5 Days to Change the world

I simply cannot be alone in my opinion that there are just too many lawyers and accountants in the world.

It may have always been the case.

Just look at great Civilisations at the peak of their dominance and just behind an enigmatic, charismatic or downright tyrannical and despotic leader there will have been lurking a man of the law and a bean counter.

Disputes in law and cost cutting by my respective nemeses are likely to have contributed to the downfall of dynasty's, empires, regimes and states but the professions concerned have always been able to escape criticism or have been cunning enough to find a scapegoat, hence their ability to remain in positions of power and influence to this day.

I have, for much of my own working life ,conducted a veritable if not an actual crusade,a subversive campaign and guerilla action to encourage the younger generation to take up Surveying or at least anything other than a career in the law or accountancy.

My main strategy has been to willingly take on school age students for periods of work experience when that time of the year calls for a week or two in business and commerce.

In every one of the last 20 years out of a total of 24 in self employment I have been able to host one or two male and female students from local state and funded schools. The process of being an approved work experience provider is quite involved with visits from careers teaching staff, the local authority and an occasional parent to ascertain the appropriateness of the job, that suitable insurances are held, issues around child protection are fully satisfied and that the placement will be safe, non-contentious and mutually beneficial to all parties.

I have found the hosting of students to be rewarding and encouraging in my own work as it presents an opportunity to revisit practices and perceptions that may have become a bit weary or just taken for granted. There is nothing more challenging than talking a student through a methodical approach to the survey of a building in the face of pertinent or inquisitive interrogations on what, where, why, how and when for every element of the inspection.

My first question to every young person on placement with me is "What interested you in Surveying".

The answers have been varied from a text book response, perhaps learnt word for word the night before from Wikipedia (there are other sources available) to a stunned silence.

I do not blame the youngsters but full squarely my own Professional Institution for not making the business known to the public on a wider basis. We are a key player in the property and landed market and yet are always relegated behind estate agents, those pesky lawyers, more bean counters and just about everyone else who blags a share of the work involved in related transactions.

Other responses have referred to relatives or family friends in the same sphere of work, perhaps coming across a surveyor doing a job for parents or just a curiosity about what they do.

The one or two weeks of work experience does of course mean 10 days out of the school environment for those participating. Some may exploit this and opt for any vaguely unusual sounding placement rather than double maths, english and the sciences.

I did hear of a student expressing to the careers department an interest in working with animals. Whether the school misunderstood the lad or were plain lazy he ended up being sent to the premises of a local butcher.

Those sent along to accompany me over the last 20 years included stand-out students who had a good attitude, a willingness to learn and were personable and also a few ignorant, stuck up and downright unfriendly types who obviously regarded my livelihood as a lowly and demeaning thing.

There has been a big contrast between pupils from large comprehensive schools and those from public, fee paying establishments but on rather an alternating basis proving to me that shelling out for an education is no guarantee of producing a good, rounded and decent individual.

I do remember, for all the wrong reasons, one student who was introduced to my colleagues in the office and then, after asking to use  the toilet, disappeared never to be seen again. His mother later rang to say that the placement was not what he had expected. I often wonder what became of him. Another lad did not want to go out to survey properties being more than happy to just help the typists and clerical staff. He sometimes appears in my thoughts and I have been a bit fearful about what life has thrown at him .

I am pleased to report that my quest to skirmish with those who would possibly become lawyers and accountants has had some success in the two decades.

To my knowledge, out of the  40 students on placement, around 6 have actually pursued a career in surveying and have become fully qualified. That is a half dozen saved following my intervention from a life of power, influence and affluence. Result!