Let me begin by saying that I am currently not in the architecture field. However, it has been my one desire since I was an adolescent to be an architect and work in this area. Financial hardships and a lot of bumps in the road, so to say, I have not yet accomplished that in any sense.
My question here is; do any of you think it would be possible for even remotely feasible for someone like me to get their foot in the door by doing a free, Shadow and program or internship with a firm or any practicing architect? That way I can get in to the field and get that experience like a degree would give you but deeper.
I ask this because I know a handful of people who have done this sort of thing and completely different fields. I would just like to know if it's a pipe dream or not. I Highly value any input and advice. Thank you for reading this.
Do not, under any circumstance, work for free. Ever. Not even a discussion item. Second, no. We're all so very busy that no-one has the time to teach fresh grads... let alone a full layman who rolled-out from under a bridge and decided they want to work in an arch office.
If you want exposure, then go work in a general contractor's office or take a arch tech diploma from a local college and get into a drafting/technologist role. That way you can actually provide a billable service to an office's clients.
I've heard of these shadowing things happening - but only because of a special relationship between the studio and the shadow.
In one case, the shadow was the son of a developer client - and the architects were more than happy to let the kid hang around the office to win more business from the dad down the line. Small price to pay for business development.
In another case, the shadow was a family friend of the principal who didn't mind the kid helping out in the office. After all, what harm can he do? Now, if he was actually doing work for free then he was effectively subsidizing the firm by out-competing a potential employee.
For an unpaid or low paid internship, it is possible but unlikely. Mostly has to be from networking. I don't know what you can really learn other than seeing people busy working in a typical office setting. You won't have actual responsibilities.
What is your plan after you shadowed the place? Are you going back to school for an architecture degree? If you want to gain some experience and then start getting a full job without the degree. My suggestion is don't bother. Your resume will get thrown away upon review when you have no related education background or long term work experience.
I'm not sure about the US but here in the UK some recent (in the chronology of creative industries) have always operated in a kind of apprenticeship model. Post production for film and TV is an area that the UK are pretty good at and a lot of senior staff worked their way up from running tapes around Soho to running projects that have won awards and are of cultural importance.
I've worked in architectural offices on merit, ability, subject knowledge and previous experience but my last position was in a firm that is in the press a lot but also very reliant on the kind of family, friends and pipeline of student acolytes who are cheap and free labour model. It just it makes it hard to work depending on organisational culture as it can be quite a paranoid and insecure workplace so you may not feel at home.
Likewise I've worked in firms that have hired me on a family/friends/I know someone model who've been supportive and fostered an excellent work culture.
General employment/Internship insight
Let me begin by saying that I am currently not in the architecture field. However, it has been my one desire since I was an adolescent to be an architect and work in this area. Financial hardships and a lot of bumps in the road, so to say, I have not yet accomplished that in any sense.
My question here is; do any of you think it would be possible for even remotely feasible for someone like me to get their foot in the door by doing a free, Shadow and program or internship with a firm or any practicing architect? That way I can get in to the field and get that experience like a degree would give you but deeper.
I ask this because I know a handful of people who have done this sort of thing and completely different fields. I would just like to know if it's a pipe dream or not. I Highly value any input and advice. Thank you for reading this.
Do not, under any circumstance, work for free. Ever. Not even a discussion item. Second, no. We're all so very busy that no-one has the time to teach fresh grads... let alone a full layman who rolled-out from under a bridge and decided they want to work in an arch office.
If you want exposure, then go work in a general contractor's office or take a arch tech diploma from a local college and get into a drafting/technologist role. That way you can actually provide a billable service to an office's clients.
I've heard of these shadowing things happening - but only because of a special relationship between the studio and the shadow.
In one case, the shadow was the son of a developer client - and the architects were more than happy to let the kid hang around the office to win more business from the dad down the line. Small price to pay for business development.
In another case, the shadow was a family friend of the principal who didn't mind the kid helping out in the office. After all, what harm can he do? Now, if he was actually doing work for free then he was effectively subsidizing the firm by out-competing a potential employee.
For an unpaid or low paid internship, it is possible but unlikely. Mostly has to be from networking. I don't know what you can really learn other than seeing people busy working in a typical office setting. You won't have actual responsibilities.
What is your plan after you shadowed the place? Are you going back to school for an architecture degree? If you want to gain some experience and then start getting a full job without the degree. My suggestion is don't bother. Your resume will get thrown away upon review when you have no related education background or long term work experience.
I'm not sure about the US but here in the UK some recent (in the chronology of creative industries) have always operated in a kind of apprenticeship model. Post production for film and TV is an area that the UK are pretty good at and a lot of senior staff worked their way up from running tapes around Soho to running projects that have won awards and are of cultural importance.
I've worked in architectural offices on merit, ability, subject knowledge and previous experience but my last position was in a firm that is in the press a lot but also very reliant on the kind of family, friends and pipeline of student acolytes who are cheap and free labour model. It just it makes it hard to work depending on organisational culture as it can be quite a paranoid and insecure workplace so you may not feel at home.
Likewise I've worked in firms that have hired me on a family/friends/I know someone model who've been supportive and fostered an excellent work culture.
My first design job, I got myself. It led to all of the others. I'm not an architect but it is a vocation I'm working towards.
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