Architecture is a second career for me that I started following in 2004 when I returned to school. Previously, I was a chef, fine dining. I was on a very successful track with that, but was worried that I couldn't continue to be a chef past about 50 or so. So, I decided to return to school and start over chasing my original college drop-out failure of architecture. I had to start the 5 year program over at the beginning, as it had been so long since I was in school. I graduated with my B.Arch. in 08. Honors. Dean's List, Scholarship to spend a semester studying in Europe. 8 months of full-time work in an up-and-coming boutique firm that had been designing buildings for Dubai. $100,000 of student loan debt. Going on two and a half years unemployed.
Since I was laid-off I have been reluctantly pursuing career possibilities in the kitchen again. Unfortunately, I have been out of the industry long enough nobody will give me the time of day when looking for a chef position. Now I am in the middle of interviewing for a sous-chef position for a nation-wide chain restaurant.
I'm not looking for sympathy. I know there are others out there that can top me in a blink of an eye. I guess I'm venting my frustration, anger and mostly sadness. I really wanted to do something in architecture. Now all I do is wonder "Did I just throw 8 years, and $100,000 down the drain (Rhetorical)?" Some mornings I sit around drinking my coffee and have to choke down a beach-ball swell of anxiety in my throat while pushing back a tear minutes after my wife leaves for her miserable under-paid job at a greedy law firm that wont cover the price increases of the support staff's health insurance, even though they had a record breaking year of profits.
I also seem to have lost touch with many of my friends. Probably my own doing as I never make an effort to call those people much anymore to make social plans. When I do get together with them after months of not seeing them the first hour is always uncomfortably silent, like a first date almost. I can tell they don't want to ask "How's the job search going?" There's even a reluctance to ask questions that, un-seemingly, could follow the same vein..."So, what have you been upto these days?"
These days I'm upto learning Revit on my own. But, not today. Just the prospect of this Sous-chef gig has zapped all my motivation to continue spending any time doing ANYTHING architecture related.
Hey, sorry to hear your story pusher. I know allot of folks in this business, and believe me, there are allot of people who really got smacked by this situation. You are not alone, and many of those people I know are folks who are been doing this for 20-30 years....
The only suggestion I can make is that with your skill set there are allot of "non-traditional" architecture positions you can look for, if you are reluctant to go back to cooking.
It has been my experience being an "architect" still has pull in related fields because they know the schooling and training we go through. One area I see promise is the building energy efficiency space. For instance there is a program to certify energy star compliance for buildings. Nice thing is last year they changed the requirements and now registered architects can conduct and certify these reports. In this economic environment what land lord is not going to want to reduce their energy bills?
Like gibson said, sorry about your experience in this economy and please don't think it's a reflection of your skills - it sucks for everyone, regardless of talent, right now.
My husband put himself through college waiting tables. We both hope to high heaven that he never again has to do restaurant work, but it's always there that he has a skill that can pay at least some of the bills if necessary.
If you do find yourself back in the kitchen, is there any way to turn that job into something that involves your architecture background? For example, if you do work at a chain restaurant, is there a way to show your ability at dealing with issues that come up with the facilities - dining room, kitchen - and make sure a manager knows, then moving up into the facilities side of things in the corporate structure? Chains have buildings they need to manage - look at Starbucks. I know architects who work in the design side of several food establishments, all chains. Moving from kitchen to facilities office might be difficult, or it might not be, depending how well you can read a situation and use it to further yourself.
Also: I'm hanging in there being self-employed, have a decent teaching gig, and my husband's business is good at least until December, yet I still have that same beach-ball sized anxiety swell in my throat that you face constantly. In my case it happens when I lay down in bed and think "What did I NOT get done today that I should have to make sure I keep this boat barely afloat?!". It's a shitty time.
i agree...try to be very flexible nd creative, and see how you can combine your skill sets to provide a unique service. and get used to the anxiety, at least for the foreseeable future. we all sympathize, at all levels of the profession. i had invested almost 6 years at a firm, when they began asking me to make models and come in at midnight to clean out the printers. no joke. this is after i'd done serious design work on high-profile projects for them, including designing a competition-winner that kept their office busy for 3 years. i walked away with nothing, not even unemployment insurance. i took on some independent work and managed to use a background in the arts to get a part-time gig consulting for public art projects...now i'm up for a few positions, but even my recruiter is underselling me...
ps--get back in touch with your friends. it's a hazard of arch school, but reconnecting with them will be good for your morale, and may even lead to new opportunities...
