A few thoughts:

1. If you have the opportunity to see your current project through construction, you should definitely stick around for it. You will find a lot of people in this profession are (stuck) in a cycle of design and documentation but never get to see their own projects built (either because the projects are handed-off to someone else or the projects simply never get built.)

2. It's not uncommon for the "boss" to go to the meetings alone, with no explanation of why he isn't inviting you. Maybe someday we'll collectively understand this phenomenon. Please recognize that meetings cost the firm money; the "boss" has to weigh how much will be gained from you sitting in the meeting. If you're participating/presenting/coordinating, then it's worth it to have you there. If you're just there to observe, the educational value of the meeting may be harder to justify.

3. 10 months out of school seems slightly too soon to be getting anxious. One year is generally the absolute least amount of time you should stay at a firm without being considered a job-hopper. Any longer will only help your resume this early in your career.

4. It sounds like your low income housing project is helping the greater good, which is admirable in this profession. How much will you be able to push the envelope for your next project? Are your PM and clients willing to pursue good design on a budget? Better detailing may not increase the cost of your project.

Good luck.

Whatever you do, I'd stick it out until your current project is built (assuming you will have a role in construction administration). Not only will it help avoid the possibility of burning bridges with your current firm, having that sort of experience will be a huge boost if/when it comes time to look for greener pastures. "High end design" doesn't count for squat if you don't know how to get it built.

Yeah, what DCA said.

uh, 10 months out and you've managed to somehow tackle CD's?? wow, perhaps you could learn me some o' that, i am 10 years out and still find that CD's are perplexing....

I'm envious that it looks like he'll be doing some CA work so soon in his career. I can usually do CD's blindfolded, but I had about 8 years experience before I did any CA work.

CA is intimidating as hell, and can be very stressful, but is also a huge learning experience. Once you've done CA on a couple projects and learn where all the mistakes in your CD's are (trust me, the contractor will be happy to point them out to you), you'll find that your design and documentation becomes much better on future projects.

thanks DCA and LIG great feedback

I definately dont want to be to hasty at this point if i did leave it wouldnt be for a couple of months at least

Beta I have to say i couldnt put together a CD set alone at this point yet ..I mean I could but not as efficiently as with my PM... decisions like what to work on next would be the most difficult for me. The detailing and thoroughness is what im good at with the occasional miss on a page or two when something else on another changes. Also figuring out what notes need ot be added so they can bid the project properly is pretty tough.

There intoroducing me to some of the shop dwgs on another project soon one that my PM worked on and then I will be doing them for the project im working on now.

By CA-Construction Administration you mean shop drawings right?

I know the Accessibility handbook pretty well

but i know very little about Zoning and the Building Code because my PM usually works on that. Hes very good at informing me on certain things when im at his desk about zoning and building code but alot of it he does on his own

CA is a lot more than just shop drawings. It's also working out kinks in the CDs, cross discipline clarifications and/or corrections for the contractor, issuing RFIs, Addendums, Bulletins, shop drawings, construction meetings, etc.

I find CA to be extremely rewarding because you learn more from your CD set. You learn what drawings work and which drawings fail. You begin to see you 2d drawings take a 3d form. You learn that CA can be a smooth process with excellent drawings or a bumpy ride with mediocre drawings. I think it's better to get involved in CA as early in your career as possible. You'll learn from your mistakes and continually improve as you continue with your career.

You say you got into architecture for high end design. I assume from this that you have talent and creative ideas, these are not going to go away. You probably learned most of what can be taught about design in school. You need life experience to design succesfull, functional buildings.

You probably did not learn how buildings are built in school. I would spend a considerable amount of time learning how to construct different types of buildings. One set of CD's on one type of building is barely scratching the surface. Your worth will be much more later on when you can combine your artistic gifts with the learned technical knowledge.

As far as client contact, DCA mentioned its not profitable or smart to introduce a novice to clients in most cases. You will be asked lots of questions about how this building is going to be built, how much its going to cost, and how fast can you get under construction. You most likely don't know these things. Sure customers like to hear creative ideas, but most are more concerned with the basics like budget.

All very good advice so far. And I second (third?) that oyu are lucky to get CA experience so early - I was one who didn't see anything built for several eyars after I had been out of school. Often we'd even get through CD's and still the project would be shelved before ground breaking - so frustrating.

