Property professionals need to talk up the value of their trade and brand

Paul McNeive

What does a surveyor do? Stock image

February 16 2023 02:30 AM

With the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) forecasting a shortage of surveyors it is encouraging that an increasing proportion of women and people in other professions are opting for careers in property. Both of these factors are a welcome response to moves by the SCSI to broaden the pathways and access to the profession, such as Earn and Learn courses which allow students to continue to work, while studying.

While progress has been made, I still believe the surveying profession has a branding problem. For example, if you ask a school leaver or a member of the public what a “surveyor” does, they probably won’t know. They may have some familiarity with the term quantity surveyor but won’t be sure what they do.

This problem means that over half of the profession, which works in areas such as valuing, selling and leasing property, has a very low brand awareness, unless described as estate agents or auctioneers.

I spoke with representatives in the education system to get a feel for the overall situation and Mr James Lonergan, Director of Education & CPD at the SCSI, told me that the society now has over 6,100 members. Over half are involved in the estate agency areas, with most of the remainder engaged in the construction side of the business. Perhaps 3pc are in specialities like land and mineral surveying and planning and development.

Up to 90pc of members qualify by completing an SCSI-accredited honours or masters degree in any of the technological universities or Maynooth University. Graduates then begin gaining practical experience with firms in the business at starting salaries in the range of €30,000 to €40,000.

A recent report on Employment, Education and Workplace prepared by Dr Roisin Murphy, a senior lecturer at Technological University Dublin, advised that median salaries for qualified surveyors in estate agency were just over €77,000, and higher on the construction side.

The society is at an advanced stage of developing a series of apprenticeship courses

The society is making strong efforts to open up more routes into the profession, and, for example, there are newish options for career changers – for example someone with an engineering degree, or for senior industry figures, who don’t hold an accredited degree, but can qualify following a period of preparation and a final interview.

The society is at an advanced stage of developing a series of apprenticeship courses in partnership with State agency Solas, and industry, and these will allow greater access to students, without the barrier of fees.

In order to address the branding and awareness issue, the society has initiatives in schools such as Space, Surveyors & Students based on an augmented-reality app which teaches students about the technology that surveyors use, and sustainability.

A number of current property students have also become ambassadors and are telling their stories in property on TikTok.

Dr Murphy agrees that there is still work to be done to promote what exactly a job in surveying entails. “There are a myriad of sectors where surveyors work, from retailers to management consultancies and there isn’t full awareness of the variety of options. Property has been slow to embrace technology and there are also opportunities for ‘tech savvy’ people to help with the digitization of the construction sector,” she told me.

The Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV) also offers routes into the sector and they currently have 178 students on their Business in Real Estate course in TU Dublin, Tallaght.

They also have 470 qualified valuers and offer courses in residential and commercial property valuation.

For information contact the SCSI or the IPAV.