I worked a solid 4 years after grad school. The recession didn't affect the firm (giant fortune-500 mega conglomorate) I was working at mainly because we had a lot of good government contracts. But by late 2010 a lot of those government contracts folded because of the budget cuts and change in congress. The firm was also going through some major mergers and was experiencing a clash of civilizations amid a rapidly evaporating work load.
Layoffs started Christmas Eve (seriously!). I made it throught he first several rounds - I can tell that my imediate bosses were doing everything to keep me gainfully employed - another VP guy wanted me to lie about my hours. Basically I was 100% billable (with my shitty pay) but I had learned later that they wanted me to lie about my hours so that senior level people could bill to the projects in order to justify their existence. Things were ugly.
Then came THE day. It was on my birthday (yes I'm being serious)- I was called into an office mid afternoon and basically was told that they were putting me on "furlough" for three months. Fucking Bullshit was the first thing that came to mind and then they asked me the unthinkable: They wanted me to continue to report to work for those three months to continue my work (so that management would look favorably on me). My jaw dropped as I was essentially asked to work for free. The fact that I was still busy and "billable" defeated the purpose of my being put on this furlough bullshit. 3 months without pay is a lot of fucking money for someone at my low level.
I had them put corporate HR on the line and basically told them to rehash the "proposal" they were giving me. I told them all that I like to get kissed before getting fucked.
They laid me off instead and I got severence. I was happy about that and cashed out my 2 months of vacatio time I never took in two years so that I could devote my entire existence working for their lame asses. I then started a new job exactly two months later. It's also a corporate firm - everyone knows the name very well. I like it. The quality of work exceeds any of the work I did at the previous shop. The pay is a little less but I'll take it. I am in a better situation now than I was in December 2010.
wow...! how the hell could they even ask that with a straight face? you could have called the department of labor on them. my old place had some seriously sketchy working conditions for the junior staff...i considered making a formal complaint to OSHA but didn't, because i wanted to remain on good terms...i seriously regret that now.
so glad to hear things worked out for you! i'm a big believer in never letting people shit on you.
Pencilpusher,
have you ever considered opening a restaurant? and designing the whole thing yourself. I often fancy the idea every time I eat at Chipotle.
We started flirting back in high school. We’ve been involved now for almost 4 years. We had our ups and downs, I’ve become aware that our relationship is overall unhealthy and out of balance. My relationship with you has hurt my relationship with others. Friends and family say my involvement with you has alienated me from them. Our relationship is imbalanced and not reciprocal. You demand I go into deep debt to support your lifestyle. The time commitment you require isn't reasonable. You take, take, take and give very little in return. We can still be friends, but
architecture I am breaking up with you.
I am glad you started this thread Pencil. I have been struggling for a couple of days now with saying goodbye to architecture. Emotionally I am having a hard time letting go. Financially it is looking really bad to stay. The additional tens of thousands of dollars in loans to get a BS Arch would likely be difficult to repay. I guesstimate I would end up owing $600/month for 10 years. Being my own boss someday is very important to me. Moving away so I can get a B.Arch is no longer something I am interested in doing. The time/cost of an M.Arch are out of the question. I tried to work while attending, but between low wages and high cost of living I still needed loans to pay for school. Between the free internships, 10 year average for IDP, low starting salaries, expensive tuition, and massive unemployment I am no longer willing to gamble my families financial future in this field. Hopefully things will turn around, but I am not staying around to find out.
