I realised that with the title of my previous thread I might not necessarily be attracting the people with the right exexperience or interest to respond to my call for advice, so I have decided to re-post it under a more appropriate title. If this is against the forum rules, please let me know whether I can either change the title of the other or delete it. Thanks

Hi guys.

Im hoping someone can give me a little advice.

TL;DR I am a fully qualified and registered architect, I studied software development before architecture. I completely lost my passion for architecture due to a bad working experience, and am now looking at directing my career toward BIM management/coordination/development.

• Is it a good idea to move into BIM from architecture?
• How and where can I start and grow into this area?
• Would I easily be able to move back to architecture after a year or two if I find I do not enjoy this direction, even  if I worked in non-architecture type companies such as BIM consultancies?
• Will I be making my life more difficult, with regards to finding jobs or good salaries than it currently is being an architect (also what about the future)?

Some background:

I am a registered professional architect in South Africa, completed my MArch and have about 4 years of working experience.

For the past year or so I have been working at a very prominent company that I really love, but under a manager that has just completely destroyed my love and passion for architecture. Through habits like micro management, lack of trust, bad communication, bad planning if any planning at all, rejecting ideas that might be for the good of the project just because they do not align with what he wants, and making me work overtime because he procrastinates and hands me tasks at the end of the day.

For various reasons, just moving to a different manager in this situation is not as easy as it sounds.

It has gotten to the point where I'm actually not sure that I want to be in the architectural profession anymore.

The first item I would like advice on:

I have recently been thinking of working my way into the BIM management/coordination/development direction. I have a background in IT, studied software development before Architecture, have a broad knowledge of most of the different software most companies use, especially revit, and because of my background in IT, I am able to pick up any new program in a very short time. I do also quite like the workings behind the systems, processes and procedures that are required for everything in the office to work efficiently, and have already suggested a number of ways in which we could automate certain processes and make others more efficient in both offices I have worked for since graduation.

I was wondering what some better informed and more experienced individuals would say about directing ones career into this field.

The company I currently work for does not have any space for me in our BIM department, and I do not have enough experience to be employed as a dedicated BIM Manager somewhere else. What would be the best way to start out and grow into this kind of position, or what other positions exist within the building industry that I could use to gain experience and eventually reach that position?

I was thinking of possibly looking for a job at a BIM consultants office even?

The second Item:

If I do go and work in this direction for a year or two and then realise that it is not my cup of tea, would it be difficult to get back into architecture (maybe an extended break from my current situation would rejuvenate my passion, but also, maybe not)

Third item:

What are the long term career opportunities in this direction with regard to finding employment and salaries? Architects are notoriously oversupplied and underpaid anyway so I don't want to put myself in an even worse position.

Also, with regard to opening myself up to the global job market it feels like BIM would be a better move as Architecture seems to be rather difficult due to different building standards etc. in different countries.

I would appreciate any advice or any experiences in the above mentioned fields.

PS.

I am not a super proficient or experienced programmer at the moment, It has been almost 10 years that I haven't been programming full time, but I do have an in depth understanding of it and its advantages, and should be able to write adequate programs again with a 2 or 3 week crash course.