My name is Olivia Houghton and I am currently a one-year placement student at GEA, based in their head office in Ware, Hertfordshire. The placement is part of the Industrial Bursary Scheme which I got through studying Engineering Geology and Geotechnics at the University of Portsmouth.

The London District Surveyors Association (LDSA) has announced publication of a new version of its design document for piles in London Clay which is widely used by building control across the capital’s 32 boroughs.

At the start of 2003, Tony Blair was Prime Minister and was yet to have his Iraq problem, Girls Aloud had the No 1 single, London had no congestion charge, and Geotechnical & Environmental Associates (GEA) Limited started trading.

As we start another year and consider recruitment options I starting wondering whether we could put in a nutshell what the qualities are that we look for, particularly in new graduates, which is where we find most of our staff.