This is really sad to watch but it does seem lately even those that hung on during the worst of the recession are now simply walking away from a perceived non-future. Billing index is below 50 again, government work is drying up, homes are still sitting there and every ounce of retail and commercial office space for the next 50 years is already built. I walked after a few years of pay cuts and essentially near poverty pay and jumped to the construction side for some young guys for also near poverty pay but at least we are working as a team and have this new thing I found called self respect. I never realized architecture was such an emotional manipulator. I was a beaten intern and I dumped his / her ass.
Yep, that about sums it up. Including completing contract jobs, my most recent layoff two weeks ago was the fifth time I've lost my job in three years on no account of my own. The office is out of $$$.
jbush, I'm really sorry to hear that dude. On the upside, you're a super bright person, and I'm sure you'll jump on other great opportunities once they present themselves. You'll do fine in the long run, no matter what you do.
The key is to survive until president Palin gets assassinated.
Thanks Rusty. For other people on the fence I have 3 things working against me they might not. I am in my 30s. I have a 3 year old that I love spending my time with. I live in a small market with a limited number of firms nearby.
Have a great breakfast with the secret service tomorrow ;)
yikes. i was laid off w/ my wife @6 months pregnant and when bosses had reassured everyone there wouldn't be layoffs. got a fat 2 week severance, even though i was told i'd be getting twice that. it was rough. i went through a series of sporadic, high intensity temp jobs to pump out permit sets and then poof. bossman has me beat, but not by much - 3rd firm in a year let me go due to lack of work a few months ago. my wife works for a non-profit that's been staring at looming budget cuts for months.
after calling/dropping resumes at nearly every firm, saving a starchitect's high performance house and stroking my network to no avail - things were looking bleak. i decided to jump on my own. in this economy.
Once I was working day and night on a signage package for our office (at the previous gig) and a senior level Vice President approached me and suggested I did not bill to that project number. Later I found out it was because he wanted to bill himself to it!
It was tough for a while. That layoff fucked my world up pretty badly. I was about to propose to my girlfriend and then it had to be put on hold because I lost my job - she got scared and left me for good...
Mind you, I was a junior-ish level person making very little and from my angle could not understand why a fortune-500 company could fuck me over that badly even though they continued to post huge profits. The firing squad who had informed me had these lifeless expressions like they didn't care about me or my future.
Ouch. Sorry Medi, but you are better off without her. High maintenance women should be kept at arm's length or further. Just imagine the divorce settlement she would have screwed you out of during some future layoff ;)
wow, i'm going to feel like the definite yang to all the yin on this thread so far.
the last 4-6 months have been, for the 19 years I've been doing this, simply the most amazing stretch so far. for the first time in the 7 years i've had my firm, it finally (FINALLY) feels like i have some idea of what i'm doing. i don't just mean learning the basics, i mean being able to put us in a position to win every job we go after, of how to juggle a hundred balls successfully for more than 3 seconds at a time and where we really want to be with this thing over the next 10-20 years. we just paid off the last of our line of credit (from 2008) have more in AR than we've made over whole years and i've hired 2 people this year and may have to add another after this past week. all of this, i'm convinced, is living proof that good karma will eventual return home.
point being is this: this profession is a long haul situation. we've seen huge valleys along the way and will likely see more before it's all done. the only personal experience i can truly offer is this:
do whatever you have to to stay positive, no matter how dark the times seem. people like optimism. they really do.
no matter what you're doing work wise, make connections for other people whenever you can - you'd be amazed what starts to happen after a while if people start to see you as a 'hub' they can turn to for simple advice or recommendations.
let everyone know you're looking for projects, not work. a must whether you're employed or not. nothing beats jumping in way over your head, just make sure you have someone that can throw you a lifeline just in case.
find a mentor - again, a must if you're actively working or not. just having that person in your corner is huge. the two that i have have meant the world to me in terms of helping understand how to really run a firm. and i asked both - no one goes out looking for someone to be a mentor to but almost no one will turn down the offer to be a mentor.
jbush and pencil - there's nothing anyone here can say that's going to mean anything to the decisions you have to make. all i'm offering is my own experiences which, for all the down moments, i wouldn't trade 20 years on. good luck to you whichever way you both decide to go.
