Victormac, you are not going to want to hear this but the reality, as you might already know is not very good for architects, let alone for a foreigner with broken english. Please don't take this as an insult but you will be competing against many people much more qualified then you for very limited positions...

My suggestion is that if you are young enough to pursue another passion that you can make a comfortable living doing. Unless a firm is specifically doing work in India and need a native speaker to represent them, it's highly unlikely that there will be an opportunity for you in this field anytime in the foreseeable future.

'more qualified then you' ??

burningman, now i'm offended. you clearly have issues with foreigners. check your own english before you criticize others.

victor, lots of foreigners get jobs without knowledge of codes or licenses. yes, it's hard, but not impossible. keep at it.

victormac,
First id like to say that being foreign is not a deterrent. You know the word foreign has different meanings in this large melting pot. Take my last office I worked at, in Chicago, there were very very few people who were born and raised in Chicago. So, from my point of view they were all foreigners and guests at the city i grew up in. I'd say that there were probably 2 to 4 people from the south side, and about 1 or 2 from the west suburbs, 4 to 6 from the north side. well I'm veering off of the topic now.

What you should do asap is buy yourself a good book on resume and cover letter writing, actually read it. research the firms you want to work for. try to work on those deficiencies you have, research codes, project delivery methods, contracts, you name it. Don't neglect applying for a job with a general contractor. good luck.

I don't have anything against foreigners. I'm being realistic when I say it's much harder for someone fresh from another country who knows very little about the building codes, and seems to speak broken english, to compete in this market against the thousands of more employable architects looking for work...The best chances I have seen for new foreigners landing work is when a firm is looking for, say, a Mandarin speaker with work experience in Beijing, etc. I think Victormac knows this better than you and it's the reality, so I don't think that he would be offended by my comment.

Yes, it would help for him to learn the building codes but if you see a degree from India on a resume vs one from the US, who would you be more likely to interview or hire? I don't mean to make any assumptions but if this person is only two years out of India and says he has no clue about working here, it will become very obvious during an interview...but feel free to keep feeding false hopes. Maybe when the market recovers he will be here asking if X amount of $ is enough?

If I was moving to another country in a crap market, the last thing I would do is compete in a field against well qualified locals who come a dime a dozen.

Isnt there more work in India?

thanks guys for the reply. now m getting good enough idea about the situation. Now my problem is that in my present job, there is no more learning or advancement for me as I do the same autocad drafting everyday and the trade shows keep repeating every year. I want to grow and so m learning other softwares also like revit and 3d max. I think I have greater chances to develop myself in an architectural firm. so i will keep on applying for better job. and what do you think about the codecheck book? may be its good enough for basic understanding of building codes.

Hi victormac,

I recommend you to do some research and find out if there is an international firm doing work in India. That way you could market yourself by stating that you know the building codes and constructions methods used in India.

Hope it helps....

muhahahahaha

what codes?

Most architects don't know the codes. Why should he, right?

Victormac, Learning building codes is overrated and boring as hell. It sounds like you are going about it the right way - by learning new programs. If you can learn to produce great renderings, there is a better chance of working for a larger firm. I don't know if you had any interest, but I would recommend checking with your state board to see what the requirements are for you to become licensed in the US. There is a great site: areforum.org for you and those who want study for the exams, that is, after you figure out what is required for someone with a foreign degree to start that process. You might have to work a few more years before you can do so but it would be worth checking with NJ's state board... it's something to further your career while you work in your current job which sounds like isn't giving you much opportunity for professional growth.

I think that a lot of it comes down to packaging and marketing ... look at portfolio design and have someone who knows more English than you look over your cover letter/resume. Learning more software is a good idea. This may be an extreme option, and only something that you should do if you really think that it's affordable/worthwhile, but you could look into MArch II programs as a possible way of re-defining yourself depending on how you feel about that.

@rustydtuds

Just because India belongs to the so called third world it doesn't mean there are no building codes there. Of course there are tons of slums and constructions that might not follow the codes of the country. However, if a serious international firm is going to do work in India it would be expected to follow the regulations.

@cat ears: I get that. According to my Indian architect friend the issue is with corruption getting in the way of any meaningful code enforcement. And that works across the board.

@rustystuds

I would expect a well respected international firm would be more strict about following the code... I mean, they wouldn't like to loose their reputation to local corruption...