i think it is important. your portfolio may show that you have skills on the computer but employers will be concerned at what specific program you have knowledge with in order to gauge how efficient you will be. vectorworks vs revit vs autocad can produce the same results but all operate very differently. some firms use only one and are less inclined to hire and train depending on how pressing time for a project they need help on at the moment.

i think the extraneous information on a resume are things like 'interests' and such...

hope this helps.. good luck!

They will pick through the resume to make sure you know autocad. The vast majority will not be impressed by your confidence that your design skills alone will land you a job- some may even assume that you are trying to avoid the issue because you do not have the computer skills expected. On the other hand, if you are dead set on landing a design-only job, and are willing to take as long as you need for the search, then this approach may pan out in the end. Just be sure you're up for the wait.

I would keep titles on, however. Some people actually work their way through school in a more serious manner, or take years off to work full-time, and keeping 'Intern' or 'Architectural Intern' on there makes your role clear in contrast to those people.

if you dont know 3d then your screwed

cryz, i know you've said that multiple times, but it's really not true. yes, if you want to land a design position, you're probably screwed, but in the offices i've worked in, 80% of the computer/cad work is plain ol' 2d drafting. most of these offices don't give a flip if you know 3d.

evanc, an employer wants to know about you. a resume is supposed to explain what skills you have to offer an employer, i.e. what software you know and your level of past office experience. leaving these things off only makes their job harder, and i guarantee these questions will come up in the interview. why leave it off the resume? do you have something to hide?

evanc - I agree with leaving job titles off. Each firm has their own roster of titles and saying you were "X" title at X-firm probably doesn't mean much of anything to another firm, especially at entry level.

As for the software thing, that depends. There are firms that are just looking for a cad monkey for certain software packages. Do you really want to work there if that's all they see in you? I'd say you should be fine just listing something like "CAD Experience (2d & 3d)." Most employers know that fresh grads these days are usually higly skilled in numerous software platforms and more adaptable to different software than the old timer that still uses Autocad R14.

thats aright, jafidler. i know a few people who never use or give a shite about 3d (they hire someone out of office for that), but would think a few times about hiring someone who couldn't do cad (autocad or VW).

lack of cad on resume would mean you don't know how to do it, to me. unless you have 10 years experience and then i might not care. DO you?

i would not assume you got the skills just cuz your portfolio seems to show it. unless you include CD sets you have worked on maybe.

as for being hired as a designer without much experience and without any intention of being a cad person...hmmm...i don't know anyone who would do that. i wouldn't. sorry. unless you mean something by the word designer than i am thinking of (to me a designer needs to know a LOT of technical, legal, admin and other shtuff, and be ready to run a job all by his/her-self)...

anyway, i have been around for a few years now but still put cad on my resume... the way i get around putting a stupid-long list of software is to just say i am proficient in 3d and cad without getting nitpicky. if i were looking for a job right now i would likely change the bit where it says what software i can use to match the requirements for the job (i would make a unique resume and cover letter for each job i apply for)...if it is a concern for you that might be an easy way to keep from emphasizing too much your tech skills without seeming to be un-skilled labor.

best advice... be honest . don't try to pad your resume too much or make it seem like you can do more than you can. it tends to show more than you might think...

: i understand your reluctance to expose yourself to typecasting. however, a resume simply is a summary of one's education, professional history, and job qualifications. as such, you need to accurately reflect what you have done and what you know how to do. as someone who reads tons of resumes, the ones that are vague or seemingly incomplete are the ones that I'm reluctant to pursue.

what you want to achieve first is the opportunity to interview at firms where you think you might want to work. it's the actual interview itself that will help you steer yourself into a position that suits your needs and desires.

get yourself in the door -- then, use your interpersonal skills and your portfolio to position yourself for the type of position you really want. you also can help that along by a properly worded "objective" at the top of your resume and the way you write your cover letter.

good luck.

I always thought the "objective" line on a resume was a little cheesy and that it could be a good excuse for firms that don't see themselves as a hand-in-glove fit with your objectives to ignore you.