You know, if you ever found a way to combine the two...like with designing kitchens or walk-in pantries, that would be awesome. Or you could do dishes built on architectural themes, which would be weird, but I'd eat them.
My condolences (as if you need them. Chefs are indestructible) and I hope you'll keep looking for opportunities while you do the sous-chef thing. Which restaurant is it?
The sadness of walking away from architecture is for me shadowed by the fear and uncertainty of the other professions. There are no safe jobs, In Illinois Nurses are now out of work the local collage only placed 2 out of 160 graduates RN not CAN. Borders is closing for good, Teachers are being let go as the Republicans continue to financially disembowel any public amenity they can. The problem with alternate careers in architecture is that they are hurting too. So where to go?
I think the design profession is going to be hobbled for a while. I wish we had another census like undertaking right now that really helped last year. I would love to fill out weeks of paperwork and work in far off backwaters building stuff for the government like we did 80 years ago with the WPA, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the CCC.
While not an architect, I've marketed in the A/E/C industry for a good long time. And while I love working in the creative industry of architecture, after this latest layoff (Second in two years) I'm looking at other industries that market the same way (financial, legal, insurance - Damn this sounds boring).
I'll be brief to keep your crying to a minimum. The first firm was a construction firm based in California and trying to branch out to other metro areas - I was based in LA. The firm was "family run" and in order to gain a higher bonding capacity, they sold out the majority to a large Japanese firm. While this was a good idea, they suddenly had to be accountable and therein lies the problem. My boss was the founding partners daughter. Due to very ill health she really never worked, but the firm paid her anyways (and she never had to fill out a time card!). Meanwhile, I had major heart surgery that required a skilled surgeon 1850 miles away, 8 months later I caught my wife (of over 25 years) in an affair that had gone on for 6 months. As I was filing for the divorce that December, they layed me off.
Seven months later I got another job with a Seattle-based architect's office in LA. My pay is 30% less than what I earned before (and 20% less than industry standard). After I started I find out I'm the 5th person in 7 years in this role (GULP). The partners are in Asia 60% of the time and leave the office to Sr. Associates to run. First, my assistant leaves (school), then one of the key "marketects" leaves, then the Principal who was doing a fine job running the office leaves. They leave the day to day to a Sr. Associatet who changes her mind more often than not. Also, Sitting next to her, I had to endure her using a headset to talk with others VERY LOUDLY, and keep in mind she was rude, condescending to me and others. Yet, true to form, she had her favorites (who all eventually quit). Yeah, it was a horrible place. One day after working a stressful 14hr day (typical) my boss kept me late (knowing I take a train to work and the last one home is at 9:05) while running to catch the train my internal defibrillator shocks me 4 times, keeping me from sudden cardiac death. The next day I get a call at the hospital from Ms. LOUD Sr. Associate, asking for my computers password - Not a mention of what happened to me, or how am I doing. I made my mind up as I put the phone back on the cradle to quit ASAP. They laid me off a few months later.
Farewell and thanks for all the lead???
Architecture is a second career for me that I started following in 2004 when I returned to school. Previously, I was a chef, fine dining. I was on a very successful track with that, but was worried that I couldn't continue to be a chef past about 50 or so. So, I decided to return to school and start over chasing my original college drop-out failure of architecture. I had to start the 5 year program over at the beginning, as it had been so long since I was in school. I graduated with my B.Arch. in 08. Honors. Dean's List, Scholarship to spend a semester studying in Europe. 8 months of full-time work in an up-and-coming boutique firm that had been designing buildings for Dubai. $100,000 of student loan debt. Going on two and a half years unemployed.
Since I was laid-off I have been reluctantly pursuing career possibilities in the kitchen again. Unfortunately, I have been out of the industry long enough nobody will give me the time of day when looking for a chef position. Now I am in the middle of interviewing for a sous-chef position for a nation-wide chain restaurant.
