Archinect - Just an Intern

Intern 101: How to get involved in your firm

2013-04-18T11:38:00-04:00

Hi Archinect,

Do you think you are not doing much at your job? A lot of us are usually drafting every second of the day, but we can do so much more. First, we need to take the initiative to infuse some fun and young energy into our office environment. Don't just sit in front of your computer all day. The more we get involved, the more we will learn, and the more we can contribute to the work we do.

1. Volunteer to do anything
Maybe not ANYTHING... But something that you are interested in. It might not be something that you would put on your resume, but find some different thing to do while at work can keep you sane. I write our office blog covering our weekly luncheons, when I get bored of doing CD. Not only is it super fun, but it also lets me work with the marketing folks which is a great learning experience. Maybe you can make proposals, take care of the material library, make a library of revit families, cad blocks, organize activities.....Do something that you like, s...

Intern 101: How to Negotiate your Salary

2013-02-18T20:35:00-05:00

Hi Archinect,

A new intern recently asked me if he should negotiate his salary when offered a job even if he has no professional experience. OF COURSE! YES! Even if you have zero experience, you should always discuss your salary with your potential employer. Not having experience doesn't mean we don't have to pay the bills, so we should always ask for what we deserve and never work for free. I am not particularly an expert in this field, but I put together a little list based on my and other's experiences.

1. Know your skills
If you get to the point of negotiating salary, they probably already want to hire you. Before knowing what you are worth, you need to know why they want you. As an intern, do you have better computer skills than other candidates? Do they have to send you to training? They probably already have an idea of what they want to pay you, so knowing how beneficial you are to a firm will help you figure out what they might offer you.

2. Research!
Always res...

Everyone can draw!

2013-01-27T18:00:00-05:00

Hi Archinect,

I am so honored that my blog made Top 12 Blogs for '12 and my profile too! Thanks for reading my blog and having such an active discussion on the topics. It's always great to hear from you. Anyway, on this super cold Sunday, I want to share my recent inspiration with you.

Since my work is an hour and 15 minutes away from my house (oh suburbs...), I have a carpool buddy to share the ride with occasionally. He's a doctor, who of course makes SO MUCH MORE money than us interns. He had an American dream to make money and live the life he wouldn't be able to live in his own country. Two days ago on our ride home in the snow, for a good two hours, he complained how he doesn't have any talents. "It's like I am not good at anything in life," he said. But I have always believed that everyone has a talent. Most of them, like my friend here, just haven't found it yet.

We hear a lot of architects say, "I became an architect because I played legos when I was little." Ev...

Unwanted Degree #1 = Architecture?

2012-12-26T20:39:00-05:00

Hi Archinect,

Merry Christmas! Hope you all had a good holiday.

Right before I ran off to my yoga class the other day, my cousin sent me this article about the most unwanted degrees in the US. So I thought I would share here with you: Don't Bother Earning These Five Degrees.

"Unwanted Degree #1 = Architecture
Earning a bachelor's in architecture might impress a lot of people, but according to a 2012 study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, "Hard Times, College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal," it might not impress a lot of employers. And that can be tough to take, says Lynn, since architecture is such an industry-specific major. "If there's not a job offer waiting when you graduate, then it can be very frustrating because it can be very hard to maneuver into another career path with this degree due to its narrow focus," says Lynn.
Perhaps that's the reason the "Hard Times" study found a 13.9 p...

Getting a new job!

2012-12-12T10:34:00-05:00

Hi Archinect!

For a very long time, I have been looking for a new job. Changing jobs among intern architects seems to be a normal trend. Some of my friends have even changed three jobs in two years. So, after a year and a half, I thought it's about time for me to learn something new.

Like many others, my goal was to work in the city. And like many others, I have sent out tons of resumes to many firms in the city, but still haven't gotten any response. As I was giving up, I remembered after I had an interview once with a firm that I really liked, the architect told me they would keep me in mind in the future. Granted it wasn't in the city, but the interview went extremely well and they put a lot of effort into IDP, which is very important to me. So I followed their website for a while, and finally saw that they were hiring for intern architects. Bingo! I sent them an email to reconnect with them. Even though it's been 9 months since we last talked, but they still remember me...

Writing: "About Me"

2012-08-31T17:13:00-04:00

Hi Archinect,

With all the websites, blogs and social media profiles, you always need a short bio; may be more so than a resume. As an intern that doesn't have much experience or things to brag about, I have struggled a lot of times writing my own bio. Writing it is not difficult, but making it short and simple is the hardest part.

I finally came across this very helpful article: The Reume is Dead, The Bio is King by Michael Margolis. Here is a formula that Michael put together:

Share a point of view
Create a back story
Incorporate external validations
Invite people into relationship

Here are some questions that he raised:

Who I am (what I do)
How can I help you (my skills)
How did I get here (school + experience)
Why can you trust me (again, valiadations)
What we share in common (put something easy to relate to like coffee, yoga...)

Plus, add your own little twist to spice it up! I also like to put a little “What people say...” section...

Are we not professional?

2012-07-24T21:32:00-04:00

Hi Archinect,

A few days ago, I heard about this very interesting news on the radio. It says that Generation Y is often fired after a year because of their extensive use of social media at work. That makes me wonder: Are we really that unprofessional? or are the majority of employers, being Generation X, do not understand how we work?

First of all, I do know there are always exceptions where some people really use social media too much that they don't finish their work properly. So we can't just group a whole generation of people into a specific type. But for the sake of this discussion, I did a quick Google search of what's the main differences between Generation X (born between 1961-1981) and Y (born between 1981-2000). And here are the results:

Generation X:

love-hate relationship with technology
like individual work

Generation Y:

expect technology
team-oriented

Most of us Intern Architects nowadays are Generation Y, and needless to say we LOVE tech...

Just an Intern?

2012-06-12T15:14:51-04:00

Hi Archinect!

Since my blog is about our path to becoming a licensed architect, I thought on my first blog post we should define who we really are as an"Intern Architect".

Most of us experience this when we started our first job after architecture school - What are we called? NCARB & AIA has outlined that we are called "Intern Architect" or "Architectural Intern" until we get our licenses; hence, the infamous Intern Development Program. But many are called "Junior Architect", "Intermediate Architect" or "Architectural Designer". In my firm, I am entitled "Project Designer", but I went from putting "Architectural Designer" to "Project Designer" to "Junior Architect" on my resume. Yet, I still cannot define who I really am.

"Junior Architect" apparently sounds more professional, and many job postings out there utilize this title when they are looking for an Intern Architect. But my question is if calling ourselves a Junior Architect will violate the law (since it's against ...