful and happy culture at Arcadis which provides the optimum platform and opportunity for people to grow, perform, and succeed. Arcadis are also a very diverse and inclusive employer - a firm where I have no doubts about being able to fulfil my religious obligations.
You recently became a Chartered Cost Consultant and are likely to become the youngest Chartered Surveyor of all time, can you tell us a bit more about this experience and how you’ve found that journey?
Attempting to break a world record whilst simultaneously studying at university and working in a full time role was difficult – more challenging than anything I’d done before!
I wasn’t as concerned about my grades at university as much as I was about always being the very best version of myself both as Quantity Surveyor and as an individual – I’d realised that success would follow if this was my aim! In April 2020 I was put on furlough whilst working for a different organisation. I decided to channel all my energy into the APC process in order to become Chartered and ensure I was fully equipped with the technical knowledge and abilities to thrive.
I arrived at Arcadis as an Apprentice in 2021, and I’ll never forget the extensive training and support I received from a variety of brilliant professionals! They were able to guide me in the best way possible, allowing me to walk into the final assessment and put on a flawless performance regardless of the challenging circumstances I encountered during the months prior.
Finally, What piece of advice would you give to someone who is thinking of applying to Arcadis?
My advice would be to do it - Arcadis is the best firm I’ve been employed with during my career and is recognised within industry as a world-renowned Quantity Surveying consultancy.
Find out more about the careers Arcadis has to offer here.