I'm not looking for sympathy. I know there are others out there that can top me in a blink of an eye. I guess I'm venting my frustration, anger and mostly sadness. I really wanted to do something in architecture. Now all I do is wonder "Did I just throw 8 years, and $100,000 down the drain (Rhetorical)?" Some mornings I sit around drinking my coffee and have to choke down a beach-ball swell of anxiety in my throat while pushing back a tear minutes after my wife leaves for her miserable under-paid job at a greedy law firm that wont cover the price increases of the support staff's health insurance, even though they had a record breaking year of profits.
I also seem to have lost touch with many of my friends. Probably my own doing as I never make an effort to call those people much anymore to make social plans. When I do get together with them after months of not seeing them the first hour is always uncomfortably silent, like a first date almost. I can tell they don't want to ask "How's the job search going?" There's even a reluctance to ask questions that, un-seemingly, could follow the same vein..."So, what have you been upto these days?"
These days I'm upto learning Revit on my own. But, not today. Just the prospect of this Sous-chef gig has zapped all my motivation to continue spending any time doing ANYTHING architecture related.
Hey, sorry to hear your story pusher. I know allot of folks in this business, and believe me, there are allot of people who really got smacked by this situation. You are not alone, and many of those people I know are folks who are been doing this for 20-30 years....
The only suggestion I can make is that with your skill set there are allot of "non-traditional" architecture positions you can look for, if you are reluctant to go back to cooking.
It has been my experience being an "architect" still has pull in related fields because they know the schooling and training we go through. One area I see promise is the building energy efficiency space. For instance there is a program to certify energy star compliance for buildings. Nice thing is last year they changed the requirements and now registered architects can conduct and certify these reports. In this economic environment what land lord is not going to want to reduce their energy bills?
Like gibson said, sorry about your experience in this economy and please don't think it's a reflection of your skills - it sucks for everyone, regardless of talent, right now.
My husband put himself through college waiting tables. We both hope to high heaven that he never again has to do restaurant work, but it's always there that he has a skill that can pay at least some of the bills if necessary.
If you do find yourself back in the kitchen, is there any way to turn that job into something that involves your architecture background? For example, if you do work at a chain restaurant, is there a way to show your ability at dealing with issues that come up with the facilities - dining room, kitchen - and make sure a manager knows, then moving up into the facilities side of things in the corporate structure? Chains have buildings they need to manage - look at Starbucks. I know architects who work in the design side of several food establishments, all chains. Moving from kitchen to facilities office might be difficult, or it might not be, depending how well you can read a situation and use it to further yourself.
Good luck, in any case.
Also: I'm hanging in there being self-employed, have a decent teaching gig, and my husband's business is good at least until December, yet I still have that same beach-ball sized anxiety swell in my throat that you face constantly. In my case it happens when I lay down in bed and think "What did I NOT get done today that I should have to make sure I keep this boat barely afloat?!". It's a shitty time.
i agree...try to be very flexible nd creative, and see how you can combine your skill sets to provide a unique service. and get used to the anxiety, at least for the foreseeable future. we all sympathize, at all levels of the profession. i had invested almost 6 years at a firm, when they began asking me to make models and come in at midnight to clean out the printers. no joke. this is after i'd done serious design work on high-profile projects for them, including designing a competition-winner that kept their office busy for 3 years. i walked away with nothing, not even unemployment insurance. i took on some independent work and managed to use a background in the arts to get a part-time gig consulting for public art projects...now i'm up for a few positions, but even my recruiter is underselling me...
ps--get back in touch with your friends. it's a hazard of arch school, but reconnecting with them will be good for your morale, and may even lead to new opportunities...
I worked a solid 4 years after grad school. The recession didn't affect the firm (giant fortune-500 mega conglomorate) I was working at mainly because we had a lot of good government contracts. But by late 2010 a lot of those government contracts folded because of the budget cuts and change in congress. The firm was also going through some major mergers and was experiencing a clash of civilizations amid a rapidly evaporating work load.