So that said: try to make sure you will be able to play an active role in CA. it sounds like your PM is going to a lot of meetings without you; it would be good for you to be able to go to all/most of the site visits with him and see what kinds of things he has to deal with on site. It may be good to have a sit-down with him and explain that you are very, very eager to see this project through to the end, and being involved in every site visit is important to that.

That experience will serve you very well when you later make the move to a more design-oriented firm.

You have many, many years to continue learning and it sounds like you are in a good place to maximize some nitty-gritty experience right now. Good luck!

Outthere: Firms need to keep their employees productive, so only the project manager and/or the lead architect will typically attend project meetings with clients. Beyond internal coordination meetings, the various architectural team members don't need to attend meetings; it's not cost-effective use of manpower if it's not required to move the project forward. The firm's first priority isn't their junior staff's personal development; it's getting the project out the door within the manpower budget allocation. As an owner-representative, I don't expect to meet with entire design team - I see it as inefficient use of manpower and firm's fee budget. Inexperienced staff, when "allowed" to attend client meetings, are there only for back-up support and tend to embarass themselves and firm when they speak out of turn without full knowledge of project. Just "trouble".

You're still very inexperienced despite your recent experience preparing construction documents. Is this project a wood frame building, or more complicated? And let's be honest, are you really organizing the construction documents, identify which drawings need to be prepared, in what order, and what they should contain? Or have you become proficient in picking up redlines?

I think you should continue to work quietly and absorb all information buzzing around you. By your own description, you're still very green. Don't worry; experience takes time - literally.

CW. This project is alot more complicated than wood frame and I am definately way more advanced than just picking up redlines. I know im still wet behind the ears but I know a decent amount of what needs to be on what drawing and why.

Like i was saying in my second post deciding on the order of which the drawings are produced would be difficult for me and if i did it on my own it would most likely be really inefficient.

Thanks everyone for the advise, all good stuff. It definately changes my perception on the situation.

T.

Outthere, problem with architectural profession is that career advancement is extremely slow. Sometimes it may feel that your career is stagnant, and sometimes it feels you've great progress by getting some recognition by firm. Either situation may be misleading. Early recognition often means you've been narrowly slotted into a single role ("illustrator/presentation guy", "code girl", "PM/paper manager" because any early skill gets over emphasized to detriment of your overall development. You need to monitor your assignments closely, so you don't get labelled "worker-bee" with no consideration of advancement goals,

Architectural services are relatively limited to building "design" and (semi-coordinated) construction documents, without true responsibility for construction adminstration, construction budget/value-engineering, and other "big ticket" services. Architectural fees may be limited to 4% or 5% of construction costs. Developer takes a 8% to 10% project management fee of much bigger project budget. Contractor typically gets a 7% to 10% construction management fee based on construction budget, plus extras. Real estate broker gets a 6% sales commission upon sale at "development price" (which is far greater than "construction price"). You see how architect's services are undervalued?

A firm is trying to squeeze a profit from an arbritrary fee calculation, without ability to foresee how project will unfold, how much labor is truly needed to "complete" fee scope, and whether project will price first time to client's supposed budget. Often architect needs to meet a "budget" for which architect has little ability to influence beyond his assumptions based upon Means and recent pricing experience on other jobs, and yet at risk for "making budget". Architect also has significant liability exposure for errors in field, whether or not tied to specific information shown on his (never fully coordinated) construction drawings.

These business parameters result in relatively low salaries and relatively slow career advancement for architects at firms, and consequently significant career frustration - whether for young staffers or for middle-aged architects with years of experience.

A "hot shot" young architect may feel valued for his design skills, but reality is that job marketplace is filled with young architects with strong design portfolios. Most principals insist upon control of design. A "hot" design staffer is often just a principal's "pencil", following close instruction and struggling to meet those design expectations. Same guy often has no exposure to other components of practice, which stifles his opportunity/courage to start his own firm.

You need to closely monitor your sense of career satisfaction, and act accordingly, in close relation to your financial responsibilities as (I'm assuming) a self-supporting adult w/ or w/o family obligations. And there many of us get trapped.

Lawyers are generally no more happier with their careers than archiects, but they usually have significantly greater salaries to quell their periodic concerns about overall job satisfaction.