A perspective from a distinguished industry expert and Fellow of RICS - Sathish Rajendren FRICS. Sathish is contributing to the profession by sharing his valuable time as a counsellor to MRICS aspirants and being an assessor as part of the assessment panel.

The RICS qualification – MRICS - is a symbol of expertise, assurance, transparency and ethics to all stakeholders in the built environment. It is gained only after undergoing a rigorous intense assessment process that is scrutinized thoroughly and requires some keen preparation. For all you future members, here are a few tips that will help you ace the assessment – 

• CPD: Planning your CPD starts by making an honest assessment of your current situation and determining your professional development goals for continuous development: 

1. Get training: Attend a workshop, take a course, read an article or book, observe someone who excels at the skill. Training ensures that you and your knowledge stay relevant and up to date and helps you to become more aware of the changing trends and directions in your profession.
2. Practice: Consider ways you can deliberately engage with different activities to gain  more practice. Undergo school-based learning as well as course participation, recognized for accreditation; develop self-evaluation, observation and peer review skills.
3. Get feedback: Assess your progress, identifying areas where you have improved and areas for continued growth. Feedback provided by peers and industry stalwarts helps in identifying the training needs and professional growth. 

• Start early: It is important to come up with an early career planning as it gives you the much-needed direction and keeps you ahead for your future career growth. It makes you aware of your strength and weaknesses and the skills and knowledge that are required to achieve your goals in future. 

• Identify a case study/case studies – what’s important to consider and why:

A good case study depicts your ability to manage a difficult situation and arrive at a    logical conclusion thereby providing insight into your leadership skills and decision-making abilities. It’s also important that the case study is demonstrated on all the mandatory competencies of your achievement, outcomes and lessons learnt. 

• Review meetings with counsellors:
  • Improves personal development and shapes the individual in decision making, teamwork & leadership qualities.
  • Improves communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Greater self-acceptance and self-esteem.
  • Ability to change self-defeating behaviours/habits. 

• Don’t leave submissions till too late: Delay in submission is the bane of every candidate’s existence. It’s easy to put off undesirable assignments until the very last minute, but then we’re forced to pull a stress-induced all-nighter. Tips to avoid late submissions are: 

1. Get organized.
2. Invest in a planner or start using the calendar app on your phone. This makes it much easier to keep track of individual assignments and important due dates.
3. Create a timeline/schedule: After you set your goals, create a timeline to complete them. Breaking an assignment into small chunks over time makes it much more manageable.
4. Set a deadline: It's important to set a specific date for when you want your goals to be accomplished. If you have an assignment due, aim to have it completed one or two days in advance. That way, if something unexpected happens, you still have extra time to complete it. 
5. Get rid of distractions: It’s important to rid yourself of all potential disruptions before you begin working so you don’t get needlessly side-tracked halfway through your task.
6. Take a break: It's important to take mental breathers from every now and then. When your timer goes off, take a 10–30-minute break. Listen to music, take a walk, do some laundry, or scream into a pillow—anything that takes your mind off and allows you to relax.
7. Get the hard stuff done first: It is best to complete your most challenging assignments first. That way everything after it seems easier and takes a shorter amount of time. 

• Revise and practice: This will enhance your skills, capabilities and knowledge, moulding your thinking and leading to better quality performance with consistency. 

• Gain from other people’s experience: It helps in inheriting or learning from wisdom & knowledge from people who have experience. This allows individuals to build respect for other people for the trade that they do. What you learn & experience can often determine success or failure in life. 

• Try and predict the questions you will be asked during the interview: It is a good idea to undertake at least one mock interview before the real interview. One can write and practice answers for common interview questions with someone you trust or recording yourself and reviewing your performance. 

• Work hard and be professional: Hard work gives you a chance to improve yourself which will also help in developing self-discipline and focus. This will enhance your productivity.