Layoffs started Christmas Eve (seriously!). I made it throught he first several rounds - I can tell that my imediate bosses were doing everything to keep me gainfully employed - another VP guy wanted me to lie about my hours. Basically I was 100% billable (with my shitty pay) but I had learned later that they wanted me to lie about my hours so that senior level people could bill to the projects in order to justify their existence. Things were ugly.
Then came THE day. It was on my birthday (yes I'm being serious)- I was called into an office mid afternoon and basically was told that they were putting me on "furlough" for three months. Fucking Bullshit was the first thing that came to mind and then they asked me the unthinkable: They wanted me to continue to report to work for those three months to continue my work (so that management would look favorably on me). My jaw dropped as I was essentially asked to work for free. The fact that I was still busy and "billable" defeated the purpose of my being put on this furlough bullshit. 3 months without pay is a lot of fucking money for someone at my low level.
I had them put corporate HR on the line and basically told them to rehash the "proposal" they were giving me. I told them all that I like to get kissed before getting fucked.
They laid me off instead and I got severence. I was happy about that and cashed out my 2 months of vacatio time I never took in two years so that I could devote my entire existence working for their lame asses. I then started a new job exactly two months later. It's also a corporate firm - everyone knows the name very well. I like it. The quality of work exceeds any of the work I did at the previous shop. The pay is a little less but I'll take it. I am in a better situation now than I was in December 2010.
wow...! how the hell could they even ask that with a straight face? you could have called the department of labor on them. my old place had some seriously sketchy working conditions for the junior staff...i considered making a formal complaint to OSHA but didn't, because i wanted to remain on good terms...i seriously regret that now.
so glad to hear things worked out for you! i'm a big believer in never letting people shit on you.
Ugh, medi. Your story makes me want to go all French Revolution on our shitty power structures and attitudes.
Our client was arrested for a ponzi scheme, we never got paid for the last work we did
Pencilpusher,
have you ever considered opening a restaurant? and designing the whole thing yourself. I often fancy the idea every time I eat at Chipotle.
We started flirting back in high school. We’ve been involved now for almost 4 years. We had our ups and downs, I’ve become aware that our relationship is overall unhealthy and out of balance. My relationship with you has hurt my relationship with others. Friends and family say my involvement with you has alienated me from them. Our relationship is imbalanced and not reciprocal. You demand I go into deep debt to support your lifestyle. The time commitment you require isn't reasonable. You take, take, take and give very little in return. We can still be friends, but
architecture I am breaking up with you.
I am glad you started this thread Pencil. I have been struggling for a couple of days now with saying goodbye to architecture. Emotionally I am having a hard time letting go. Financially it is looking really bad to stay. The additional tens of thousands of dollars in loans to get a BS Arch would likely be difficult to repay. I guesstimate I would end up owing $600/month for 10 years. Being my own boss someday is very important to me. Moving away so I can get a B.Arch is no longer something I am interested in doing. The time/cost of an M.Arch are out of the question. I tried to work while attending, but between low wages and high cost of living I still needed loans to pay for school. Between the free internships, 10 year average for IDP, low starting salaries, expensive tuition, and massive unemployment I am no longer willing to gamble my families financial future in this field. Hopefully things will turn around, but I am not staying around to find out.
This is really sad to watch but it does seem lately even those that hung on during the worst of the recession are now simply walking away from a perceived non-future. Billing index is below 50 again, government work is drying up, homes are still sitting there and every ounce of retail and commercial office space for the next 50 years is already built. I walked after a few years of pay cuts and essentially near poverty pay and jumped to the construction side for some young guys for also near poverty pay but at least we are working as a team and have this new thing I found called self respect. I never realized architecture was such an emotional manipulator. I was a beaten intern and I dumped his / her ass.
It's a shitty time.
