loosen your standards now.

You have no experience in a new market and you are turning down potential job offers?  

Get over yourself, take a job, get some experience, then try to move on to a job that is a better fit after you get some real work experience.  

seconded.  get some experience or win an international competition and bring that work with you.

take the first job you can get, then work your way up from there -find out what you can do first - don't go off like some hot show architect aspirant - 

It always shocks me how brazenly stupid SOME students coming out of school can be...  They come out of school believing that they literately shit strawberry sherbert and even go so far as to declining job offers because God-forbid a project manager might ask them to draw a wall-detail - work they perceive to be far below their "standards."  What a joke.

Much the same boat here, but different problem.  Moved to a new area outside of alumni network, some contacts inside of one very large firm but they haven't had an entry level position open since I've been looking.  I've put quite a few applications out there for entry level jobs, CAD tech, etc, but no response.  Haven't been picky at all, I'm quite aware I need experience, but getting no response for anything openings has been fairly off putting.  Pearls of wisdom that have been passed down to me are, show up to AIA sponsored events, do some networking there, you're success will be found in who you know and your ability to fit in, and watch out for scams...  Of course this is coming from people I've asked face to face, and seems to be a widely agreed upon opinion.  I will say that you should probably drop your pretenses, take a job to get your feet wet and build from there.  You're lucky you've gotten a 50% response rate, suck it up and put out.

Thank you for the responses. The reason I'm being picky is that fortunately, I don't have an immediate financial need to make money as a designer right now, not because I shit strawberry sherbert out my ass. I know at some point I'm going to have to "settle" because I don't want to be stagnant for too long. I just wanted to make sure that I've exhausted all my options before I get to that point.

"Thank you for the responses. The reason I'm being picky is that fortunately, I don't have an immediate financial need to make money as a designer right now,"

good thing a recession doesn't hit - You can't be picky - get a job - Now before you do become stagnant - many people in 08' thought they could coast, then when the recession hit they were shit out of luck - no one would hire them - they ended up selling insurance or something.

trust funder

enjoy your architectural hobby.

Without turning this into an argument, because I value everyone else's input, I'd just like to let chigurh know that the reason I'm financially secure is because I helped develop something on the side that gives me passive income, not because someone is giving me money for nothing. I am far from a trust fund baby. My parents immigrated to the US when they were in their late 40s-early 50s without knowing any English. They worked their ass off to provide my family whatever they could so I could grow up and hopefully make something of myself. It's not my parents who are currently giving ME money. It's actually the other way around, and I'm happy to do it. 

Now can we actually get a productive discussion going and stop all the bickering?

ha!  quit being a whiner, get a job or don't.  If you don't need one, great, but don't come round here whining about how you have all these prospects and none of them "feel quite right", there are people here that would give their left nut for a job.  

sounds like your parents know the value of hard work...too bad it wasn't genetic. 

Just because I have options means I don't know the value of hard work? How did you draw that conclusion? How does that compute?

And I worked hard to be financially secure and I will continue to work hard in the architecture field. 

What are you so bitter about? I didn't expect to find so many trolls here on Archinect. And has anything I've read felt like whining to anyone else?

Your responses make no sense relative to what I'm saying. You just draw your own conclusions based on nothing, really. 

Don't bother answering the questions above. This will be the last time I respond to your nonsense.

Who took a dump in your mimosas this morning Flowjoe?

It sounds like you are an indecisive dilettante with no real need for work.  Unfortunately for you, most employers can smell lazy-ass tourist turds like you from a mile away and would never hire somebody that can't carry their own weight in the workplace.

Is this thread for real? I knew archinect was full with disillusioned, bitter (largely unemployed) architects..but this is an all new low.

hobbyist? dilettante? Whiner? Get the fuck over yourself. You have no idea how and from where Flowjoe earns his money, and quite frankly you have no right to judge.

And the notion that someone (particularly one who's clearly not in a life and death situation) should simply put their head down, accept the very first position and say "thank-you" is painfully stupid.

