Graduate FAQ's

The RICS stands for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and RTPI stands for the Royal Town Planning Institute.  They each are the professional bodies for the real estate industry, in surveying and planning respectively.  They each set the pathways and competency guides, and ultimately end point assessments, for which our graduates must follow in order to become Chartered.  They also each maintain the professional standards across the UK and internationally.

You do not need an accredited degree to apply for the role; however you will need an accredited degree by the time you become chartered.  If you already have the accredited degree, you will be known as a cognate applicant meaning you can progress straight on to the APC (Assessment of Professional Competence); if you have a non-RICS or non-RTPI degree, you will be considered a non-cognate applicant and you will need to complete an accredited BSc or MSc alongside your APC.  We will support you in doing this through utilising our apprenticeship levy and you will have one day off per week for your studies.

Due to the study commitment, it is natural that having an accredited degree is highly desirable as we can only take on a limited number of non-cognate applicants each year.

If you already have an accredited degree (whether RICS or RTPI), you will be known as a cognate applicant. If you have a non-accredited degree or are a school leaver, you will be a non-cognate applicant and you will need to complete an accredited BSc or MSc (depending whether you have a degree already) alongside your work and APC.  We will support you in doing this through utilising our apprenticeship levy and you will have one day off per week for your studies.

There is no academic minimum criteria to apply, as you can apply as a non-cognate with or without a degree if you are willing to undertake the apprenticeship (which you can do as a BSc or MSc depending on if you already have a degree or not).  You will simply need to show an enthusiasm and desire to work within property and for Gerald Eve.  Work experience within the industry is advantageous, but we recognise you may not have had the opportunity to obtain this.  We recommend utilising your cover letter and application questions to demonstrate your passion for the role.

For permanent graduate positions, unfortunately we are not in a position to sponsor your right to work in the U.K. We are however happy to support you during work experience provided you have the necessary working permit.

Depending on how early in the application window you apply, the application process can feel like a long time.  We appreciate everyone has different work or study commitments, and people may wish to wait to gain more knowledge through university or work experience, so there is no advantage or disadvantage in applying sooner or later in the process.  As long as you get your application in before the deadline, we will review it.

Yes, absolutely.  Some degrees are dual-accredited so you may be open-minded to your pathway; but be sure to recognise this within your application so we have an understanding as to your thought process in applying for more than one pathway.

No, Gerald Eve do not have a Quantity Surveying team or any Quantity Surveying professionals.

Given the roles are open for no less than 2 months and we already receive a competitive amount of applications, we do not accept late applications.

We hold assessment days for all surveying and planning graduate and placement year roles.  We aim to contact all successfully shortlisted Planning applicants by the end of November; all Surveying applicants by the end of December and all placement applications by the middle of February.  We contact all candidates, whether successful or unsuccessful, so if you haven’t heard from us it means we are still reviewing applications so the above timeframes may be ever so slightly adjusted.

Due to the high volume of applications we get, we don’t offer feedback to those that have not been invited to an assessment day.  If you are unsuccessful after meeting us at an assessment day, we will always offer individualised feedback.  It’s important to recognise that we have limited positions compared to the number of applicants so keep this in mind and don’t feel too disheartened if you don’t get the opportunity this time around.  We often hire people who missed out the first time around but we have kept in touch.  Our policy is that the door is always open to future opportunities.

Whilst the job vacancy is live, you should be able to see that you have an open application.  However, once the vacancy is closed, you will no longer be able to see that you have a live application.  Rest assured we do have it.

The APC stands for Assessment of Professional Competence.  This is the terminology both the RICS and RTPI use in order to assess whether candidates have the technical knowledge and experience, as well as professional standards and ethics, relevant and to that of a high enough standard to be recognised as a chartered member of the relevant body.

As a London based general practice graduate Surveyor, you will rotate amongst 4 teams.  We prioritise graduates that are within their second year and therefore closer to sitting their APC so we need to ensure they get the required competencies in time.  We do encourage people to share with us what their desired seats are so you can absolutely influence this, but we do also need to marry this up with business needs and ensuring you get the right mix of competencies.

Whilst we have an outstanding track of people who successfully pass their APC and subsequently become chartered, because we only support candidates in submitting if we feel they are ready to do so, we do also experience occasions where someone unfortunately fails.  This is okay, we will fully support you both professionally and financially to sit at least a second time.  The only consequence is monetary as with becoming chartered, means a promotion and payrise, but this will still be waiting for you when you do ultimately pass.