It goes without saying that the job market for architects is really tough right now. It does need to be said, however, that there is much more job seekers can do to improve their chances of getting hired. Naturally, Archinect, the first and only go-to talent marketplace for the Architecture industry, is the place to start.

Archinect currently hosts nearly 40,000 active job seekers within our huge directory of architecture portfolios and profiles in Talent Finder. Archinect also hosts tens of thousands of firms that are actively utilizing Archinect to find new staff. The problem, as we've heard from many employers, is that too many job seekers are doing a less-than-stellar job at selling themselves.

But fear not, we're here to help! We've compiled the feedback from employers, and studied our huge database of job seeker profiles, to put together a simple guide to help you optimize your profile to increase your chances of getting employed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE!
2. SHOW OFF YOUR BEST WORK
3. SHARE WHAT YOU'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON
4. PRESENT YOUR PDF PORTFOLIO
5. YOUR INTRODUCTION
6. ARE YOU LOOKING FOR WORK?
7. SHARE YOUR OTHER LINKS
8. YOUR PROFILE PICTURE
9. YOUR WORK & EDUCATION EXPERIENCE
10. YOUR TALENTS
11. CREATE YOUR OWN SHORTENED CUSTOM ARCHINECT URL
12. PRIVACY SETTING
13. SHARE YOUR PROFILE WITH YOUR OTHER NETWORKS

1. COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE!

Firms have raved about the effectiveness of Archinect's Talent Finder, the subscription-only platform on Archinect that allows employers to connect with job seekers.

One of the most appreciated aspects is that employers are able to quickly browse job seekers, in a consistent format, allowing the skills, work, and biographic information to be presented clearly without the hassle of navigating different presentation formats. Unfortunately, many job seekers haven't devoted the time to complete their profile, and some simply provide a link to their own website. When an employer is browsing hundreds or thousands of potential employees' CV's on Archinect, these incomplete profiles often get passed by due to the time required to get more information.

Consider your Archinect profile as the place to keep all your information that architectural employers look for when recruiting.

Simply put, if you want a job, spend the time to complete your Archinect profile. We'll go over how to optimize each component of your profile below...

2. SHOW OFF YOUR BEST WORK

There are a few different ways to present your design work on your Archinect profile. The first that we'll discuss is the Projects portion, also known as the Portfolio. This section allows you to upload multiple projects, with multiple images per project. This presentation format is very specific — the images must be JPG, GIF, or PNG format, and the resolution of the images is limited to typical screen resolutions. That said, we recommend that you use this section for images that don't require a high level of fine detail. Images that work best are photographs, renderings, close up details of drawings. Images that don't work well here are large, complex drawings, or images originally intended for large scale presentation boards. For complex imagery, we suggest you embed and present your PDF portfolio, as described in more detail below, allowing viewers to zoom in and see the work full-screen, with scalable graphics.

• Use strong bold imagery that looks good at screen resolution
• Don't show everything… use this opportunity to select the best work, so your full portfolio can be shared in person
• Line drawings, or highly-detailed drawings, don't translate well on most screen sizes and resolutions, so it's better to show photos, renderings, and details
• Make sure to place the best image as the first image, so it appears on your profile cover page
• Order the projects carefully, with your favorite, or most recent projects first
• Format and size the images properly, try to save images that are at least 2,000 pixels wide
• Indicate your role and credit others appropriately

3. SHARE WHAT YOU'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON

The "Work Updates" section offers an opportunity to show off what you're currently working on. 

• Uploaded images should be bold and not overly complex, clear at screen resolution
• This is a great opportunity to show a detail of a design or building-in-progress
• Don't use this area to post complete projects. Post those to your Projects Portfolio section
• Avoid flooding the public Work Updates stream with lots of updates
• Each day our editors select a few updates to profile on the ticker that appears at the top of Archinect, across the entire site

4. PRESENT YOUR PDF PORTFOLIO

Your portfolio is a labor of love and your most valuable asset when it comes to the application process. Luckily, embedding your PDF portfolio in a prominent spot on your Archinect profile and showing it off in a scalable, high-detail, full-screen format is very easy:

• Click the blue 'Upload Your Portfolio PDF' button and select your portfolio PDF file.
• Once it's uploaded, you can view it in full-screen mode by clicking the 'View Portfolio' button.
• To remove or replace your portfolio, simply use the blue 'Remove' or 'Replace' buttons.
• Your PDF portfolio will automatically show the first page as the "cover image" but you can replace it with whatever you want to use to draw in potential employers

This is the best way to show highly complex and detailed imagery on your Archinect profile.

