Most hiring managers have seen it happen: a promising QS joins, spends three months getting across the project, starts adding real value at around six months, then resigns before the end of the year. The recruitment fee is only part of the cost. Packages have to be re-allocated, relationships with subcontractors reset, and the commercial position sits without a full owner for months.
We have been on both sides of this, first as QSs building teams and now as recruiters filling them. These are the things we have found make the biggest difference.
1. Look at the reasons behind each move
A CV with four employers in six years is not automatically a warning sign. Construction is project-based and redundancies happen when jobs finish. What matters is the reason behind each move, so ask about them one by one. The end of a project, or a step up that wasn't available internally, are normal reasons. If every answer is vague, that tells you more than the number of moves does.
2. Interview for the real job
Capable surveyors often leave because the role they joined is not the role they were sold. If the job is mostly subcontractor accounts on a live site, don't spend the interview discussing strategic cost planning. Show candidates the actual work, such as a live valuation problem or a difficult variation. Their reaction will tell you who genuinely wants the job in front of them.
3. Give soft skills equal weight
Technical ability gets a QS through the door, but communication usually decides whether they stay. The surveyors who last are the ones who can calm a difficult subcontractor meeting, deliver bad news to a project manager and hold a position politely under pressure. In interviews, ask for real examples of conflict they have handled rather than hypothetical questions.
In our experience, surveyors rarely leave because the work is too hard. They leave when the relationships around the work break down.
4. Be open about the role's problems
If the project is behind, the client is difficult or the last QS left frustrated, say so in the interview. Candidates who accept a role knowing its problems stay far longer than those who discover them in the first fortnight. Being open at this stage filters out the wrong people before they cost you anything.
5. Close the gap between offer and start date
The riskiest weeks of any hire are the notice period, when counter-offers arrive and doubts grow. Whoever runs your recruitment should stay in regular contact with the candidate throughout. Introductions to the team, project updates and a plan for the first week all help. A candidate who already feels part of the team rarely changes their mind.
In summary
Hires that last come from matching the real job to the right person. That takes an honest brief, a realistic interview and screening that goes deeper than keywords, and it is the work we do before you ever see a CV.