DCG Success Stories

Trainee quantity surveyor Alisha Jhangeer says professional construction at the Roundhouse provided the perfect preparation for her new job.

Her Level Three course meant she already had valuable, relevant knowledge when she joined Derby-based chartered surveyors Armsons.

Nineteen-year-old Alisha described the lecturers as “100 per cent great”. She said she especially enjoyed going out on site visits and was inspired when employers came to college to speak to her group.

Her achievements come after a period when she was unsure of a career after school.

Alisha went to Derby College Group’s Joseph Wright Centre to retake her GCSE English, as well as three further exams, including higher maths.

Newly armed with seven GCSEs, Alisha decided on professional construction at the Roundhouse after being inspired by the enthusiasm of her quantity surveyor uncle.

Darley Abbey-based Armsons is a DC Group Skills Academy member and she met the firm through the college.

Jonathan Heath, an Armsons director, regularly visits the Roundhouse to give student talks and to stage practice interviews.

Alisha did well in her interview and joined the firm on work experience before landing her trainee/apprentice quantity surveyor job. She completed the course with two distinctions and a merit.

Alisha said: “The lecturers were 100 per cent great, helping with my assignments and helping me to get my grades. In terms of the classroom, you learn the information that you need and then, when you go on site, you really see how that knowledge is used.

When I came to Armsons, I was familiar with the kind of work I was asked to do. College helped a lot to prepare me for what happens at work, and without it I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

As part of her training, Armsons is putting Alisha through the Level 6 Chartered Surveyor (Quantity Surveyor Pathway) Degree Apprenticeship course at Nottingham Trent University.