5. YOUR INTRODUCTION

The About section is a brief introduction about yourself, written in the first person. Consider this your virtual handshake.

• Clearly indicate your unique experiences and abilities
• Keep it short and to the point
• Don't use this space to copy/paste your resume from another file — it will look sloppy and lazy
• Use the text formatting tools to create a visually appealing and clean appearance
• Spell check! Incorrect spelling and/or grammar is often the first thing to turn away a potential employer

6. ARE YOU LOOKING FOR WORK?

This is really important if you're looking for work — it's what includes you in Talent Finder, so employers can find you during their recruitment process.

• If you're looking for a job, make sure to indicate this by selecting what you're looking for: Full-time, Part-time, and/or Freelance
• By selecting one or more of these options, you will be automatically listed in Archinect's Talent Finder directory, a service that firms pay to use to find new hires
• Your employment-seeking status will not appear on your public profile. It will only appear in the Talent Finder section, available only to subscribing employers.
• Keep your status up-to-date! Make sure to update your settings if you find a job and are no longer looking for employment.

7. SHARE YOUR OTHER LINKS

While we don't recommend that you require employers to click through to your other links, having the option to get more information, beyond a complete Archinect profile, can be what separates you from the competition. Remember to keep the external links work-safe. If you don't want a future employer to see your party side, you might want to not include your Facebook or Instagram links.

• Use this section to let employers learn more about you
• Most employers using Archinect prefer not to be required to visit other websites, so make sure to put the most important professional job-seeking content on Archinect, while offering the option to learn more via other websites if the employer wishes to take the extra time
• Be careful what you share!

8. YOUR PROFILE PICTURE

The profile photo is often the most carelessly considered part of the portfolio. It's amazing how many decent profiles have stock computer background images as profile images.

Consider this a design exercise! Show off your creativity with an image that captures your unique personality and visual skills. Many of the most visited profiles on Archinect get the attention they do from a great profile image.

• Spend time to select, or create, an image that represents you as accurately as possible
• For photographs, use typical rules of photography for lighting, focus, balance, etc.
• Be creative. It's an opportunity to express your style
• If you use a photo of yourself, present yourself as someone a firm would like to work with. Don't look unprofessional!
• Use am image that is at least 500px wide to ensure your image is crisp and can scale when Archinect's design layouts update
• The image that displays will be square, regardless of the proportions of the original photo, and our system will automatically focus on your face if you're using a photo of yourself

9. YOUR WORK & EDUCATION EXPERIENCE

This is the traditional CV portion of your profile.

• Make sure to properly indicate the name of the employer/school, location, and date span
• Use the additional information text area to elaborate on what you focused on, learned or excelled at
• Keep this updated as you graduate, change jobs, or begin a new academic program
• When adding a firm or school, start typing the name and let our system find the firm or school name for you, then select the proper name from the list that appears

10. YOUR TALENTS

The Archinect profiles offer three locations to brag: Awards, Skills, and Areas of Specialization. Don't be modest!

• Employers often browse job seekers in Talent Finder by searching for Skills and Areas of Specialization, so make sure to properly select those that apply to you so you can get discovered

11. CREATE YOUR OWN SHORTENED CUSTOM ARCHINECT URL

Brand yourself with your own shortened Archinect address. For more information about this feature read this.

• Make your profile appear more professional while making it short and easier to remember
• Format it using your name. For example, archinect.com/michelle-lee

12. PRIVACY SETTING

Worried that your current employer will see that you're looking for a new job? Or are you just shy? No problem, you can hide your profile from the public in your account settings page.

Note: if your profile is set to "public," then you make it hidden later, it will take a while for search engines, such as Google, to stop indexing it.

13. SHARE YOUR PROFILE WITH YOUR OTHER NETWORKS

Once your profile is complete, it's time to start linking to it from your other social networks. A simple tweet, Instagram post, or link from your LinkedIn profile can capture the attention of your future employer.

We hope this summary has helped some of you better understand the value and potential of a thoughtfully composed Archinect profile. If you have any questions, or advice, about how the profiles can be improved, feel free to contact us or post to the comments below.

Don't have an Archinect profile yet? Click here to get started.

Good luck!