Very few professionals that launch a career in the built environment plan to from the start.
For those that don’t already have immediate family in the sector, it can take word of mouth, exposure from other industries and even a career change to discover the wealth of opportunities that are available.
For Oiman Yu, an Economics graduate of Huaqiao University, China, it took a 5,000km journey to Australia and a chance meeting with a Quantity Surveyor to introduce her to the world of the built environment.
Today Oiman is another 10,000km away from Hong Kong, eight years into her career in the sector and starting a new role as a Senior MEP Cost Manager with Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB).
Sitting in her London office near Regent Street, Oiman took us through her journey from Hong Kong to Australia and the UK, and how launching a career in the built environment has given her the opportunity to work on the other side of the world.
I didn’t know about quantity surveying until I went to Australia.”
One of the reasons quantity surveying was never an option for Oiman was because, growing up in Hong Kong, there was very little awareness or education about the sector.
“I had no idea what surveying was,” Oiman told us. “I knew about architecture and engineering, but I had really limited knowledge about this industry when I was growing up.
“It’s very negative in Hong Kong to say you’re working in the construction industry. It’s not seen as a professional career there.”
Like many, Oiman studied economics at university, but found it difficult to find a professional role in the field. She worked several jobs in sales, merchandising and training, but knew this wasn’t what she wanted for her career.
“I wanted a career,” she told us. “Not a job.”
“When I first heard about quantity surveying, I was actually in Australia – I had been there for a year and a half for a working holiday. I’d saved up some money. I wanted to see the world and see what I could do in the future, so I took the chance and went to Australia.
“I met a girl who was also from Hong Kong. She’s older than me and much more experienced in her professional life. She was a Quantity Surveyor and told me that, if I didn’t know what I wanted from my career, I should look into it.”
Oiman ended up taking her advice and saw that, in Australia, quantity surveying was a secure career path with a respectable salary. She also found that the logical and tangible nature of quantity surveying appealed to her.
“Economics is something you can’t see. Quantity surveying is much more logical and you get to see how a building progresses, how much work is done each month, etc. I think it’s fascinating – seeing 2D drawings turn into a building.”
When asked why she decided to enter the profession, Oiman cites the influence of her friend – along with the financial possibilities – as being key drivers.
“Without my friend, I wouldn’t be here in this industry, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. She really changed me a lot.”
I didn’t enjoy quantity surveying immediately!”
Returning from her working holiday in Australia, Oiman went back to Hong Kong, where she took two short courses.
“In Hong Kong, quantity surveying is in high demand. They like to train people for the role, regardless of your background. They hold short-term courses for 120 days, and once you’ve completed it, you have basic knowledge about surveying, guaranteeing you can get a job in the industry.
“Honestly, I felt so lucky – I knew nothing about this industry and I got this opportunity, free of charge, to learn about it and get guaranteed a job.”
Oiman admits that she didn’t enjoy all aspects of quantity surveying immediately.
“I had two subcontracting roles, where I learnt a lot. Then, when I joined Arcadis, a partner from UCEM came to a talk. I was often told that consulting was where the money is, but I found the move from subcontracting quite difficult to begin with.
"People always told me that, if I wanted to develop my skills, move my career path and make more money, I needed to get chartership. After a couple of years in the industry, I’d decided ‘Ok, this could be my future career.’ And that’s how I ended up at UCEM.”
The reason I joined UCEM is because of the distance learning – I can use my own time and there’s no need for it to impact my daily work.”
Oiman hadn’t heard of UCEM before she started researching careers in the built environment. She started her degree in 2019, after completing several courses in Hong Kong.
“When I first joined the industry, people told me UCEM is the way to get your degree and professional chartership. The reason I joined UCEM is because of the distance learning – I can use my own time and there’s no need for it to impact my daily work.
“In Hong Kong, the working day is extremely long – sometimes 12 hours per day. The attitude towards learning while you’re working there is very different – if I was to request a day off, they would just think I am making trouble. I think there’s a lot of scepticism of distance learning in Hong Kong, but for me, the online learning made it much more flexible.”