Yep, that about sums it up. Including completing contract jobs, my most recent layoff two weeks ago was the fifth time I've lost my job in three years on no account of my own. The office is out of $$$.
jbush, I'm really sorry to hear that dude. On the upside, you're a super bright person, and I'm sure you'll jump on other great opportunities once they present themselves. You'll do fine in the long run, no matter what you do.
The key is to survive until president Palin gets assassinated.
Thanks Rusty. For other people on the fence I have 3 things working against me they might not. I am in my 30s. I have a 3 year old that I love spending my time with. I live in a small market with a limited number of firms nearby.
Have a great breakfast with the secret service tomorrow ;)
bossman, so sorry about yet another layoff for you.
rusty, it'll be president bachman, silly.
yikes. i was laid off w/ my wife @6 months pregnant and when bosses had reassured everyone there wouldn't be layoffs. got a fat 2 week severance, even though i was told i'd be getting twice that. it was rough. i went through a series of sporadic, high intensity temp jobs to pump out permit sets and then poof. bossman has me beat, but not by much - 3rd firm in a year let me go due to lack of work a few months ago. my wife works for a non-profit that's been staring at looming budget cuts for months.
after calling/dropping resumes at nearly every firm, saving a starchitect's high performance house and stroking my network to no avail - things were looking bleak. i decided to jump on my own. in this economy.
let's just say, i feel your anxiety.
but i think it will get better.
and i hope you can find navigable waters.
Once I was working day and night on a signage package for our office (at the previous gig) and a senior level Vice President approached me and suggested I did not bill to that project number. Later I found out it was because he wanted to bill himself to it!
It was tough for a while. That layoff fucked my world up pretty badly. I was about to propose to my girlfriend and then it had to be put on hold because I lost my job - she got scared and left me for good...
Mind you, I was a junior-ish level person making very little and from my angle could not understand why a fortune-500 company could fuck me over that badly even though they continued to post huge profits. The firing squad who had informed me had these lifeless expressions like they didn't care about me or my future.
That is the truth and always will be the truth.
Ouch. Sorry Medi, but you are better off without her. High maintenance women should be kept at arm's length or further. Just imagine the divorce settlement she would have screwed you out of during some future layoff ;)
wow, i'm going to feel like the definite yang to all the yin on this thread so far.
the last 4-6 months have been, for the 19 years I've been doing this, simply the most amazing stretch so far. for the first time in the 7 years i've had my firm, it finally (FINALLY) feels like i have some idea of what i'm doing. i don't just mean learning the basics, i mean being able to put us in a position to win every job we go after, of how to juggle a hundred balls successfully for more than 3 seconds at a time and where we really want to be with this thing over the next 10-20 years. we just paid off the last of our line of credit (from 2008) have more in AR than we've made over whole years and i've hired 2 people this year and may have to add another after this past week. all of this, i'm convinced, is living proof that good karma will eventual return home.
point being is this: this profession is a long haul situation. we've seen huge valleys along the way and will likely see more before it's all done. the only personal experience i can truly offer is this:
do whatever you have to to stay positive, no matter how dark the times seem. people like optimism. they really do.
no matter what you're doing work wise, make connections for other people whenever you can - you'd be amazed what starts to happen after a while if people start to see you as a 'hub' they can turn to for simple advice or recommendations.
let everyone know you're looking for projects, not work. a must whether you're employed or not. nothing beats jumping in way over your head, just make sure you have someone that can throw you a lifeline just in case.
find a mentor - again, a must if you're actively working or not. just having that person in your corner is huge. the two that i have have meant the world to me in terms of helping understand how to really run a firm. and i asked both - no one goes out looking for someone to be a mentor to but almost no one will turn down the offer to be a mentor.
jbush and pencil - there's nothing anyone here can say that's going to mean anything to the decisions you have to make. all i'm offering is my own experiences which, for all the down moments, i wouldn't trade 20 years on. good luck to you whichever way you both decide to go.
yes but which graduate school should i attend? and what should be my safety/fall back choices?
