My route into construction … Rob Willden, cost manager at Linesight

2025-03-26T07:00:00

The industry includes an impressive range and variety of roles – but unless you are on the inside it can be hard to know how to break in, let alone progress to the top. In this series, we talk to professionals about their often surprising career twists and turns

How long have you been working and what is your current job?

I have been working in the industry for almost seven years now. I left school when I was 17, unsure what I wanted to do. So, when a friend offered me a summer job at The Ritz in London, I willingly took it. I worked my way up from bellboy to luggage porter to concierge, before deciding that I wanted to travel.

When I returned, I no longer wanted to work in hospitality so reached out to an agency who placed me at a construction consultancy in London as a facilities manager. From there, I went to a small family-run cost consulting firm, where I worked while completing my quantity surveying apprenticeship degree at London South Bank University.

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