Look Floejoe - Architecture doesn't suffer fools lightly and it makes no apologies - architecture  is like the Marines - only the few- many of us have to struggle everyday just to stay employed.

There is no work life balance - do you seriously think you are made of the right stuff? Don't kid yourself and run the risk of getting into something where there is a 70% + failure rate amongst t recent grads - I myself am only average at best and struggle everyday to work temp jobs you don't want to end up like me, living in a 250SF apt. In Oakland? People here are harsh for a reason-do yourself a favor by going all out 150% or get out.

I'm a hater, but I agree with IAmGray here-- people are dishing unnecessary flak.  

Any chance you could thread information about your development work (that has allowed you to garner side income) into applications to firms that you like? Maybe mention it in your cover letter?

You sound smart enough-- firms should know that.

The original poster is probably most likely in the position to eventually have his own office. It takes financial independence to make the leap into self employment and most (perhaps only) who succeed with their own practice don't have to rely on architecture to pay their living expenses. He only needs a job for his IPD hours. 

flowjoe, you will see that most people on this post are bitter (and possibly have not been able to make much dough, which makes them even more bitter). It should give you an idea of the type of people this profession creates.

As for your earlier question, if you are not in dire need of money, why dont you take up a low-paid internship-type thing with a starchitect? You will definitely learn a lot, and if you are a hard-worker, should be OK with the life-work balance.

I will be the detractor and say that AIA events are useless, everyone is trying to scratch each others' back to get work.

To the others who are calling the OP a hobbyist, just remember, when the next recession hits you will be a hobbyist too. The world does not need architects, its the other way around, sorry to say....

I will be the detractor and say that AIA events are useless, everyone is trying to scratch each others' back to get work.

Trying to network with your competition. LOL

Isn't this true, Miles?

Flowjoe, good for you for having a back-up/side gig to give yourself some breathing room. I would disagree with most people here and congratulate you for having any 'standards' to speak of. 

My experience has been that even in a tough job market, you can find a good job match - though it may come from a surprising or unexpected direction. Being open-minded is different from taking whatever you are offered.

You mentioned you've been offered some positions that you didn't feel would be a good fit. My question would be, why are you wasting time applying to places that you don't feel would be a good fit? And what is it about those firms that made you refuse? Understanding your values will help clarify where to spend your energy.

Do better research, try to talk to current employees on linkedin, and read up as much as you can on the firms you're interested in. That should weed out those whose values are diametrically opposed to yours even before you apply. 

I would disagree completely with the advice to take an unpaid internship with a starchitect. That's not really the kind of experience that comes in handy later - you'll learn how to survive on a few hours of sleep and pump out renderings, and you may learn a few neat tricks in photoshop to make shadows look more realistic. When it comes to useful design tools or project coordination skills? You won't get anything.

I've written a post here about getting work in a competitive market, maybe you'll find something there that's new.

Stephanie, I said low-paid, not unpaid. Unpaid internships are the curse that plague our profession.

This thread is needlessly angry. If you want to be picky that's your choice, people shouldn't get upset about it.

However, if you want a job in architecture the best thing you can do is have experience in architecture.

If you want that specific job so bad, take something else first, get some experience, and try again, odds are you will be a lot more appealing and have a much better chance.

Best of luck!

@flowjoe,

when you say firms weren't a good fit - did you mean they were lousy places to work, or just not the kind of work that interests you? Because you should never work somewhere that treats you badly, in pay or otherwise.

But be willing to take a chance on a firm doing work that seems ordinary if they are competent and respected by clients and industry associations - you can learn an enormous amount there. As an entry-level employee your job is going to be unglamorous no matter the quality of the projects, and you might find a less fashionable firm gives you more opportunity to prove your worth as a designer.

Rather than "loosening your standards" view this as opening your mind. You will find your appreciation of architecture continues to develop long after school is done - don't look at your first job as the one that defines you as a designer.