Due to personal reasons, I will be moving to DC in about a year. I am currently working in Switzerland as a project manager (multi-family residential, competitions) in a well-respected local firm, and I have a total of 7 years of post-graduate experience, one of which was in a highly reputed firm in the United States.
I am aware that I am trying to break into a market where there are plenty of competitive candidates, and at my level of experience any other architect will have a great deal of local knowledge. I would like to know if anyone has any tips on what I could do during this year to make myself a more interesting cadidate. For the time being, I'm studying to get the LEED GA qualification, and researching local codes, the architectural culture, etc. All of which seems like not enough from my perspective.
If anybody here has any tips or pointers I would be extremely grateful, as I would really like to use this year to get ahead and find an opportunity in a similar role as my current one.
The LEED GA credential is a good way to get closer to the LEED AP credential, but even non-architects get that credential. So you really won’t be getting the “wows” you are expecting by getting the LEED GA.
Until you get the local knowledge and experience, brace yourself for a potentially rough transition. Someone like you might be hired to do renderings and graphics since you aren’t familiar with American Units and don’t know American codes and regulations. At some point you’ll get sick of doing that and start asking yourself why you aren’t making more money, but still not have committed yourself to actually staying in the US. You may find that this lack of commitment would be the reason for why you wouldn’t be interested in learning local codes and regulations, because why invest in something that is not applicable to where you would end up living in the future?
Competitions? Ha! Good luck with those here in the US. Very few compared to Europe.
I know this all might sound cynical, but I have met so many international folks with similar questions. The true money in the US is made in knowing about how to put a building together (“The American Way”) and how to navigate the permitting and entitlement process successfully in behalf of the client. Everything else can for the most part be outsourced cheaply to China.
Thank you, BulgarBlogger, for your honest input. While I have some construction administration experience, it is true that most of my experience,. especially as a project leader, is limited to the earlier phases. Do you think big firms like SOM or BBB or the likes could maybe have some space for a transitional, design architect role? Just to know if it's completely unheard of or if there is some wiggle room.
Oct 13, 24 4:26 pm ·
·
pj_heavy
Gonzalo, design architect route is possible but it would depend on what type and the calibre of projects you have worked before. Ex-colleagues of mine moved from Southern hemisphere to a multi office firm based in Austin ( this firm is actually on hiring spree on Archinect, recently ). Get your foot in the door first , G luck
Thank you for your help! I am definitely using this as an opportunity to scale up a notch, from midsize to maybe a bit larger. It's what we're currently doing at my firm, so for me there would be some continuity in my goals. Thanks for your tips!
i actually think you should be able to secure a job fairly smoothly. With +- 7 years of experience you'd be filling an early to mid career role which isn't the same as the later stage "putting a building together" crowd.
if you have a good design portfolio at solid firms (as you've indicated), are good natured, and can communicate your experience and design thinking I think you should be able to get hired by a cool firm in the DC area.
I could see it being easier to join a larger corporate office since they often rely more on design skills and portfolio. Smaller "boutique" firms might need you to be more well rounded. But the through-line is that any firm wants smart, resourceful people, that can be easily taught and good a thorough job.
That's uplifting! So far the main obstacle that I see is that the number of firms which could be interested in an interntional profile like mine isn't huge in DC. When I was looking in New York after my master's there were hundreds of good firms to choose from; DC seems much more challenging...
Get familiar with the imperial system and polish your Revit skills, look at building systems in the US, steel and wood framing. I don't know if it's pertinent, but I see a lot of people trying to integrate AI into their conceptual designs, could be a niche.
Good to know that Revit is the prefered BIM tool. In Switzerland most firms are into ArchiCAD but luckily I use Revit daily.As for the Imperial system, I'm a bit rusty on it it's true.
There are tools for converting between metric and imperial. I've worked with both units albeit more in Imperial but it is okay if you are a little slower at real-time off the cuff converting between units. Americans are the same way with metric. Okay. When you set the BIM software units, just select the units and use the instructed dimensions provided to you by your higher-up in the meantime. They say room needs to be 15'-6" x 20'-7 1/2" then they mean room is a rectangle. The narrow dimension being 15 ft 6 inches. The other dimension being 20 ft. and 7.5 inches. 1/2 usually with a space or written in a fraction with a diagonal line between numerator and denominator or any variation of that. You've seen it, I'm sure. The software lets you enter dimensions in these manner by keyboard. If you are in Imperial Units.... a ' means feet and " means inches. In Metric, you probably just use decimals. Converting metric to Feet/Inches/fractions_of_an_inch can be a pain ordinary calculators so it is worth it to have a software converter tool that does this and speeds up the task and works in both directions between Metric and Imperial.