You heard it. Greg might be hiring. Polish up those resumes and fill up his mailbox :)
vado - the gsd, always. the fallback du jour, as i hear it, is michigan. if you have 51% of the tuition, you get in.
my furlough started three months ago, 3 days before my grandmother in law died and 4 days before we found out my wife is pregnant.
had to turn down a job in Baltimore because we are way underwater on our house. Might be selling mortgages for quicken this time next week.
sorry to hear the news bossman
You know, if you ever found a way to combine the two...like with designing kitchens or walk-in pantries, that would be awesome. Or you could do dishes built on architectural themes, which would be weird, but I'd eat them.
My condolences (as if you need them. Chefs are indestructible) and I hope you'll keep looking for opportunities while you do the sous-chef thing. Which restaurant is it?
Ryan002- Architectural food presentations already came and went...thank god! Most of it looked good, but tasted like shit.
Indestructible...I like that.
As I'm only half-way through their corporate interview process I don't want to give away to much info and jinx my chances.
The sadness of walking away from architecture is for me shadowed by the fear and uncertainty of the other professions. There are no safe jobs, In Illinois Nurses are now out of work the local collage only placed 2 out of 160 graduates RN not CAN. Borders is closing for good, Teachers are being let go as the Republicans continue to financially disembowel any public amenity they can. The problem with alternate careers in architecture is that they are hurting too. So where to go?
I think the design profession is going to be hobbled for a while. I wish we had another census like undertaking right now that really helped last year. I would love to fill out weeks of paperwork and work in far off backwaters building stuff for the government like we did 80 years ago with the WPA, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the CCC.
While not an architect, I've marketed in the A/E/C industry for a good long time. And while I love working in the creative industry of architecture, after this latest layoff (Second in two years) I'm looking at other industries that market the same way (financial, legal, insurance - Damn this sounds boring).
I'll be brief to keep your crying to a minimum. The first firm was a construction firm based in California and trying to branch out to other metro areas - I was based in LA. The firm was "family run" and in order to gain a higher bonding capacity, they sold out the majority to a large Japanese firm. While this was a good idea, they suddenly had to be accountable and therein lies the problem. My boss was the founding partners daughter. Due to very ill health she really never worked, but the firm paid her anyways (and she never had to fill out a time card!). Meanwhile, I had major heart surgery that required a skilled surgeon 1850 miles away, 8 months later I caught my wife (of over 25 years) in an affair that had gone on for 6 months. As I was filing for the divorce that December, they layed me off.
Seven months later I got another job with a Seattle-based architect's office in LA. My pay is 30% less than what I earned before (and 20% less than industry standard). After I started I find out I'm the 5th person in 7 years in this role (GULP). The partners are in Asia 60% of the time and leave the office to Sr. Associates to run. First, my assistant leaves (school), then one of the key "marketects" leaves, then the Principal who was doing a fine job running the office leaves. They leave the day to day to a Sr. Associatet who changes her mind more often than not. Also, Sitting next to her, I had to endure her using a headset to talk with others VERY LOUDLY, and keep in mind she was rude, condescending to me and others. Yet, true to form, she had her favorites (who all eventually quit). Yeah, it was a horrible place. One day after working a stressful 14hr day (typical) my boss kept me late (knowing I take a train to work and the last one home is at 9:05) while running to catch the train my internal defibrillator shocks me 4 times, keeping me from sudden cardiac death. The next day I get a call at the hospital from Ms. LOUD Sr. Associate, asking for my computers password - Not a mention of what happened to me, or how am I doing. I made my mind up as I put the phone back on the cradle to quit ASAP. They laid me off a few months later.
**** me sideways Mbcube. Sounds like you have one of those doom magnets when it comes to job hunting. Sorry to hear about it.
I'm sure things will pick up soon. And look on the bright side, things can only get better.
hello all. i haven't visited the forum in a couple of years.
it's funny, because even though i don't know any of you personally, seeing some of the familiar posters describe their recent troubles makes me sad.
at the risk of sounding smarmy, i wish you all the best of luck!
PP,
I notice this Craigslist job post for a Food Facilities Designer.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/egr/2521190401.html
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