Oiman made use of the support offered by UCEM twice while she was in Hong Kong, which helped with her queries and clarified issues. As she told us, “UCEM also offered a translator if you weren’t confident in the language, which was fantastic. Although I didn’t make use of it, it was very supportive and generous.”
My studies formed the basis of my specialist knowledge.”
Today, Oiman works as a Senior Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) Cost Manager. As she explains, MEP is quite different to traditional quantity surveying and the topics she covered in her studies, but regardless, they helped her establish a foundation of knowledge.
“The role of an MEP is much more specific and technical than general quantity surveying – the course itself didn’t cover this specialism, but it had information about basic measurements, contracts, new rules of measurement and so on.
“Not all of the modules I studied in my quantity surveying programme can be applied to my day-to-day to role, but it’s useful for understanding quantity surveying as a whole. Even in my specialist role as an MEP, there are things I don’t deal with that I still need to know.
“As an MEP, my studies formed the basis of a lot of my knowledge, particularly around things like law and why we have a duty of care. It built up a very good foundation of knowledge to work from, which has helped me specialise as an MEP.”
Moving to the UK while I studied was crazy.”
Halfway through her studies, Oiman made the decision to move to the UK.
“I was curious about going back to Australia, but things changed and the UK government offered us a very generous visa. I’m also a fan of Tottenham Hotspur, so I wanted to get the chance to see their stadium in London.
"I didn’t get a lot of time to think about or choose the apartment I would live in, I just had to take one. The same with my job – I had to do a few interviews and was quite fortunate to get an offer quickly, but at that point, I just had to take it. When you’re moving country, you’re busy with so many things. Doing all of this while I was studying was crazy.
"Moving to the UK definitely made things more convenient for studying. There’s a lot of recognition of UCEM here, which is really helpful for your career as so many people are familiar with it.
“I ended up getting a role with a consultancy in London, and luckily, they were very supportive of my learning journey.”
Oiman has been involved in a variety of projects in her time in the industry – some historical, some very modern.
“The current trend in the global industry is around data centres,” she said. “Fortunately, I got experience working on this area in Hong Kong, so when I moved to London, I was given the chance to work on a data centre project.
“A data centre project is a room with a load of servers, which are sold to companies like Amazon. To keep these running, they need an effective cooling system, which is where an MEP comes in. There’s no fancy decoration with these projects, but they’re very effective and mechanical.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Oiman has also been able to work on many listed heritage buildings in her career. This, in her experience, has been vastly different to her time in Hong Kong.
“There’s a lot of variety on the buildings you work on here. In Hong Kong, it’s often just high-rise buildings, whereas in the UK, you’re often getting the chance to work with heritage projects.”
I want to continue developing and sharpening my skills.”
Just like her friend from Australia, Oiman is quick to recommend a career in quantity surveying, pointing to the tangible nature of the work you get to be involved in.
“You can taste the success, because all of the things you saw on paper, those 2D designs, when you get on site they’re 3D and you can touch them.
"You’re not just restricted to working on one type of building – you can work on residential projects, commercial projects, hospitals… there’s so much variety.
“Working in construction isn’t just a ‘dirty’ job the way so many people see it. You have so many opportunities to choose from.”
After graduating from UCEM last year, Oiman completed her Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) last July, officially making her a Chartered Quantity Surveyor. Starting her new role with RLB, she’s keen to continue her development and progress.
“I’m very keen to keep progressing in my career and continue specialising as an MEP,” she said. “I want to sharpen my skills. I’d love to become a Director one day.
“I’m keen to stay in the UK, although one day, it would be great to have the chance to work in the USA and see how things are different there.”
For now then, her experience in the UK (and her love of Tottenham Hotspur) will keep her in the country. However, with the skills and experience she’s developed, Oiman may well be forging the next step of her career in a completely different part of the world the next time we speak with her.
