I'm in a small rut. I have two opportunities to build my drafting experience and save some money before going for my B.Arch. I've got my associates and some skills with the latest drafting tools, Revit being my strong suit.
I was able to land a Systems Detailer job with a large electrical firm using Revit MEP to draft low voltage projects. They are paying well and handing out some cushy benefits for the full time work I'd be doing. Unfortunately they gave me a start date a month from the time I interviewed.
In the time I've been waiting, I interviewed elsewhere to see if I could land anything architectural. A small firm liked my stuff, and I'm waiting for an offer even though I know It's going to be lower than what the national electrical firm is offering. They are willing to mentor on just about everything with an open door policy for clients. The Principal architects is one of the most humble people I've met. I've never laughed so hard in an interview.
My predicament; do I go with the money and the benefits while learning 3D electrical drafting full time.
Or learn more about architectural practice hands on (Revit included) with a small firm with a focus in affordable housing with no benefits and probably a dollar or two less in pay. (I'm pushing for an offer tomorrow as my start date with the electrical firm is the 28th.)
I am in no position to pull a loan right now as I'm financially in the red and pay the Southern California paradise tax on rent. While my goal is to save money and move out of the shithole I've been living in (4 years), I want to make sure I'm not giving up a golden opportunity to learn more about architectural/construction practice. Which has the more value?
The one big advantage that the architecture firm job would have is that you'd find out now, before you put money and time into a B.Arch, whether the practice of architecture is what you imagined it to be and whether it's something you really do want to study and commit to. If the offer comes in only a dollar or so below the electrical drafting job then I'd say maybe you should do the architecture gig for 6 months to a year - because what you're losing in benefits now might be worth it to confirm your intended career direction, or to change it before you go further into it.
But do the math and make sure you can actually afford to live with no benefits. If it's not going to be a survivable situation given your high cost of living and pre-existing debts, and would mean that you'd have to take on more debt to take the architecture job, then by all means take the job with better pay and benefits. No job is such a "golden opportunity" that you should take on debt in order to work there!
If the offers end up being fairly close then you should go back to the architecture firm and try to negotiate. Tell them that you're very interested in their work and would love to work there, but unfortunately it's not an affordable situation and you have another company offering $X + benefits, is there any flexibility in their offer? That may shake another dollar or two per hour out of them.
"Open door policy" for clients just meaning that a client can walk through at anytime, the firm is office casual but keeps up in appearance. I can see how its not the best choice of words in business terms lol.
I really appreciate the feedback Bloopox. I'm going to ruffle up an offer with the arch firm before sending in the I-9 from the elec. firm.
My debts aren't too large as I like to fear debt; a small car loan and a well managed cc. The previous car drained my crisis fund. Monthly meds are something I need, so health insurance does have to be a factor. I found out that California is requiring small businesses to reimburse a certain amount for health insurance in 2020 so there's that as well.
I'll come back to this when I get the offer, and crunch the numbers.
Thanks!
Oct 24, 19 3:11 pm ·
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Electrical drafting w/benefits or dream mentorship w/small arch firm to save for B.Arch
I'm in a small rut. I have two opportunities to build my drafting experience and save some money before going for my B.Arch. I've got my associates and some skills with the latest drafting tools, Revit being my strong suit.
I was able to land a Systems Detailer job with a large electrical firm using Revit MEP to draft low voltage projects. They are paying well and handing out some cushy benefits for the full time work I'd be doing. Unfortunately they gave me a start date a month from the time I interviewed.
In the time I've been waiting, I interviewed elsewhere to see if I could land anything architectural. A small firm liked my stuff, and I'm waiting for an offer even though I know It's going to be lower than what the national electrical firm is offering. They are willing to mentor on just about everything with an open door policy for clients. The Principal architects is one of the most humble people I've met. I've never laughed so hard in an interview.
My predicament; do I go with the money and the benefits while learning 3D electrical drafting full time.
Or learn more about architectural practice hands on (Revit included) with a small firm with a focus in affordable housing with no benefits and probably a dollar or two less in pay. (I'm pushing for an offer tomorrow as my start date with the electrical firm is the 28th.)
I am in no position to pull a loan right now as I'm financially in the red and pay the Southern California paradise tax on rent. While my goal is to save money and move out of the shithole I've been living in (4 years), I want to make sure I'm not giving up a golden opportunity to learn more about architectural/construction practice. Which has the more value?
Go with the architectural experience.
What's "an open door policy for clients"?
The one big advantage that the architecture firm job would have is that you'd find out now, before you put money and time into a B.Arch, whether the practice of architecture is what you imagined it to be and whether it's something you really do want to study and commit to.
If the offer comes in only a dollar or so below the electrical drafting job then I'd say maybe you should do the architecture gig for 6 months to a year - because what you're losing in benefits now might be worth it to confirm your intended career direction, or to change it before you go further into it.
But do the math and make sure you can actually afford to live with no benefits. If it's not going to be a survivable situation given your high cost of living and pre-existing debts, and would mean that you'd have to take on more debt to take the architecture job, then by all means take the job with better pay and benefits. No job is such a "golden opportunity" that you should take on debt in order to work there!
If the offers end up being fairly close then you should go back to the architecture firm and try to negotiate. Tell them that you're very interested in their work and would love to work there, but unfortunately it's not an affordable situation and you have another company offering $X + benefits, is there any flexibility in their offer? That may shake another dollar or two per hour out of them.
I'd take the architecture job (in fact, did take a very similar job at the same point in my career).
The one caveat is that we are likely heading into a recession, and small firms tend to be much more susceptible.
"Open door policy" for clients just meaning that a client can walk through at anytime, the firm is office casual but keeps up in appearance. I can see how its not the best choice of words in business terms lol.
I really appreciate the feedback Bloopox. I'm going to ruffle up an offer with the arch firm before sending in the I-9 from the elec. firm.
My debts aren't too large as I like to fear debt; a small car loan and a well managed cc. The previous car drained my crisis fund. Monthly meds are something I need, so health insurance does have to be a factor. I found out that California is requiring small businesses to reimburse a certain amount for health insurance in 2020 so there's that as well.
I'll come back to this when I get the offer, and crunch the numbers.
Thanks!
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