Ok, i've just got to vent for a moment. i do a lot of the recruitment for my firm and i just don't understand the ineptitude of some people who come looking for a job ... for example:
i interviewed a candidate today who brought a killer portfolio ... but about the worst communication skills i've ever seen ... couldn't put together a coherent sentence with a saw and a hammer ... how's this going to work when we get to the studio ?
i interviewed a candidate last week who we're really interested in pursuing ... we asked for a list of references ... we got a list of people's names without any contact information whatsoever ... so, we're suppose to look them up in the phone book ?
am i missing something here ... when we interview with prospective clients looking for a new project, we try to make it easy for them to know what we're all about and how to check up on us
does anybody else out there experience much of this ?
Dude...what kind of Architecture if your firm producing....Visual or just alot of noise, that looks like everyone elses Architecture. I would think
you would want to take a guy who has indicated the ability to design and say ya we can work on those communication skills. I think if you
choose to hire the verbal gymnast, then you might have one hell of a time teaching him to design...or be it her.
Design has a lot to do with verbal communication. The things comb mentioned are in fact unacceptable. I think there are plenty of well rounded individuals out there, hire them.
strawbeary got it right ... we don't expect everybody to be "verbal gymnasts" but, since we do have a highly collaborative practice, we spend a lot of time working together in the studio -- people with extremely poor verbal skills have a hard time contributing to the way we work
my post was mostly an expression of frustration -- nevertheless, we're going to make an effort to hire this young person because we appreciate the inherent talent we see there, but we're greatly concerned about the ability to contribute over time if the language skills don't make a significant improvement
we have similar concerns with candidates who come to the office with "english as a second language" issues -- we've hired a significant number of such candidates over the years and have found that those who continue to work on their language skills can grow within our studio structure to become project architects and project managers -- those who don't work on their language skills (despite our encouragement) tend to fall behind because they can't communicate well enough verbally to manage clients, consultants, contractors, team members, etc.
Believe me, you'd prefer a man that is slightly better in communication than in design. No one at our firm works alone, usually as a team. I've worked with a guy that had poor language skills. Frustrated him, frustrated us. Took twice as long for him to explain the design and in the end he could never explain all the particulars. You could tell he was a smart guy, but he could never translate all the thought that went into his work.
I wouldn't rely on the portfolio text to see if he's a good communicator. Those things can often be written and re-written and passed through many proof-readers.
In the poor guy's defence, just because he's not strong in the english language doesn't mean he isn't a good worker. However, I have some friends who are in the same situation. When they get interviews they'll have our friends quiz and mock interview to death to improve on language. Poor guy should have prepared more.
: i know many architects who are both strong designers and articulate -- your post seems to assume the two skills are mutually exclusive -- they're not -- in my experience, strong designers who also can sell a concept tend to be the most successful over time, however you define success
Interview skills ...
Ok, i've just got to vent for a moment. i do a lot of the recruitment for my firm and i just don't understand the ineptitude of some people who come looking for a job ... for example:
i interviewed a candidate today who brought a killer portfolio ... but about the worst communication skills i've ever seen ... couldn't put together a coherent sentence with a saw and a hammer ... how's this going to work when we get to the studio ?
i interviewed a candidate last week who we're really interested in pursuing ... we asked for a list of references ... we got a list of people's names without any contact information whatsoever ... so, we're suppose to look them up in the phone book ?
am i missing something here ... when we interview with prospective clients looking for a new project, we try to make it easy for them to know what we're all about and how to check up on us
does anybody else out there experience much of this ?
so i guess im not gonna get the job then???
didn't the portfolio include verbal (text) portions? maybe that candidate communicates best in writing, rather than vocally?
Dude...what kind of Architecture if your firm producing....Visual or just alot of noise, that looks like everyone elses Architecture. I would think
you would want to take a guy who has indicated the ability to design and say ya we can work on those communication skills. I think if you
choose to hire the verbal gymnast, then you might have one hell of a time teaching him to design...or be it her.
Design has a lot to do with verbal communication. The things comb mentioned are in fact unacceptable. I think there are plenty of well rounded individuals out there, hire them.
strawbeary got it right ... we don't expect everybody to be "verbal gymnasts" but, since we do have a highly collaborative practice, we spend a lot of time working together in the studio -- people with extremely poor verbal skills have a hard time contributing to the way we work
my post was mostly an expression of frustration -- nevertheless, we're going to make an effort to hire this young person because we appreciate the inherent talent we see there, but we're greatly concerned about the ability to contribute over time if the language skills don't make a significant improvement
we have similar concerns with candidates who come to the office with "english as a second language" issues -- we've hired a significant number of such candidates over the years and have found that those who continue to work on their language skills can grow within our studio structure to become project architects and project managers -- those who don't work on their language skills (despite our encouragement) tend to fall behind because they can't communicate well enough verbally to manage clients, consultants, contractors, team members, etc.
Believe me, you'd prefer a man that is slightly better in communication than in design. No one at our firm works alone, usually as a team. I've worked with a guy that had poor language skills. Frustrated him, frustrated us. Took twice as long for him to explain the design and in the end he could never explain all the particulars. You could tell he was a smart guy, but he could never translate all the thought that went into his work.
I wouldn't rely on the portfolio text to see if he's a good communicator. Those things can often be written and re-written and passed through many proof-readers.
In the poor guy's defence, just because he's not strong in the english language doesn't mean he isn't a good worker. However, I have some friends who are in the same situation. When they get interviews they'll have our friends quiz and mock interview to death to improve on language. Poor guy should have prepared more.
: i know many architects who are both strong designers and articulate -- your post seems to assume the two skills are mutually exclusive -- they're not -- in my experience, strong designers who also can sell a concept tend to be the most successful over time, however you define success
Take the pebble, young grasshopper.
... i never said it was a "man"
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