Get a tetnus shot before doing this.

Expect disappointment. Especially with that approach.

I'm actually curious to see what some people will say.  I found my first work experience after graduation with this approach.  My subsequent positions were always networked.  But the first time around, I had my portfolio and resume in hand, and approached the firms that I was interested in.  Perhaps I just got lucky.  It was a better economy back then.

Depends on a lot of things. Mainly: Where you are, which firm you're applying to, and who you are.

I know someone who landed a job at OMA Rotterdam using the approach you mentioned. So it's not impossible. Just be prepared as others have already noted, that it could prove difficult in the current economic climate.

Best of luck.

Some firms will find your planned approach to be presumptuous - like you expect them to just drop what they're doing so they can meet with you. To some, 'drop-ins' feel a lot like those awful telemarketing calls that occur at dinner time. You might get lucky, but just be prepared for a lot of disappointment and a certain amount of hostility.

Agree it could backfire. I did this very thing to get my first job though, as a student intern. The guy who owned the firm was a friend of a friend, so I introduced myself as an architecture student (he laughed) and told him I wanted to know more about what it is like to work in a firm. I did NOT ask for a job ouright. He was a wee bit annoyed at first, but then started showing me around and then let me hang around the office for an hour or two, then he told me I could come back tomorrow to start work! Please be very respectful if you do this, it can be very annoying!

i'll go on record, again, and say that as a small firm owner, there's no way i would take kindly to being solicited in the manner you've described. 

firm owners, of all stripes, are incredibly busy right now - what you have to understand is that your approach assumes that they have the ability to drop whatever they're doing to accommodate YOU and your desire for a job. even someone like me, who's generally nice enough that i'd be polite if you showed up at my door, is going to have their patience tested by random drop ins.

now, if you want to drop material off, that's fine. just leave it with the person up front. but if you 'expect' an interview on the spot, you'll largely (99 times out of 100) be sorely disappointed.

finally, it's just plain unprofessional. i mean, come on....

I did the same thing for my first job... except I called in the morning of and asked if it was okay for me to come by and drop off my resume around 2. It turns out they were hiring at the time although it wasn't advertised, so someone met me at the door. We didn't have an interview but a 5 minute chat. Then I got called for an interview the very next morning and eventually got the job.

I didn't meet the principle until the 2nd interview by the way, and this is a very small firm. It's just a matter of organization I guess.

finally, it's just plain unprofessional. i mean, come on....

I don't know, is it?  I've had some pretty welcoming responses with the drop in.  Most of them were a bit cold, but there was a small percentage that actually took interest.  It didn't take me long to find my first job this way.  I think it's a matter of opinion, and obviously location.

I think it depends a lot on the firm. This approach wouldn't work at my current firm (50 person firm, HR department, etc.); too many layers to get through to talk to a principal. However I think a number of small firm principals might be open to this approach - probably firms of the more academic or design-y types. I'm not a principal, but if I were and I had an opening in my schedule, I would probably talk to you. I consider it a part of mentorship, and who know? Maybe you are good.

It depends on where you are. Where I am at, no one takes kindly to this at all.

The only other place I've dropped in randomly was about a dozen firms in New York. I'd say 10 out of the 12 wanted nothing to do with me until I just told them that I had no intentions of soliciting employment and that I just wanted to look at their office layout. Pretty much all the firms except 1 let me take a few laps around their office, peek into a few things and I didn't even really bother to make small talk to everyone as they seemed all tense, pensive and overtly intellectual.

One firm's principal took me on a personal tour and showed me all 6 rooms of the office and even let me use the bathroom. I got a preview of the project they were working on and asked me if I could read the plans and what was what. I think I got a business card out of it but I lost it along with about 40 bucks.

I really wanted to see the interior of Snohetta (never got an email back) because I hear their office culture is really cool. The security people at the Hearst Tower wouldn't even let me past the door... so, I was unable to "drop in" to Fosters + Partners.

r+r - do you think it's professional to just 'drop in' on prospective clients, who don't know that they're prospective clients, and 'demand' their time to see you and potentially hire you? didn't think so.

schedule something first - it can't go wrong. dropping in can. 

I'm not proposing any such thing GW.  What about leaving your resume with the secratary?  Do you still consider that a cardinal sin?

if you read my post, of course not. 

Follow up with us, on how this goes.

I wanted to know more about this too. Perhaps it may due to my own experiences (got a job in my library - and I am a bookworm - this way) and friends in the smaller city of San Luis Obispo during college, but once I got back to San Francisco, my friends and family from my Asian community all looked at me weird when I say I just plan to walk-in. Now as I read this, I think they all mistaken it as drop-in-interview when I mean drop-in-my-resume-and-a-very-concise-worksample-sheet.

Would love to hear more from the people in the big cities about their own experiences or thought, especially in this economy.

I have emailed like 100 firms and only 2 emails back.  I dropped in a few places as well and they did seem a bit pissed off.  However, I need to eat, so I am going to continue to show up uninvited until I get lucky.  In highschool I had a friend that tried to hook up with every girl he met, and although his methods may have been sleezy, and he got rejected alot, he got laid more than me overall.  It's time to get sleezy!!!

my guess, people are either not hiring or they are swamped with work on a skeleton crew and would not appreciate the visit.  I did drop off 30 somethin resumes personally 7 years ago without the expectation that anyone would sit down and talk with me.   I'd walk in, say hello, is there someone I can leave my resume with, and the secretary would typically take it.  and i'd say something lame like, cool office in hopes that it would start some kind of conversation.  (this was my third year in school)  i never spoke with anyone, but i got a job. (half the secretaries were intimidatingly attractive, i barely made it up the desk) 

Expect to be refered to as a moron if you really think that's going to work.

I think if you approach this as you are dropping off your resume and a small sample of your portfolio, it could potentially lead to an interview down the line if you follow up with a phone call in a week or so if no one gets back to you.

I wouldnt expect an interview on the spot though, as any firm that would be in a position to hire right now most likely wont be able to on the spur of the moment stop and interview you.  Sure, there are probably times during the day that their schedule would allow it, but you are leaving a lot to chance to expect it to be when you decide to show up.

I dont know if i would consider it an unprofessional approach as long as you dont walk in demanding to meet with the principal.  You probably have more of a chance of your resume being looked at this way than through a random email or mailing.  If nothing else, you know there is a decent chance the secretary will walk whatever material you drop off back to the person in charge.  Whether he looks at is another thing, but at least it will be there for him, and he will be told that you came in.

Cant hurt