: that's my take as well and I rarely pay much attention to such lines ... but, in evanc's case, I think it better for him to list all the things he's reluctant to list in the body of the resume, then differentiate himself and identify his desires either through an "objectives" statement or through his cover letter.

i hear that jaf.....

i'm still waiting on my "offer" from the "firm" that called and said that they "needed" me me asap.... been about 1 month now and i havent heard back since i had to fill out all this paperwork...wtf...... even emailed and no replies....hmmm............ maybe they were just fishing for people...............

weird. give s.g. a call. she'll be very straight forward with what's going on. i think they are still hiring.

just to add that a statement would be better than a list of objectives.

you cant make it clear you do precision 3d design with out saying what you use to do it can you?

You don't need an "objective". You can get away with no job titles.

But you DO need to list your skills. Don't expect your portfolio to communicate this for you. Be aware that resumes are often screened initially by just one person in the office - and that it may be the receptionist, office manager, an intern, or a human resources person - not necessarily someone directly in a hiring position. If the first person doesn't see the bare minimums for the job there they may never forward it on to the people who do the interviewing and hiring (and this screener may have absolutely no ability or authority to judge design ability - they're usually just looking for a list of minimum qualifications - like a certain degree, # of years of experience, certain software, etc.).
Likewise, your portfolio may become separated from the resume after this first screening - or it may never get viewed at all if you're "weeded out" on the basis of the first cursory review of your resume. Also, if you send a portfolio along with your resume - whether digital or paper - it will often end up either filed away right away, or printed out and photocopied in part or in whole for everyone to whom viable candidates' materials are forwarded. This means that by the time some people see it it may be in the form of 3rd generation gray-tone xeroxes. Unless you're dead sure that your work is so clear and strong that it will convey your full skill set even in those circumstances then you should put your skills on the resume!

If you know 3d and 2d software (especially photoshop, indesign, and adobe Acrobat) put it on your resume. There is nothing to it. I even put down a previous job position that had nothing to do with architecture. The only reason I put it in is because I was there for 5-years which shows them loyalty and devotion to a job. Employers eat that up.

a few people have said this now, and i generally agree, but i think it is important to communicate what your responsibilities were in the offices you've worked at. there's a difference between doing CA and making coffee. a line explaining your role in the office, i.e. extensive construction document production work and some construction administration or something to that effect. if you don't want to go into that much detail, always include the number of idp credits you've completed. this will indicate how close you are to taking the ARE and becoming licensed. albeit most of this will be discussed in the interview, i believe a resume should fully speak to your skills and experience. be transparent about who you are.

you are correct in that your job titles prior to graduation will all tend to rhyme with "mintern" -- but i dunno, put it anyway, it's what people are used to seeing.

it is expected that your portfolio will show your general "design" skills as exemplified in your school projects. coming out of school, you're not expected to have produced anything of great value or importance to the front end of a "real-world" design process, so no, an employer's not going to look for "visual" evidence of your cad skills.

no. what they are going to look for, IF they're looking (you could be graduating into a recessionary labor environment, is that once you're plugged into a position, that you will be productive semi-immediately.

productive doing what? productive producing architecture, and many of the things you're going to be doing will seem to have little to do with "design." because no matter what a hotshot you might be with rhino or viz or whatever, sometimes, you're gonna get handed a set of redlines and told to fix them. sometimes (especially at first) you're going to be asked to make a physical model.

i'm really not trying to be sarcastic here. ask yourself how many entry-level graduates get positioned in high levels of design responsibility. the answer isn't exactly zero, because sometimes family connections play a role -- and a lot of graduates decide that they have the cash and talent to start their own firms straight out of school.

but in neither of those cases is talent an issue. make sure you let your employers know what skills you have -- and THEN let them know what INTERESTS you have. be aggressive about emphasizing in your resume and portfolio what you want to do. but if you don't say what you are ABLE to do, regardless of what it is, you won't even get called in for an interview.