These above are small and less important things to your career, professionally, which others had already touched on so no need to repeat what they covered. Just pointing to something that might be worth it.
My condolences on your loss. Remember, it will get a hole lot worse come November when the inevitable happens.
Oct 14, 24 3:49 pm ·
·
Non Sequitur
Hey Benny, the us is a shit hole filled with racist jesus loving gun cunts. Take off the bald eagle adorned rose glasses. Your home is not a place to be proud off.
We did fine but keep reeling in the past glory. It is literally all you have to boast about.
Nov 14, 24 9:35 am ·
·
Wood Guy
This may be the first thing you've written that I fully agree with: "Saying Switzerland is better then the USA is like saying Michelle Obama is better looking then Biden."
I have received many notifications from Archinect saying that there were replies to my post - asking for help with a challenging move abroad - and I was hoping it would be something helpful or interesting and not a discharge of verbal diarrhea like the posts above. Please take your beef elsewhere if you have nothing to add.
Nov 14, 24 11:51 am ·
·
Non Sequitur
Must be your first time on the internet then. Please note that you'll face much worse once you move to trumpistan. Hopefully you don't mind the company of racist religious fanatics packing heat while shopping for in wallmart.
Nov 14, 24 12:21 pm ·
·
OddArchitect
Gonzalo - I understand your frustrations with this. I do think this thread is a good depiction of the types of opinions you're going to encounter in the US. These opinions permeate the culture here and will most certainly impact the process of you moving here. Realistically you're going need to hire a lawyer to ensure you don't have major issues when moving to the US.
Have you considered doing an L1 transfer from the Swiss HQ to an American office? HdeM has an office in NYC that handles American work.
As others have pointed out, it is a bit odd seeing someone cross the Atlantic the other way - so many young architects here would kill for an opportunity to work for an European starchitect. All the best!
Fortunately my experience in Switzerland wasn't with a starchitect; I've had that experience in the US and it was great, but at my current firm I've gotten a degree of responsibility that would have been a lot more difficult to obtain in that kind of context.
I know it's not the most common of moves but I'm excited about the DC architectural scene. Changing jobs now isn't a possiblity for me so I'm stuck with making the move with a new job, as sweet as it would be to work for HdeM. I really admire their work...
A few things that you'll find that differ between European and US architectural practice. I'm using the erm Europe to mean your general area around Switzerland.
Proposals.
In the US you apply for work by showing your qualifications. You are not paid for this. It's part of the cost of doing business. The use of design competitions to obtain work is very rare in the US.
Design Constraints
The vast majority of US architecture is highly dependent on the 'return on the investment' style of decision making. If it's not going make the client money or save the client money then most clients aren't interested in doing it.
Design Culture
Due to the first two items the culture of architecture can be different between the US and Europe. You're going to find a less 'artist dedicated to their craft' and more 'it's a job' in the US. Don't get me wrong - the US still has some great design culture. It's just not as wide spread as in Europe.
Certifications / Licensure
In the US various certifications and licensure are not as important as what you can do. Sure being licensed is important. If you don't have the skills to do good design then it won't get you far. The opposite is also true.
Schedules
The design and construction schedules in the US are on average 30% shorter than in Europe.
Pay
You can expect to paid about 12-16% more in the US than Europe. The thing to remember is that in the US you pay for your own health insurance. Pay can vary widely throughout the US. The cost of living can also vary widely. For example: where I reside has a cost of living 40% lower than DC.
The vast majority of US architecture is highly dependent on the 'return on the investment' style of decision making. If it's not going make the client money or save the client money then most clients aren't interested in doing it.
Americans and American clients are kind of like Ferengi race if you watched Star Trek The Next Generation and later series. Well to some degree. We are money driven soul-less non-culture people. We don't have cultural history unless that's just being a xenophobic abomination. Go figure.
Actually we do have but its almost all imported culture not much original but that's to expect for a nation of immigrants. Even the indigenous is technically immigrants but from a farther back time frame. Humans didn't begin on the North and South American continent as a species. Humans are an invasive species in this hemisphere.
Nov 15, 24 12:14 am ·
·
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.
Tips to move to the United States
Hi everyone,
Due to personal reasons, I will be moving to DC in about a year. I am currently working in Switzerland as a project manager (multi-family residential, competitions) in a well-respected local firm, and I have a total of 7 years of post-graduate experience, one of which was in a highly reputed firm in the United States.
