The hard hat wearing chartered surveyor is almost as much of a property cliche as the pushy estate agent. Have you ever wondered what these mysterious men and women in their day-glo jackets, brandishing set-squares and clipboards, actually do?
There's more than one answer. Surveying is a hugely diverse profession, covering a wide range of disciplines across our built environment and landscape. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors puts it in no small terms: "Surveyors essentially measure, value, protect and enhance all the world's physical assets." This could mean anything from working on site at the London 2012 Olympics to preparing a feasiblity study for a new music stage at Glastonbury Festival.
And while the property sector has suffered from the economic downturn, happier headlines are beginning to emerge. Only this week RICS reported that confidence in the global real estate market is up.
Demand for new office space in London has risen dramatically in 2011
and the construction sector is also reporting steady growth.
This is good news for those hoping to enter the industry - wherever buildings are built, chartered surveyors are needed. So to find out what it takes to make it in this exciting sector, why not survey your options with our panel of experts in next week's live Q&A on Wednesday 11 May from 1pm to 4pm.
You can also keep up-to-date with our regular Q&A sessions via our newsletter - sign up here.
Our panel:
Richard Carter is chairman of the Chartered Surveyors Training Trust, which he joined as a trainee at sixteen. He becoming chartered in 2001 and is a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
James Kavanagh is a chartered land surveyor, chartered geographer and chartered environmentalist. James is currently director of land, within the Professional Groups and Forums department, of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Christina Hirst is chief executive of the CSTT and a chartered valuation surveyor with 15 years valuation and property management experience in the corporate, private and academic sectors. She is also a RICS fellow, training adviser and acting director for RICS Wales.
Darren James is course director for BSc Commercial Management (Quantity Surveying) and BSc Property Management (Building Surveying) at London South Bank University, as well as senior admissions tutor and lecturer in the Built Environment department.
Jon Milward is a partner of Drivers Jonas Deloitte and leads its graduate programme. Jon manages a team of nine development surveyors advising public and private sector clients on new opportunities, joint ventures, acquisitions and site disposals. He sold Chelsea Barracks on behalf of the MoD for a record £959m.
Paul French has been a chartered building surveyor for 16 years and created Set Square surveyors in 2007 which covers a full service spectrum including: pre-acquisition surveys and due diligence, maintenance management, project design and delivery, landlord and tenant dilapidations.
Paul Cutbill is a chartered surveyor at Countrywide with nearly 30 years' experience in the UK residential market. He has worked in private practice as well as the mortgage sector. Current areas of responsibility include graduate recruitment, training, energy assessment and consultancy.
Peter Blake joined Savills in 2006 from the planning policy and development control departments of a local authority. He provides consultancy, valuation, agency and strategic land advice to clients across the south west and Wales. He is also a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Lydia Corneck is partner and head of group training and development at King Sturge where graduates are supported with a comprehensive coaching and development programme coordinated with partners and associates across the King Sturge UK and European network. Lydia joined the company in 2000.
