very, very competitive salary and benefits. hours are pretty typical for a new york firm...which isn't particularly good. and the projects...well...they're SOM.
as i understand it london may not be there much longer or at least is not getting the support from the us offices that it needs to really go ahead. they pulled/fired the us partners due to screwing up financially last fall and is headed by a uk director who has been there almost since the start of the office in the early 90's. the primary design work [nato] is being done by chicago as some broadgate stuff.
its a bit too bad as there are some good folks there -- always the us offices go on again / off again with there committement to the place. chicago runs the london office now so if your not a uk/eu residence i am not certain london would be able to offer you a visa. i think they will still continue the planning design stuff out of uk. but generally it will be considered more as a project office -- taking up projects after other offices finished the design.
ny runs project as design studios then moves it to production studios [nj]. chicago runs project as studio projects where you work on them from start to finish. london tries unofficial to run projects with project architects in studios verses being tagged a designer, technicall person or a project manager.[the other som offices think the london practice of 'project architects' is crap -- how wrong they are!!]
2 years ago the working hours were very much like a uk practice -- most days end at 6 with some ot. benifits = to uk with regard to holidays, insurance, etc.
What about the projects in China. Are they done in NY?
What level of involvement can a person with 2 years of experience expect. Would it be more that drafting and 3 models?
ICE9
thank for your response. Do you think you could be more specific? I am trying to figure out what does a competitive salary (in architecture) means.
dont know about if china projects done in ny, most offices go for their own projects. do know chicago / san fran especially has lots of china projects.
2 years experience depends on your experience. if your comming from a small housing practice or a firm doing small rehab or commerical projects the thing you offer a place like skids is your conceptual knowlege of architecture as most of their projects are mega projects -- may take years to do. so with 2 years experience you will most likely still be considered an advanced entry level architect.
what you do is very much whats on the board and what team you work with. it really varies all across the possilbe realm and the needs of the day. if your on a project in later dd/cd phase expect more drafting. its out of your control where you go at the start -- in 6 months to a year or so you may have some abiliity to move in certain directions.
i dont know why anyone wants to work on china projects for the big firms as its a waste of energy [unless you are asian and long term want to relocate there] the big firms generally only barely do DD on projects then they are handed off locally. the are huge profits for the practices, you work like a dog with unreasonalbe deadlines and never have the chance to see the project through [paper architecture and your learning level not seeing construction is limited].
if you want to do china work, get connect to a practice that has a serious china office established and is making a strong committement to making an office there work. som is not that place and will split as fast as the wind blows or where ever the next wave occurs. they sort of say they have a hong kong office, but the miricles of technology, a room, fax and a couple of locals.
granted i am speaking from second hand knowledge, but i think it is safe to assume you could enter at a salary level between 50-55k w/ three years of experience (depending on the type of experience, as TED notes).
hours, i believe, would be 50+ a week.
i know people who work in both the chicago and ny office, and the only real caution i would extend is that they tend to hire and fire quite a bit. or fire people and fill the gaps with temps.
SOM working conditions
How is it to work for SOM
with:
2 Years out of Master in Architecture
3 years experience
Salary?
Benefits?
working hours?
interesting projects?
office? it does make a difference, like night and day.....
New York or London Offices
in new york:
very, very competitive salary and benefits. hours are pretty typical for a new york firm...which isn't particularly good. and the projects...well...they're SOM.
as i understand it london may not be there much longer or at least is not getting the support from the us offices that it needs to really go ahead. they pulled/fired the us partners due to screwing up financially last fall and is headed by a uk director who has been there almost since the start of the office in the early 90's. the primary design work [nato] is being done by chicago as some broadgate stuff.
its a bit too bad as there are some good folks there -- always the us offices go on again / off again with there committement to the place. chicago runs the london office now so if your not a uk/eu residence i am not certain london would be able to offer you a visa. i think they will still continue the planning design stuff out of uk. but generally it will be considered more as a project office -- taking up projects after other offices finished the design.
ny runs project as design studios then moves it to production studios [nj]. chicago runs project as studio projects where you work on them from start to finish. london tries unofficial to run projects with project architects in studios verses being tagged a designer, technicall person or a project manager.[the other som offices think the london practice of 'project architects' is crap -- how wrong they are!!]
2 years ago the working hours were very much like a uk practice -- most days end at 6 with some ot. benifits = to uk with regard to holidays, insurance, etc.
TED thanks for that great insight.
What about the projects in China. Are they done in NY?
What level of involvement can a person with 2 years of experience expect. Would it be more that drafting and 3 models?
ICE9
thank for your response. Do you think you could be more specific? I am trying to figure out what does a competitive salary (in architecture) means.
dont know about if china projects done in ny, most offices go for their own projects. do know chicago / san fran especially has lots of china projects.
2 years experience depends on your experience. if your comming from a small housing practice or a firm doing small rehab or commerical projects the thing you offer a place like skids is your conceptual knowlege of architecture as most of their projects are mega projects -- may take years to do. so with 2 years experience you will most likely still be considered an advanced entry level architect.
what you do is very much whats on the board and what team you work with. it really varies all across the possilbe realm and the needs of the day. if your on a project in later dd/cd phase expect more drafting. its out of your control where you go at the start -- in 6 months to a year or so you may have some abiliity to move in certain directions.
i dont know why anyone wants to work on china projects for the big firms as its a waste of energy [unless you are asian and long term want to relocate there] the big firms generally only barely do DD on projects then they are handed off locally. the are huge profits for the practices, you work like a dog with unreasonalbe deadlines and never have the chance to see the project through [paper architecture and your learning level not seeing construction is limited].
if you want to do china work, get connect to a practice that has a serious china office established and is making a strong committement to making an office there work. som is not that place and will split as fast as the wind blows or where ever the next wave occurs. they sort of say they have a hong kong office, but the miricles of technology, a room, fax and a couple of locals.
ds,
granted i am speaking from second hand knowledge, but i think it is safe to assume you could enter at a salary level between 50-55k w/ three years of experience (depending on the type of experience, as TED notes).
hours, i believe, would be 50+ a week.
i know people who work in both the chicago and ny office, and the only real caution i would extend is that they tend to hire and fire quite a bit. or fire people and fill the gaps with temps.
thanks ICE 9,
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