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Hannah Cuthbert, one of our recruiters for the Rural Professionals industry interviewed Caroline Cavill to give us insight into the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) interviews. Caroline is a qualified FRICS and has over 20 years of experience as a professional educator, specialising in APC tutoring. The APC is a process where rural surveyors can demonstrate their professional competencies followed by a formal interview. Amid APC season, Hannah caught up with Caroline to understand more about the process and the benefits of being a Chartered Surveyor. Q: What is the APC and why is it important? A: Sitting your APC is important as it gets you your professional accreditation and demonstrates your professional standing. It also shows credibility. You, your firm and your practices’ clients know they’re going to get a quality service. Q: What is the layout of the APC process?A: The APC is a structured way to gain and demonstrate your knowledge and experience within the rural surveying profession and ends with a professional interview at the end.The interviews usually take place in the spring and autumn interview windows, with the submission of your work evidence prior to the interview – usually February for the spring interviews and August for the autumn interviews. Q: What 3 things would you tell someone about to sit their APC?1. Read the competence/pathway guidance and know the pathway guidance inside out.2. Make sure you know your submission incredibly well.3. Take a break before you sit your final assessment, don’t revise the night before - ‘it shouldn’t be a stressful process’.“This is your hour to tell people what you’ve done, what you know, your experience and what advice you’ve given. Your case study presentation is your 10 minutes to tell the assessment panel all about this wonderful project you’ve been involved with”.Q: What trends have you noticed in the last couple of years?A: There has definitely been a shift since the pandemic. The changes I’ve seen since are: 1. Candidates not knowing their submission as well as they should.2. Candidates not being able to articulate as well.3. Candidates not having as much time in front of clients as previous, lots of meetings are held over Teams now.4. Candidates maybe aren’t quite as prepared as previous years.Covid is another factor. People either didn’t go to university, or they spent a lot of time distance learning and didn’t have classroom interaction. For a lot of candidates, when they came out of university, they were working in firms that weren’t out in front of clients as much. There’s a lot of value to sitting in an office where you’ve got someone saying “I’m going out to see x, jump in the car and come with me” – they’re not as exposed as they are with hybrid working.Q: What do you think the common pitfalls are of the APC process?1. Not being well enough prepared for the professional interview. 2. Not understanding the process.3. The lack of face-to-face interaction students have experienced in the last few years.Q: What does it mean when someone’s been referred? A: It means that on the day of the interview, the candidate didn’t quite demonstrate their competence against the criteria required. It is important to remember that it is a referral and not a fail.Q: What does the refer mean?A: A refer means that the candidate was not successful this time, but the referral report should be written in a way to help them improve for next time – this may be related to any part(s) of the interview.This is why throughout the interview, assessors will be taking detailed notes, so that if referral feedback is required, it can be used to provide quality guidance for sitting again at another session.Q: What service do you offer? A: I tailor my offering to candidates. I offer packages that can be a longer-term or shorter-term plan, depending on where people are on their APC journey, or I can do it on an hourly basis.I offer bespoke packages or off-the-shelf packages that are a fixed price. An example of a one-off package would be that I can go through a rough draft submission from beginning to end and add commentary and critique throughout.Q: Why should someone use you? How does it help? A: Because a really well-prepared candidate has a lot better chance of having a better experience on their APC journey. Some candidates are well-supported by their firms, others aren’t and are reaching out individually. Q: What career advice would you give to someone after they pass their APC? A: There are so many rural people who work their way through firms and stay forever, some that move about for various reasons/changes in circumstances.I often speak to some clients a few years later who want to change but feel like they’re stuck. However, there are so many transferable skills gained. There is a lot of value to their wider skillset which I don’t think they always recognise. For example, rural surveyors would’ve dealt with people in big country estates, the gamekeepers, the estate tenants. They’ll know about farming practices, planning, dealing with tenants, selling property, drawing maps etc.After the APC and going forward there are so many options out there, so don’t feel stuck in a rut. It’s important to grab any opportunity – before and after APC. If you don’t enjoy your job ring Hannah! Get a different one.Life is too short to stay somewhere you don’t enjoy.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Get in touch!If you are interested in starting your rural career, or you are looking to take your next rural career step, please reach out to myself, Hannah, for a confidential chat.My contact details can be found by clicking here.

