hi guys, advise/outside perspective on my current situation is much appreciated!
i joined my current firm a year ago with 2 years of experience and 2 are tests + couple hundred axp hours to finish. in my interviews I was upfront about my desire to finish the licensing process within a year of being hired which they met with enthusiasm and i was told it was completely doable. the firm is 5 people total and after being hired it became clear that one member of the firm only works on the construction administration phase of projects (at the direction of the partners, this person has been there forever and prefers designing but isnt the strongest at it). since joining we have been light on built projects but heavy on design work. i started with about 200 hours of ca hours to go and was immediately involved with a 4 month construction that got about half of my hours done while i completed the last two tests. at the end of that project the principal in charge met with me and explained that the remainder of my hours + my license were top-priority but they needed me to do revit things full time in order to keep the construction admin person billable. fast forward to my year review and not much has changed: i was told they still need me focused on revit/design for billability and that the remainder of my construction hours likely wont be done for 4-6 months at the earliest, i was also given their standard yearly raise and was told i will have to continue to wait for the “architect” pay bump until the state recognizes me as an architect. i am trying to be understanding of the firm’s structure and current need but i cant help feeling unsupported and stuck with only 100 hours to finish until im licensed!
ask yourself this: what role/tasks do you expect to provide to this firm once you're licensed? If your day to day stays the same, then there is little advantage for this small firm to shift personnel around just to get you there. Could be that the office is struggling to keep up and they need production billing’s to keep the doors open. we certainly experience bouts like that from time to time
best to do is to offer to shadow CA for a few hours every other week and make up the time on your own so that the office is not at a loss. You’ll be able to make a dent in those last hours while waiting for things to turn around. Or you can push the CA staff down an empty elevator shaft
agreed, an even more transactional way of saying this is, you need X hours left of CA, they need 40 hours/week of billable time from you to clear profit, which for the time being doesn't look like CA work. Come to an agreement with the boss and CA guy where in 3 months they are comfortable signing off on your remaining CA hours. Get that agreement in writing.
The firm isn't big enough to have the financial and workload resources needed to meet your AXP needs in a timely manner. This is a very common reason for younger people to leave these smaller 3-5 person practices.
Your bosses may be just as frustrated as you are that they can't do what needs to be done for you. You do need to ask yourself (and probably your bosses) what the long term plans are for the business. Is there enough business growth (or older people leaving) in their future to meet your career and salary goals in the coming years?
thank you all for your insight! it sounds like its time to set up a meeting with the bossman about putting in some overtime to get this thing done asap… and if that doesn't work there’s always an empty elevator shaft somewhere ;)
iso early career advice!
hi guys, advise/outside perspective on my current situation is much appreciated!
i joined my current firm a year ago with 2 years of experience and 2 are tests + couple hundred axp hours to finish. in my interviews I was upfront about my desire to finish the licensing process within a year of being hired which they met with enthusiasm and i was told it was completely doable. the firm is 5 people total and after being hired it became clear that one member of the firm only works on the construction administration phase of projects (at the direction of the partners, this person has been there forever and prefers designing but isnt the strongest at it). since joining we have been light on built projects but heavy on design work. i started with about 200 hours of ca hours to go and was immediately involved with a 4 month construction that got about half of my hours done while i completed the last two tests. at the end of that project the principal in charge met with me and explained that the remainder of my hours + my license were top-priority but they needed me to do revit things full time in order to keep the construction admin person billable. fast forward to my year review and not much has changed: i was told they still need me focused on revit/design for billability and that the remainder of my construction hours likely wont be done for 4-6 months at the earliest, i was also given their standard yearly raise and was told i will have to continue to wait for the “architect” pay bump until the state recognizes me as an architect. i am trying to be understanding of the firm’s structure and current need but i cant help feeling unsupported and stuck with only 100 hours to finish until im licensed!
ask yourself this: what role/tasks do you expect to provide to this firm once you're licensed? If your day to day stays the same, then there is little advantage for this small firm to shift personnel around just to get you there. Could be that the office is struggling to keep up and they need production billing’s to keep the doors open. we certainly experience bouts like that from time to time
best to do is to offer to shadow CA for a few hours every other week and make up the time on your own so that the office is not at a loss. You’ll be able to make a dent in those last hours while waiting for things to turn around. Or you can push the CA staff down an empty elevator shaft
agreed, an even more transactional way of saying this is, you need X hours left of CA, they need 40 hours/week of billable time from you to clear profit, which for the time being doesn't look like CA work. Come to an agreement with the boss and CA guy where in 3 months they are comfortable signing off on your remaining CA hours. Get that agreement in writing.
The OP could also work paid overtime to get there CA hours and production hours in.
The firm isn't big enough to have the financial and workload resources needed to meet your AXP needs in a timely manner. This is a very common reason for younger people to leave these smaller 3-5 person practices.
Your bosses may be just as frustrated as you are that they can't do what needs to be done for you. You do need to ask yourself (and probably your bosses) what the long term plans are for the business. Is there enough business growth (or older people leaving) in their future to meet your career and salary goals in the coming years?
thank you all for your insight! it sounds like its time to set up a meeting with the bossman about putting in some overtime to get this thing done asap… and if that doesn't work there’s always an empty elevator shaft somewhere ;)
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