Five good reasons to become a surveyor

Caroline Round TechRICS, 24, is a residential property surveyor with Countrywide Surveyors based in Taunton, Somerset

There are plenty of good reasons to become a surveyor. Here are just five reasons why more and more people are choosing to follow a career in surveying.

1 Variety
Surveying is an extremely diverse profession. Depending on which area you decide to specialise in you could go on to become involved in planning and creating cities, protecting the environment, designing the latest Sony Playstation game, helping to organise the festival at Glastonbury, discovering a lost work of art, or doing the next big property deal.

2 Money
Chartered surveyors can command high salaries and bonuses. Surveyors in the UK are the highest paid graduates with an average salary of £24 000 three years after leaving university*. Beyond that the sky is the limit with six figure bonuses for big deals not unknown.
3 Sociability
If you consider yourself to be a 'people person' the surveying profession could be for you. You will be talking to a wide range of people from contractors to managing directors. Personal relationships can make you in this business.

4 Travel
Surveyors are not chained to their desks. Although you are likely to be office based you will spend a great deal of time out meeting people and inspecting properties or plots of land. Many surveyors travel nationally and internationally.

5 Lifestyle
Hours in the surveying world are very civilised and compare favourably with other professions such as law. The lifestyle of a surveyor is often envied by individuals in other professions and supported by the number of late entrants to the profession.

* Source: The Royal Bank of Scotland Graduate Satisfaction Survey 2005 

Top 5

1 Variety

2 Money

3 Sociability

4 Travel

5 Lifestyle