the salad days of the late 90s - late 00s are over. maybe go a little easy about your graduation deadline, because in the words of william h macy, the fit is about to hit the shan.

thanks for all the great responses, everyone, even if these topics have been discussed before.

i realize that the us is about to plunge into a recession, so i hope that blows over by the time i graduate mid-2009. this is of course one of the reasons i'm starting to worry about the job hunt now. i had the misfortune of graduating undergrad in 2003 (mechanical engineering) and found a great job driving for a certain national pizza chain....

i'd like to think i'm in a somewhat unique position, as i'm currently taking a year off from my m.arch for an internship at a certain world-renowned firm, which will obviously go on the resume, but also will give me at least two projects to include as professional work. i definitely see myself applying to well known design-oriented firms once i do graduate, and i certainly wouldn't mind moving back to europe (especially if the us economy keeps tanking).

i don't want to sound arrogant and limit myself to only hot-shit firms, but i'm thinking that my career is going to end up in academia after a number of years in the real world, and i'd like to consciously steer myself, if not exactly in that direction, at least towards companies that are involved in critical architecture, art, theory, with a heavy emphasis on design.

so i guess in the end i want my portfolio and resume to project a "don't make me make any more foam models" vibe, and focus on experience and design skills, rather than specific programs, idp credits, etc...

even steven holl's gonna make you pump some cad...

unless you're applying to a university i think you're going to have to play by the same rules as everyone else, but maybe your situation is unique...

not to burst your bubble...but gosh if I had a dime for every architecture student I've ever heard say that...

as for IDP, more and more academic positions are requiring licensure, so it may not be a bad idea to take your first job out of school at a firm that can get you through the IDP requirements as expeditiously as possible.

It's hardly a unique situation to take a year off before or during your M.Arch to work for a name-brand firm. It's not at all unusual to see resumes from new grads that feature spectacular professional projects from one or more starchitect firms. I felt a little disappointed when I graduated and went on some interviews and one of the first questions in that situation was always "tell us about your role on that project." Truthfully most employers - stars or not - will perk up their ears more if you tell them about the construction drawing experience (and by association the construction knowledge) that you gained, and the management and coordination lessons you learned, than anything you might tell them about conceptual design on those projects.

I agree with 4arch about the increasing importance of a professional license as a credential for tenure-track positions in architecture programs - though you didn't actually say that's the field of academia you see yourself in...

I think it's good to know where you want to consciously steer yourself. But any "don't make me do that" vibe conveyed at the resume level is going to make it that much harder to get to the interview level. Go with a generalist, jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none approach on the resume and then do your steering subtly and agreeably at the interview table and more pointedly after you land the job and prove your immediate worth.

ah, i know a little more about the situation. hey, if you do want to jump back into academia...you've got the maturity to plan out your trajectory ahead of time, so good for you.

every office is different. but let's do a little thought experiment here.

i am john q starchitect with a firm of, say, seven people. i am swamped with work. lots of clients. and i have a position at a prestigious university and i lecture a lot and i travel some, too.

i need someone -- bad.

i get lots of resumes. lots of them. lots of portfolios. because of my name, and my university position, i get a lot of good people.

now, if you (evanc) are me (john q starchitect), am i going to hire someone based on their pedigree alone so that they can be the lead designer on my newest project? so that they can get on the escalator whereas even i had to take the stairs? do my clients come to ME to get MY "vision" when really what they want is YOU?

once again, i'm not trying to be sarcastic.

think about it: if an architect has more tasks than time, s/he is going to delegate those tasks s/he doesn't want to do. relatively few people get into architecture so that THEY can do the doorschedule while YOU design the building. and the kinds of architects you're wanting to work with, whatever you want to say about them...they didn't get where they are overnight and they worked their asses off in sweatshop-like conditions.

only philip johnson got to ride the escalator.

what hot shot world renowned pizza firm is this?

papa john's of course.

(better ingredients=better pizza)

related question...do grants go on resumes?

Put down whatever makes you feel like you're the shit. So yeah, put down your grants.

I even put down my personal interests. It was a good conversation point.