Route to RuralThe CAAV (Central Association of Agricultural Valuers) have recently launched their Route to Rural initiative, promoting the work of the rural surveying and rural valuers’ industry. Whilst they have more members than ever before, they have highlighted a recruitment gap in applications into rural roles. The CAAV is a specialist professional body which represents and briefs members within the agricultural and rural space. To gain entry to the Association, an examination must be conducted to demonstrate an understanding of rural surveying. The Route to Rural scheme aims to increase public awareness and understanding of the work as well as reaching a wider audience than the conventional routes to entry. Membership provides valuable ongoing networking and training opportunities.Currently, to become a Chartered Rural Surveyor and Valuer, who can carry out and sign off required work, a RICS accredited degree or a certain number of years of experience is required. In the past, this has somewhat hindered the type of candidates coming through and limited the talent pool.It’s possible to complete a top-up Master’s degree following your studies. This can be a one-year course or part-time alongside your work. Through conversations with clients, we are seeing an increase in companies looking further afield and supporting candidates from non-traditional backgrounds on their route to rural. Through personal experience, I didn’t complete an MRICS degree but I did explore the idea of the Rural Surveying and Agricultural Valuers route, by reaching out to local firms and applying to larger company's internships and summer work experience programmes. This provided me with a few weeks shadowing a qualified Surveyor and Valuer and gaining an insight into what the role would look like. Case Study:Claire Adcroft, AssociateUndergraduate degree in Geography. Reached out to a local Agent for work experience, fell in love with the Rural side and continued further weeks of work experience. Recommended that to undertake this career path would need a Masters, undertook a Masters degree and began the route to MRICS and FAAV.Has now been in the profession for almost ten years, focusing on Valuations and Farm Agency.The best part of the job...the variety and getting to nosey around some amazing properties. Top tip: grow your network, reach out to Surveying firms local to you and relevant employees via LinkedIn. Contact details can often be found on company websites, it’s very much a case of reaching out to people and knocking on doors. There are enough Surveyors willing to help, especially in bringing people into the industry.The CAAV are calling on employers to sign up to offer work experience through their route to rural programme, the hopeful outcome being that they find good future staff with transferable skills. They are calling on employers to consider their local network, including Young Farmers clubs and local schools to encourage young people to become aware of the work that rural surveyors do. They’re also looking to encourage those considering a second career later on in life, with transferrable skills into the rural industry. What work do Agricultural Valuers do? Sales and lettings: Sales, purchase and lettings of farms, estates, houses, commercial premises and land.Tax planning: Advice on rural taxation and finance, including income and capital taxes.Government Schemes: Payments and grants, applications and advice.Auctions: Property, livestock, machinery and equipment auctions.Valuations: Valuation of farms, estates, houses, commercial premises and land.Joint Ventures: Preparing contract farming, share farming and other agreements.Compensation: Compulsory purchase and compensation claims, including water and gas pipelines, road and rail schemes and electricity wayleaves.Planning: Preparing advice, applications, site promotion and appeals.Diversification: Providing advice, grant/finance applications and any planning issues.Renewable Energy: Advising on renewable energy projects including wind, solar, water, biofuels and biomass.Telecoms: Advice on agreements relating to telecommunication masts and broadband cables.Dispute Resolution: Arbitration and dispute settlements, mediation, independent experts, evidence preparation and hearings.Estate Management: Management of rural property and business.Strategic Business Advice: Strategic business advice, planning and identifying opportunities.Environment: Advice on government schemes, natural capital, biodiversity, soils, water and climate change.The MorePeople take:Within our rural team, we are seeing an increasing number of candidates considering the rural surveying route, without having an MRICS degree.Companies understand the need for a wider skill set, covering blind spots and the benefits of fishing from a larger pool. When taking job briefs and through general conversations, we’re seeing a lot more open-minded approaches to what their ‘ideal candidate’ looks like. With the uptake in utility and infrastructure projects, candidates from other backgrounds are securing roles in this area and undertaking rural work. This could be one of the reasons we are seeing a wider pool of people coming through. Next steps:If you’re interested in finding out how you could start your ‘route to rural’ then please reach out to myself, Hannah, in the Rural team here at MorePeople. My contact details can be found by clicking here.

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