I recently graduated from UIUC with a Masters degree. And I am lucky to have two competing job offers. One company is based in Denver while the other studio is in Seattle. The job description and responsibilities, base salary, benefits everything is comparable and similar. As for the two companies, the Seattle one is a little larger and more known than the one in Denver. However both are pretty big national firms doing good architecture.
Knowing all this, I am confused as to which one to take. I was hoping if the Archinet community to give input based on -
job opportunities and growth in each city,
living cost and setting permanently based on an architect's salary in each city,
what city would provide the best balance between best architecture exposure / experience for career and stretching the value of a dollar best ( knowing architects don't and won't earn alot initially ).
Also should I be looking at this balance yet or should I be only be focusing on one of the said aspects as an entry level architect ?
So I currently live in Denver, and am looking at moving to Seattle. Both cities are more expensive than most in the US, but still cheaper than LA, SF, NY. Both offer beautiful outdoors and many mountain activities.
Seattle I believe offers a richer architecture and design scene than Denver, as there are more big-name, high design firms there. There seems to be more of a community focus on the importance of great architecture than in Denver, where a lot of crap is being built currently. Seattle offers many more recognizable firms nationally for a future resume.
That said, there are some really great folks doing some great stuff in Denver. It could be possible to make a big impact, because Denver is in need of some good designers, and there is tons of work happening. I think you would be happy with both; the big difference career-wise is whether you want to be part of a more established design community, or want to help grow one.
A career is a long time, too long to make useful plans based on such specific decisions. Both cities are nice, somewhat expensive, and growing for now - for your purposes probably roughly equal.
It would be more useful to learn about the teams and people you'd be working with. You'll grow much faster and go much further when you spend everyday with people you like and admire. I'd recommend basing your decision on that.
Once you advance in your career you can always move later if you decide to (and often this has more to do with who you marry or specific job opportunities than any early preferences about cities)
It sounds simple, but that should be criteria #1 here. I'm assuming you'd be happy with either or else you wouldn't have applied there, but for me, I would just pick the city I'm most interested in living in. There is more to life than work, and while there are similarities between the cities, you may just be happier / more comfortable in one rather than the other.
While midlander is right above that you CAN move later on, it becomes a lot more difficult the longer you wait and start to put down roots (family, kids, etc.)
Additionally, this will (most likely) not be your only job, so maybe consider the architectural culture of the city as a whole as well. Does the surrounding architecture align with your design interests? Are there other firms in the area that you would consider working for as well?
So I currently live in Denver, and am looking at moving to Seattle. Both cities are more expensive than most in the US, but still cheaper than LA, SF, NY. Both offer beautiful outdoors and many mountain activities.
Seattle I believe offers a richer architecture and design scene than Denver, as there are more big-name, high design firms there. There seems to be more of a community focus on the importance of great architecture than in Denver, where a lot of crap is being built currently. Seattle offers many more recognizable firms nationally for a future resume.
That said, there are some really great folks doing some great stuff in Denver. It could be possible to make a big impact, because Denver is in need of some good designers, and there is tons of work happening. I think you would be happy with both; the big difference career-wise is whether you want to be part of a more established design community, or want to help grow one.
Jun 3, 19 12:32 pm ·
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Denver vs Seattle - Job opportunities and growth ??
Hi All !
I recently graduated from UIUC with a Masters degree. And I am lucky to have two competing job offers. One company is based in Denver while the other studio is in Seattle. The job description and responsibilities, base salary, benefits everything is comparable and similar. As for the two companies, the Seattle one is a little larger and more known than the one in Denver. However both are pretty big national firms doing good architecture.
Knowing all this, I am confused as to which one to take. I was hoping if the Archinet community to give input based on -
Any input would be of great help !
- Super confused beginner architect
1 Featured Comment
So I currently live in Denver, and am looking at moving to Seattle. Both cities are more expensive than most in the US, but still cheaper than LA, SF, NY. Both offer beautiful outdoors and many mountain activities.
Seattle I believe offers a richer architecture and design scene than Denver, as there are more big-name, high design firms there. There seems to be more of a community focus on the importance of great architecture than in Denver, where a lot of crap is being built currently. Seattle offers many more recognizable firms nationally for a future resume.
That said, there are some really great folks doing some great stuff in Denver. It could be possible to make a big impact, because Denver is in need of some good designers, and there is tons of work happening. I think you would be happy with both; the big difference career-wise is whether you want to be part of a more established design community, or want to help grow one.
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A career is a long time, too long to make useful plans based on such specific decisions. Both cities are nice, somewhat expensive, and growing for now - for your purposes probably roughly equal.
It would be more useful to learn about the teams and people you'd be working with. You'll grow much faster and go much further when you spend everyday with people you like and admire. I'd recommend basing your decision on that.
Once you advance in your career you can always move later if you decide to (and often this has more to do with who you marry or specific job opportunities than any early preferences about cities)
Where do you want to live?
It sounds simple, but that should be criteria #1 here. I'm assuming you'd be happy with either or else you wouldn't have applied there, but for me, I would just pick the city I'm most interested in living in. There is more to life than work, and while there are similarities between the cities, you may just be happier / more comfortable in one rather than the other.
While midlander is right above that you CAN move later on, it becomes a lot more difficult the longer you wait and start to put down roots (family, kids, etc.)
Additionally, this will (most likely) not be your only job, so maybe consider the architectural culture of the city as a whole as well. Does the surrounding architecture align with your design interests? Are there other firms in the area that you would consider working for as well?
So I currently live in Denver, and am looking at moving to Seattle. Both cities are more expensive than most in the US, but still cheaper than LA, SF, NY. Both offer beautiful outdoors and many mountain activities.
Seattle I believe offers a richer architecture and design scene than Denver, as there are more big-name, high design firms there. There seems to be more of a community focus on the importance of great architecture than in Denver, where a lot of crap is being built currently. Seattle offers many more recognizable firms nationally for a future resume.
That said, there are some really great folks doing some great stuff in Denver. It could be possible to make a big impact, because Denver is in need of some good designers, and there is tons of work happening. I think you would be happy with both; the big difference career-wise is whether you want to be part of a more established design community, or want to help grow one.
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