PROFESSIONAL
PRACTICE
Assignment 1
Important Areas of Understanding
Additional Understanding
Critical Review of the Assignment
Membership Confirmations
10 Year Career Plan
The Quantity Surveying Profession
In my essay, I failed to adequately address what is necessary to be completed for the different organisations, in order to become a PrQS. I focussed more on my own interests as apposed to exploring the necessary requirements to become a PrQS through the different institutions. Other minor setbacks that we (as a class) faced were getting the proof of registration with the various professional organisations. However, the end result was that UCT was able to organise free student membership with the ASAQS, which it had previously not been able to do.
I have found the exercise of signing up with recognised professional organisations as a very clever initiative of this assignment’s aim. It is something that I feel people will often speak a lot about doing and will not actually get around to. For that reason, this has been a hugely beneficial exercise. As well as becoming a member of these professional organisations, the assignment has made sure that we have not ‘blindly’ become members of these associations and have taken the time to investigate the requirements set out by each organisation in order to become a professional.
Writing the ten year career plan is an exercise that helps you gain perspective on the route to becoming a professional and helps you understand that the QS Honours year is merely a ‘stepping stone in the right direction’. There is still a great deal of hard work that needs to be done and hopefully, having signed up with three professional organisations, I have helped facilitate my own career path and future vision of becoming a professional. The organisations that I have become part of include: ASAQS, RICS and AIQS.
Other professional bodies within the built environment include:
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International Council for Cost Engineers (ICOSTE)
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South African Institute of Architects (SAIA)
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South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Profession (SACPCMP)
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Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA)
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Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) etc.
This assignment's aim was to create a 'ten year career plan', as well as attain student membership with both international and national professional organisations. The purpose of the assignment allowed us to discover the different pathways, post the QS Honours year, in order to become a Professional Quantity Surveyor (PrQS).