I am aware that I am trying to break into a market where there are plenty of competitive candidates, and at my level of experience any other architect will have a great deal of local knowledge. I would like to know if anyone has any tips on what I could do during this year to make myself a more interesting cadidate. For the time being, I'm studying to get the LEED GA qualification, and researching local codes, the architectural culture, etc. All of which seems like not enough from my perspective.
If anybody here has any tips or pointers I would be extremely grateful, as I would really like to use this year to get ahead and find an opportunity in a similar role as my current one.
With many thanks,
Gonzalo
The LEED GA credential is a good way to get closer to the LEED AP credential, but even non-architects get that credential. So you really won’t be getting the “wows” you are expecting by getting the LEED GA.
Until you get the local knowledge and experience, brace yourself for a potentially rough transition. Someone like you might be hired to do renderings and graphics since you aren’t familiar with American Units and don’t know American codes and regulations. At some point you’ll get sick of doing that and start asking yourself why you aren’t making more money, but still not have committed yourself to actually staying in the US. You may find that this lack of commitment would be the reason for why you wouldn’t be interested in learning local codes and regulations, because why invest in something that is not applicable to where you would end up living in the future?
Competitions? Ha! Good luck with those here in the US. Very few compared to Europe.
I know this all might sound cynical, but I have met so many international folks with similar questions. The true money in the US is made in knowing about how to put a building together (“The American Way”) and how to navigate the permitting and entitlement process successfully in behalf of the client. Everything else can for the most part be outsourced cheaply to China.
Thank you, BulgarBlogger, for your honest input. While I have some construction administration experience, it is true that most of my experience,. especially as a project leader, is limited to the earlier phases. Do you think big firms like SOM or BBB or the likes could maybe have some space for a transitional, design architect role? Just to know if it's completely unheard of or if there is some wiggle room.
Gonzalo, design architect route is possible but it would depend on what type and the calibre of projects you have worked before. Ex-colleagues of mine moved from Southern hemisphere to a multi office firm based in Austin ( this firm is actually on hiring spree on Archinect, recently ). Get your foot in the door first , G luck
Thank you for your help! I am definitely using this as an opportunity to scale up a notch, from midsize to maybe a bit larger. It's what we're currently doing at my firm, so for me there would be some continuity in my goals. Thanks for your tips!
i actually think you should be able to secure a job fairly smoothly. With +- 7 years of experience you'd be filling an early to mid career role which isn't the same as the later stage "putting a building together" crowd.
if you have a good design portfolio at solid firms (as you've indicated), are good natured, and can communicate your experience and design thinking I think you should be able to get hired by a cool firm in the DC area.
I could see it being easier to join a larger corporate office since they often rely more on design skills and portfolio. Smaller "boutique" firms might need you to be more well rounded. But the through-line is that any firm wants smart, resourceful people, that can be easily taught and good a thorough job.
That's uplifting! So far the main obstacle that I see is that the number of firms which could be interested in an interntional profile like mine isn't huge in DC. When I was looking in New York after my master's there were hundreds of good firms to choose from; DC seems much more challenging...
Get familiar with the imperial system and polish your Revit skills, look at building systems in the US, steel and wood framing. I don't know if it's pertinent, but I see a lot of people trying to integrate AI into their conceptual designs, could be a niche.
Good to know that Revit is the prefered BIM tool. In Switzerland most firms are into ArchiCAD but luckily I use Revit daily.As for the Imperial system, I'm a bit rusty on it it's true.
have you looked at the jobs section? https://archinect.com/jobs/entry/150450085/design-technologies-bim-manager-100
I have, that would be a great transition but I'm only looking in the DC area...
There are tools for converting between metric and imperial. I've worked with both units albeit more in Imperial but it is okay if you are a little slower at real-time off the cuff converting between units. Americans are the same way with metric. Okay. When you set the BIM software units, just select the units and use the instructed dimensions provided to you by your higher-up in the meantime. They say room needs to be 15'-6" x 20'-7 1/2" then they mean room is a rectangle. The narrow dimension being 15 ft 6 inches. The other dimension being 20 ft. and 7.5 inches. 1/2 usually with a space or written in a fraction with a diagonal line between numerator and denominator or any variation of that. You've seen it, I'm sure. The software lets you enter dimensions in these manner by keyboard. If you are in Imperial Units.... a ' means feet and " means inches. In Metric, you probably just use decimals. Converting metric to Feet/Inches/fractions_of_an_inch can be a pain ordinary calculators so it is worth it to have a software converter tool that does this and speeds up the task and works in both directions between Metric and Imperial.
