Hello, I'm a freshman at Iowa State University, doing Pre-Arch and hoping that I can get into the Architecture program. As I was talking to my mentor, he mentioned about internship and why it is crucial for my future career. 3700+ hours is a lot of time so I figure I should start doing internships. But the problem is I don't know when would be suitable for me to find one. In addition, what skills should I have other than university's fundamental knowledge.
3700 is not a lot of hours. Find a job swinging hammers in the sun. You’ll learn ten times as much there than as an intern with zero billable skills.
Jul 9, 18 5:28 pm ·
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tienhuynh1999
So you are saying that I should find more realistic jobs before I go into an internship?
Jul 9, 18 6:32 pm ·
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Non Sequitur
Ding ding fucking ding. I drove a forklift for many summers in the first half of my arch degree and made more then (12ish years ago) than interns do today.
Learned more too.
Jul 9, 18 6:38 pm ·
·
joseffischer
Agreed, but you don't have to be so blunt about it Non Sequitur. As I recall required horus
used to be in the 6000 range, no?
Jul 10, 18 10:02 am ·
·
Non Sequitur
Yes, they used to be. I think 5800 or something like that when I went through it. Still, hard to imagine hours spent prior to even your degree can be counted for licensing. I know they can't be (anymore) in my area anyways.
Keep in mind that 3700 hours is the bare minimum. It has to be distributed in certain categories, so most people end up with more than the minimum by the time they get licensed, because it can take years to get all the right experience types finished in some firms. Also there are 14 states that currently require more than the 3700 hours - in most cases about a year more. There are also a few states that do not count experience that is earned prior to graduation. Make sure to understand the requirements of whatever states or countries factor into your long range goals. Gaining some construction experience is a good idea, and in most cases can count toward a portion of your internship requirements.
Jul 9, 18 11:53 pm ·
·
tienhuynh1999
well I don't mind the hour, I'm just afraid that if I do it too late then I won't have time to do other things in the future, that's all.
3700 sounds like a lot - I almost didn't go for a license because of it - but unless you're a rich kid, you're probably going to be working anyway. So why not just count it for something? Its most certainly better IMO than working retail or another part time gig to make some summer money.
Also the sooner you do an internship in an office, the sooner you start to understand what it's actually like working in architecture. You may have seen on other threads discussion of how school and work differ in architecture.
Jul 10, 18 9:42 am ·
·
tienhuynh1999
ok thank you, and I don't mind the hours. It's just that I'm afraid that if I do it too late, I'm going to miss out on things.
I interned several times through undergrad beginning as a second year. I've never heard of a pre-architecure program before but many of my own classmates graduated and had never set foot in an office or on a construction site. I know for me the internship process was eyeopening in the least while still being pretty boring as I didn't know anything and really I still don't know much as I haven't fully graduated. I would say use this time early on to figure out what you like and then start looking for internships or related jobs once you get in. Don't be in a hurry to start a specific "internship" because the hours will come once you start working full time. Ask around, email, call contractors you might know, visit architecture firms, email architects, residential, commercial, job shadow local architects. I think just get exposure to what architecture really is could be so informative. What you learn in school is not architecture practice. Having a knowledge about architecture practice before your classmates could really be helpful and give you an advantage in school and then later on as well.
I will say though I was the same way, I wanted to get an internship asap and I did. Everyone told me it would be impossible to get one as a second year but I did. Do you know Revit or autoCAD? Given interns aren't very useful for much, having some sort of knowledge in software can be an easy ticket in the door and then you can start learning the basics of the drawing sets and how things actually go together. Or as they suggested above if you can get in on construction jobs that would beneficial too. Don't limit yourself to the big creative firms that always come in for reviews, but expand your search to smaller more operative jobs that are actually building things consistently.
Also, don't worry about it too much at the moment. Once you start architecture school officially, you will live and breath it. Having other outlets that may be related or may not can be just as beneficial to your success as anything. I've seen people get burned out quick and students will drop like flies in those first two years.
Interning at an office early is not off the table but you won't have much creative work from school so you may need to have things you've done on your own to put together a decent portfolio. Maybe if you work on a home remodel, or on a construction site, or tile work, or just google architecture drawings and make your own project, something. (and not including your 3d sketchup models of houses) When you decide you want to intern have a portfolio and resume ready by january and start emailing firms. Find a person to contact and just go with it, you may hear back and you may not. You can start small and get in on a firm early as part-time and grow with them as you move through the program or just figure out different things you like and don't like and move on from there.
You can go online and download the AXP guideline pdf that explains all the possible jobs that would count towards your hours. You'd be surprised at how many jobs you could have that will count that aren't in architecture firms at all. Work that would be ten times more helpful than simply sitting in an office waiting for something you are able to help with. (Also, just know, you have to pay to log your hours every year through the NCARB. It's not a ton, and may be worth it but I think it's dependent on each person's situation of when they start to log.)
Goodluck! and enjoy your time in school, it's a lot but also fun.
Jul 10, 18 9:54 am ·
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tienhuynh1999
thank you for the useful information, it really helps a lot.
Jul 10, 18 10:13 am ·
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thatsthat
Good advice!
Also, don't worry about it too much at the moment. Once you start architecture school officially, you will live and breath it. Having other outlets that may be related or may not can be just as beneficial to your success as anything. I've seen people get burned out quick and students will drop like flies in those first two years.
