I have been working at my first architecture job out of school for about 17 months. Its a small firm with about a dozen employees. I enjoy my job and have good relationships with my coworkers and the partners. I am getting a wide range of experiences and learning a lot every day.
However, my firm is located in a medium sized (100k+) Midwest city that I am not happy in. I had a summer internship in Brooklyn and enjoyed the East Coast lifestyle quite a bit more. While I feel that I am getting good professional experience at my current firm my quality of life outside of work is pretty low. Long story short, I am looking to make the move east within a year.
My question regards acquiring samples of work from my current employer. There are several projects that I would like to include in a work sample / portfolio when applying to new firms. How should I go about getting the work? I assume the protocol is to get permission from the partners. If this is the case I would have to tell them that I am beginning to look at other firms.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a good relationship with the partners. Would it be worth being upfront about my situation? I would like to make it clear that my moving out of state is for personal reasons, not necessarily professional.
Any thoughts on the matter or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Just use the material but clearly state your role in the projects you've worked on and credit the firm properly. I wouldn't ask for permission upfront because that might lead to a changing working relationship with your current employer, you don't even know if you're going to land that dream job in Brooklyn at all or how soon...you might be stuck at your current firm for quite a while which might get awkward, no?
Aug 27, 18 10:59 am ·
·
molten
Agreed. I have never asked for permission to use a firm's materials.
Aug 27, 18 11:03 am ·
·
thisisnotmyname
Yes, in a discrete job search, private use of stuff you actually made or worked on is ok. When you get a new job and have given notice at your old office, have a conversation with tem about what materials they are ok with you taking for your future portfolio use and how they prefer it be credited and any limitations on use.
Aug 27, 18 11:58 am ·
·
G4tor
Just a question out of curiosity: how many architects, upon receiving printed material from prospective employees, actually go around showing said works to other principals of other firms? It seems, from all the other firms that i've ever worked for, architects are generally at odds with one another.
Aug 27, 18 2:08 pm ·
·
randomised
I once had the director of a studio I applied to contact my boss directly, they were good friends apparently. Still got an interview out of it though but didn't get the job and my contract wasn't renewed either.
Aug 27, 18 3:05 pm ·
·
thisisnotmyname
Once when I was job hunting, I had a firm's principals share my resume and portfolio without my knowledge or consent with other firms in the same city. I've seen it happen at other offices I've worked in as well. I always thought it was an unwritten rule that anything a job seeker submits should be treated as confidential. Apparently, many architects don't see it that way.
Technically yes, you're supposed to ask permission first. But it's pretty much expected that employees are going to keep record copies of things they work on, and use those if/when they do a discrete job search. I always did that, and then once I had an offer in hand and had announced my departure, I would ask in an email whether it was ok to take some samples of my best work, for my portfolio, and to please let me know if that was not ok. Usually the employers said "yes, of course", or they didn't respond (in which case I'd worded the email in such a way that their lack of response constituted consent). I never had anybody say no. Especially in a long-distance job search I don't think you're going to have principals of other firms criticizing the work you show them just because it's not their work, as one poster imagines - and I don't know how you can get hired without some samples of what you've been working on lately.
Aug 27, 18 4:00 pm ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
Acquiring Work Samples from Current Employer
I have been working at my first architecture job out of school for about 17 months. Its a small firm with about a dozen employees. I enjoy my job and have good relationships with my coworkers and the partners. I am getting a wide range of experiences and learning a lot every day.
However, my firm is located in a medium sized (100k+) Midwest city that I am not happy in. I had a summer internship in Brooklyn and enjoyed the East Coast lifestyle quite a bit more. While I feel that I am getting good professional experience at my current firm my quality of life outside of work is pretty low. Long story short, I am looking to make the move east within a year.
My question regards acquiring samples of work from my current employer. There are several projects that I would like to include in a work sample / portfolio when applying to new firms. How should I go about getting the work? I assume the protocol is to get permission from the partners. If this is the case I would have to tell them that I am beginning to look at other firms.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a good relationship with the partners. Would it be worth being upfront about my situation? I would like to make it clear that my moving out of state is for personal reasons, not necessarily professional.
Any thoughts on the matter or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
i'd rather ask forgiveness than permission
Just use the material but clearly state your role in the projects you've worked on and credit the firm properly. I wouldn't ask for permission upfront because that might lead to a changing working relationship with your current employer, you don't even know if you're going to land that dream job in Brooklyn at all or how soon...you might be stuck at your current firm for quite a while which might get awkward, no?
Agreed. I have never asked for permission to use a firm's materials.
Yes, in a discrete job search, private use of stuff you actually made or worked on is ok. When you get a new job and have given notice at your old office, have a conversation with tem about what materials they are ok with you taking for your future portfolio use and how they prefer it be credited and any limitations on use.
Just a question out of curiosity: how many architects, upon receiving printed material from prospective employees, actually go around showing said works to other principals of other firms? It seems, from all the other firms that i've ever worked for, architects are generally at odds with one another.
I once had the director of a studio I applied to contact my boss directly, they were good friends apparently. Still got an interview out of it though but didn't get the job and my contract wasn't renewed either.
Once when I was job hunting, I had a firm's principals share my resume and portfolio without my knowledge or consent with other firms in the same city. I've seen it happen at other offices I've worked in as well. I always thought it was an unwritten rule that anything a job seeker submits should be treated as confidential. Apparently, many architects don't see it that way.
"While I feel that I am getting good professional experience at my current firm my quality of life outside of work is pretty low."
.... What? Architects get to have a life outside of work now?
Technically yes, you're supposed to ask permission first. But it's pretty much expected that employees are going to keep record copies of things they work on, and use those if/when they do a discrete job search. I always did that, and then once I had an offer in hand and had announced my departure, I would ask in an email whether it was ok to take some samples of my best work, for my portfolio, and to please let me know if that was not ok. Usually the employers said "yes, of course", or they didn't respond (in which case I'd worded the email in such a way that their lack of response constituted consent). I never had anybody say no. Especially in a long-distance job search I don't think you're going to have principals of other firms criticizing the work you show them just because it's not their work, as one poster imagines - and I don't know how you can get hired without some samples of what you've been working on lately.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.