These above are small and less important things to your career, professionally, which others had already touched on so no need to repeat what they covered. Just pointing to something that might be worth it.
Make this your friend: https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/common/meters-to-feet-inches.php
...and if you can find an app for your smartphone that does this... get it. In time, it'll get easier.
Switzerland to USA? Talk about a downgrade.
Exactly...
Then why even bother?
I'm going to miss it, not gonna lie.
Family circumstances that I cannot circumvent.
My condolences on your loss. Remember, it will get a hole lot worse come November when the inevitable happens.
Hey Benny, the us is a shit hole filled with racist jesus loving gun cunts. Take off the bald eagle adorned rose glasses. Your home is not a place to be proud off.
Never too early to point out the obvious. How many kids will be shot today in your “great” country?
There is nothing to rub. We're light years ahead of you already so, try to catch up. Maybe kids 2 generations won't be so fucked up.
We did fine but keep reeling in the past glory. It is literally all you have to boast about.
This may be the first thing you've written that I fully agree with: "Saying Switzerland is better then the USA is like saying Michelle Obama is better looking then Biden."
I have received many notifications from Archinect saying that there were replies to my post - asking for help with a challenging move abroad - and I was hoping it would be something helpful or interesting and not a discharge of verbal diarrhea like the posts above. Please take your beef elsewhere if you have nothing to add.
Must be your first time on the internet then. Please note that you'll face much worse once you move to trumpistan. Hopefully you don't mind the company of racist religious fanatics packing heat while shopping for in wallmart.
Gonzalo - I understand your frustrations with this. I do think this thread is a good depiction of the types of opinions you're going to encounter in the US. These opinions permeate the culture here and will most certainly impact the process of you moving here. Realistically you're going need to hire a lawyer to ensure you don't have major issues when moving to the US.
interesting post.
I am on the opposite situation. USA >>> Switzerland
(Also from the DC area)
Let me know if you want to chat and we can exchange some info.
The only way USA is better than Switzerland is in school shootings.
Have you considered doing an L1 transfer from the Swiss HQ to an American office? HdeM has an office in NYC that handles American work.
As others have pointed out, it is a bit odd seeing someone cross the Atlantic the other way - so many young architects here would kill for an opportunity to work for an European starchitect. All the best!
Fortunately my experience in Switzerland wasn't with a starchitect; I've had that experience in the US and it was great, but at my current firm I've gotten a degree of responsibility that would have been a lot more difficult to obtain in that kind of context.
I know it's not the most common of moves but I'm excited about the DC architectural scene. Changing jobs now isn't a possiblity for me so I'm stuck with making the move with a new job, as sweet as it would be to work for HdeM. I really admire their work...
A few things that you'll find that differ between European and US architectural practice. I'm using the erm Europe to mean your general area around Switzerland.
Proposals.
In the US you apply for work by showing your qualifications. You are not paid for this. It's part of the cost of doing business. The use of design competitions to obtain work is very rare in the US.
Design Constraints
The vast majority of US architecture is highly dependent on the 'return on the investment' style of decision making. If it's not going make the client money or save the client money then most clients aren't interested in doing it.
Design Culture
Due to the first two items the culture of architecture can be different between the US and Europe. You're going to find a less 'artist dedicated to their craft' and more 'it's a job' in the US. Don't get me wrong - the US still has some great design culture. It's just not as wide spread as in Europe.
Certifications / Licensure
In the US various certifications and licensure are not as important as what you can do. Sure being licensed is important. If you don't have the skills to do good design then it won't get you far. The opposite is also true.
Schedules
The design and construction schedules in the US are on average 30% shorter than in Europe.
Pay
You can expect to paid about 12-16% more in the US than Europe. The thing to remember is that in the US you pay for your own health insurance. Pay can vary widely throughout the US. The cost of living can also vary widely. For example: where I reside has a cost of living 40% lower than DC.
Design Constraints
The vast majority of US architecture is highly dependent on the 'return on the investment' style of decision making. If it's not going make the client money or save the client money then most clients aren't interested in doing it.
Americans and American clients are kind of like Ferengi race if you watched Star Trek The Next Generation and later series. Well to some degree. We are money driven soul-less non-culture people. We don't have cultural history unless that's just being a xenophobic abomination. Go figure.
Actually we do have but its almost all imported culture not much original but that's to expect for a nation of immigrants. Even the indigenous is technically immigrants but from a farther back time frame. Humans didn't begin on the North and South American continent as a species. Humans are an invasive species in this hemisphere.
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.