So incredibly true. It's definitely good to have a non-architecture outlet while you're in school. Even a part-time job that's unrelated can help. Even though you're technically 'working', you're not thinking about school.
Jul 10, 18 10:51 am ·
·
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Internship
Hello, I'm a freshman at Iowa State University, doing Pre-Arch and hoping that I can get into the Architecture program. As I was talking to my mentor, he mentioned about internship and why it is crucial for my future career. 3700+ hours is a lot of time so I figure I should start doing internships. But the problem is I don't know when would be suitable for me to find one. In addition, what skills should I have other than university's fundamental knowledge.
Thank you
Tien Huynh
Change career path now.
Why is that?
Why on Earth would you want to be an architect?
So you are saying that I should find more realistic jobs before I go into an internship?
Ding ding fucking ding. I drove a forklift for many summers in the first half of my arch degree and made more then (12ish years ago) than interns do today.
Learned more too.
Agreed, but you don't have to be so blunt about it Non Sequitur. As I recall required horus used to be in the 6000 range, no?
Yes, they used to be. I think 5800 or something like that when I went through it. Still, hard to imagine hours spent prior to even your degree can be counted for licensing. I know they can't be (anymore) in my area anyways.
Keep in mind that 3700 hours is the bare minimum. It has to be distributed in certain categories, so most people end up with more than the minimum by the time they get licensed, because it can take years to get all the right experience types finished in some firms. Also there are 14 states that currently require more than the 3700 hours - in most cases about a year more. There are also a few states that do not count experience that is earned prior to graduation. Make sure to understand the requirements of whatever states or countries factor into your long range goals. Gaining some construction experience is a good idea, and in most cases can count toward a portion of your internship requirements.
well I don't mind the hour, I'm just afraid that if I do it too late then I won't have time to do other things in the future, that's all.
3700 sounds like a lot - I almost didn't go for a license because of it - but unless you're a rich kid, you're probably going to be working anyway. So why not just count it for something? Its most certainly better IMO than working retail or another part time gig to make some summer money.
Also the sooner you do an internship in an office, the sooner you start to understand what it's actually like working in architecture. You may have seen on other threads discussion of how school and work differ in architecture.
ok thank you, and I don't mind the hours. It's just that I'm afraid that if I do it too late, I'm going to miss out on things.
I interned several times through undergrad beginning as a second year. I've never heard of a pre-architecure program before but many of my own classmates graduated and had never set foot in an office or on a construction site. I know for me the internship process was eyeopening in the least while still being pretty boring as I didn't know anything and really I still don't know much as I haven't fully graduated. I would say use this time early on to figure out what you like and then start looking for internships or related jobs once you get in. Don't be in a hurry to start a specific "internship" because the hours will come once you start working full time. Ask around, email, call contractors you might know, visit architecture firms, email architects, residential, commercial, job shadow local architects. I think just get exposure to what architecture really is could be so informative. What you learn in school is not architecture practice. Having a knowledge about architecture practice before your classmates could really be helpful and give you an advantage in school and then later on as well.
I will say though I was the same way, I wanted to get an internship asap and I did. Everyone told me it would be impossible to get one as a second year but I did. Do you know Revit or autoCAD? Given interns aren't very useful for much, having some sort of knowledge in software can be an easy ticket in the door and then you can start learning the basics of the drawing sets and how things actually go together. Or as they suggested above if you can get in on construction jobs that would beneficial too. Don't limit yourself to the big creative firms that always come in for reviews, but expand your search to smaller more operative jobs that are actually building things consistently.
Also, don't worry about it too much at the moment. Once you start architecture school officially, you will live and breath it. Having other outlets that may be related or may not can be just as beneficial to your success as anything. I've seen people get burned out quick and students will drop like flies in those first two years.
Interning at an office early is not off the table but you won't have much creative work from school so you may need to have things you've done on your own to put together a decent portfolio. Maybe if you work on a home remodel, or on a construction site, or tile work, or just google architecture drawings and make your own project, something. (and not including your 3d sketchup models of houses) When you decide you want to intern have a portfolio and resume ready by january and start emailing firms. Find a person to contact and just go with it, you may hear back and you may not. You can start small and get in on a firm early as part-time and grow with them as you move through the program or just figure out different things you like and don't like and move on from there.
You can go online and download the AXP guideline pdf that explains all the possible jobs that would count towards your hours. You'd be surprised at how many jobs you could have that will count that aren't in architecture firms at all. Work that would be ten times more helpful than simply sitting in an office waiting for something you are able to help with. (Also, just know, you have to pay to log your hours every year through the NCARB. It's not a ton, and may be worth it but I think it's dependent on each person's situation of when they start to log.)
Goodluck! and enjoy your time in school, it's a lot but also fun.
thank you for the useful information, it really helps a lot.
Good advice!
Also, don't worry about it too much at the moment. Once you start architecture school officially, you will live and breath it. Having other outlets that may be related or may not can be just as beneficial to your success as anything. I've seen people get burned out quick and students will drop like flies in those first two years.
So incredibly true. It's definitely good to have a non-architecture outlet while you're in school. Even a part-time job that's unrelated can help. Even though you're technically 'working', you're not thinking about school.
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