Driver Trett Digest Issue 25 - Flipbook - Page 11
DIGEST | ISSUE 25
...consultancy has been a steep learning curve,
one which required a change of mindset from
profit margins to client value.
Much to my dismay, this Project Manager’s aptitude in
contract administration enabled him to run rings around our
commercial team in a manner akin to a figure skater at a
penguin march. Although initially resentful of his contractual
choreography, an admission of defeat in this battle and a
desire to win the war allowed me to step back for a moment
and admire his artful mastery of the contract.
This project was meant to be my making as a surveyor, but
the summer months on that project were among the most
stressful I faced as a Contractor’s QS. On reflection, this
experience was a formative one, although not in the way I had
initially hoped for or envisaged. The frustration of working
opposite this Project Manager allowed me to reflect on and
identify the gaps in my knowledge.
This period of stagnation did, however, enable me to focus on
my studies towards my LLM, and while those long days and
restless nights almost exhausted my capacity to type another
sentence or draft another email, I dug deep and graduated
with Distinction.
Professional life since starting in consultancy has been
a steep learning curve, one which required a change of
mindset from profit margins to client value. Builders sell
buildings, consultancies sell people. Where the product was
once paramount, acting in a heightened ideal of competence
and professionalism has driven me to strive for a level of
expertise which was formerly of secondary importance.
Whilst my focus is now on integrity and expertise, the
ability to close my eyes and think like a contractor is a
valuable trait to possess. My days are still filled with pivot
tables, preliminaries, and prolongation costs, and my fond
memories of site camaraderie will stay with me until I decide
to hang up my scale rule, but for now, I feel that it is a (Yo Ho)
Consultant’s life for me.
Into the final months of 2019, disenchantment grew within
my day-to-day role, and I found myself seduced by a hidden
urge to fold my hand and do something different. A clean
break from the company could be all but guaranteed as I
had already secured a three-month sabbatical following the
Christmas break, and so I began to consider other options.
The world of dispute resolution was an area that had already
captured my interest, having worked closely with claims
consultants on a particularly problematic final account a
year or so previously. The same consultancy had also been
engaged to deliver various training seminars during my
tenure in contracting, so it seemed a fitting place to begin.
This company was, of course, Driver Trett.
Two interviews and some career planning later, an offer from
Driver Trett was graciously received and eagerly accepted.
This did mean, however, that I would be required to start
from the beginning, returning to university to get a Master’s
degree. The next chapter would thankfully be eased by my
new peers, learning from people who had been working in
all different sectors of the industry for many years. I hadn’t
envisaged the mental toll that drafting a resignation letter
takes, but, after submitting it with a heavy heart, I closed
my old laptop lid down for the final time, sad to be saying
goodbye but optimistic about the future.
One short but sunny sabbatical later, I was keen to get into
the office and make a fresh start in an alien world, but little
did any of us know, a monster loomed. Like most workplaces
in March 2020, barely an hour would go by without someone
uttering the phrase that we had all come to dread... COVID-19
was rampant, and a mere two weeks after receiving my
induction we were informed that the offices would be closing
and everyone would be required to work from home.
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