Dear HR Manager:

My name is Michael Kost and I am a Bay Area native. I graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) from Cal Poly, a 5-year accredited program university and have 7+ years of working within the field of Architecture consisting of Condominiums (both high-end and award-winning low-income), custom residential remodeling of vintage homes, commercial and civic projects as well as a significant scope of education facilities; my experience has included Retail, K-12 Education, Health Care and Assisted Living, and mostly as member of smaller offices.

For Public Education projects, I have presented and responded to DSA Back Checks, and for other projects I have submitted to the local Planning and Building Departments. Recently, I have volunteered my services to a Planning Department as a Design Review Commissioner for a Bay Area city. I have a long standing proficiency with ArchiCAD, as I have been a user since the early 1990's and have witnessed the programs growth into an indispensable tool, and have been building my expertise with Revit 2012.  I also have spent 2 1/2 years personally working toward the restoration of a 1917 Prairie Bungalow we once owned, bolstering my passion and experience with traditional building practices of bygone eras.  I believe that I have much to offer that surpasses the above-average Drafter/Designer and ask you to consider my offer of service.  Here are a few of the things that I have to offer:

Key strengths -

●Technical Skills: Solid proficiency/experience in a broad array of CAD and 3-D modeling packages (22+ years) such as ArchiCAD, Revit, and AutoCAD (Certified) and 3DS Max/Viz 4, including tutoring experience in some applications. Mastery of Photoshop and InDesign skills and extensive experience in graphics applications such as Illustrator as well as 3D modeling/rendering packages. I am therefore able to pick up proficiency of other tools quickly.

●Artistic Skills: Experienced in many traditional means of graphic communication such as hand drafting, sketching and model building, for both presentations and studies.

●Highly Adaptable: Relevant & broad experiences help fulfill the multiple roles that are necessary in today’s design firm; working in an array of smaller architectural offices has enabled and given me the confidence that I can accomplish whatever is necessary and do a job well.

●Proactive/Self-Managed: My capability and confidence keep me busy with a minimum of initial instruction; I observe what is needed and expected and meet those goals with timeliness.

●Leadership Experiences: I have excelled in positions of leadership for both volunteer-based organizations and past employment opportunities:
   - Taken lead role in architecture projects, managing up to 3 employees.
   - As past president of a local AIAS chapter, I helped to raise membership from 6 active members to over 50 active members and coordinated new services and programs for students.
   - Supervised and was responsible for the training of new employees in previous workplaces.
   - Taken up responsibility of establishing Office Standards where lacking.

●Thorough/detail-oriented: I possess a strong sense of pride in the work that I produce. It is important to keep mindful of the relationships between the scope of work and the details lending support. I also believe that a careless or improperly done job is a grave waste of time/money; a thorough and ongoing review is necessary in-process as mistakes must be caught early.

I look forward to working with a motivated team interested in a holistic approach to designing experiences by way of spatial environments. Included in this email is a resume that further outlines my experiences and skills. I can also point you to a few References to follow up separately on my claims.  Letters of recommendation and a sampling of my work can be sent to you upon request. I would like to schedule a meeting with you to discuss further the needs and expectations you hold for this position, and detail the skills, background and character I possess that may directly assist you and potentially expand your offerings. Thank you for taking the time to consider my proposal. I look forward to a meeting with you.

Respectfully yours,

Michael Glenn Kost