go for it.

As an employer I would be somewhat suspect ( no disrespect ) but the reality of clients, budget, office dynamics, proofing work and really calling bullshit on stuff that can't / shouldn't be built is a different animal. I have a fellow in my office who has many years of experience and spent the last several years in the public sector acting as a client rep. but seems to really struggle with moving a project through the process. His pace, process and required hand holding is problematic.

Not trying to scare you off but be ready for practical side of the business world.

blackcomb1, appreciate that, but I have 5+ years of senior-level design work before going into Interior Design, and 2 years of ID experience in an architecture office environment. I feel very confident on the business side of things, clients, meeting deadlines, etc.

I'm not sure I understand the concern about proofing work. A huge amount of my job is redlining student DD and CDs. Do you mean something else - or would your concern be that the redlining might not be "practical" enough?

What I'm really curious about is whether I should include a page of student work in my portfolio.

dutch, I think you already have the answer. You communicate very well how you are making the transition from one to the other, academia to practice, from ID to architecture. I think it is something you can sell. My concern would be that the impression you would make at an open call for management would seperate you from the pack. A seperation that I believe, for a well managed practice would be useful...avoid the wolves. Be selective of who you want to work for. And think about the next step you want to make.

good luck

architechno's point is good one. you seem to have the story you need to sell yourself.

i am not sure what you want to do though. just manage? as in office management?

there is a large difference between teaching kids to design and leading a design team. the latter requires executive decisions, often difficult ones. that is hard to show in a portfolio of your student's work. cuz lets face it students decide for themselves. maybe it is different for each company but for me redlining is not a management job, its job of project architect or similar...and for that job you need to show your own work and competency, not your student's. so i would, personally not be convinced...in fact i would find it damned weird if you were looking for design job on other people's work...which is why i am confused...

apart from that caveat about portfolio the rest sounds cool...i imagine you will eventually land the job you are looking for...good luk!

I guess I wasn't very clear, so I'll try to clarify:

I do not want to be an office manager, at all (that would be a strange job for an MFA to take, don't you think?)

I do want a job that is higher than the level of just my professional experience, I want my graduate work and years of teaching to be taken into account. Maybe that's not practical, which is why I am seeking feedback.

Someone made a comment about becoming an architect. I do not want to become an architect, I want to be an interior designer in an architectural office. I would like an intermediate-level position.

Not sure how your school worked, but in my studios I create the project, give the budget, choose the building envelope, write the program (or client brief - depends on the level). Then I guide them through conceptual work, schematics, design development, and construction documents. They do not at all do whatever they want.

I have my own design work to show, and I will show it.

My question is - is it worthwhile to have 1 page that shows the work I have guided and managed to get out of my students, based on what I believe are project management skills. I get that these skills are used differently in an office, but that doesn't mean the skillset I do have is not transferable.

I would never claim someone else's design work as my own. I'm not dodgy. Just as I'm sure you all have portfolio pieces that you collaborated on - you state exactly what your role was. My role in those designs is similar to the role a project manager plays. Don't project managers show the designs they've guided in portfolios?

I hope that helps clarify what I am asking...I think so far all answers point to no, but I'm curious to hear from a few more.

I would absolutely include it; for a few reasons :

a) you have built up a very clear and compelling argument for the skills it shows in yourself
b) pragmatically, it documents a significant portion of your life experience to date and thus should be included. Nobody likes seeing big unknown gaps in a prospective employee's life.
c) the way you've described ID studio is VERY different than the typical arch studio; as you will most likely be interviewed by architect heads of architecture firms, it is important that you show the work so they understand your background. When you simply had described it as studio teaching experience--before you came back and outlined for us what that was--I think it's safe to say we were all assuming something very different.
d) it is common practice to include your students' work when you are looking for a teaching position; thus coming from one and transitioning out of it makes an argument for inclusion as well.

Just be very clear that it is student sample work and not your own; I would also suggest that you keep it out of your personal portfolio proper--that is to say, have your own portfolio together, and then have a seperate 1 or 2 sample sheets showing studio work that is clearly defined as not being part of your own portfolio. But definitely show it!

Oh, and I wouldn't write down the reasons for your objective of including them--leave room for that to be a verbal explanation that can be varied and tailored depending on who you are talking to and the particular tone / discussion of the interview at hand.

So, just put "sample student work" or something at the top, and a brief outline of the project (a la, "client : X , budget : $X , building envelope : X ...") with no other explanatory verbiage.

as a student i must say that i'd find it strange for a teacher of mine to show my work as something that they have guided/"managed". i'm not sure of your teaching style and your students but i like to think that a lot of my academic work has been done despite the teachers and not because of them...
on a practical side it may be nice to show more of how you have formulated design problems - selected sites, made programmes, given envelopes etc and then show the student work as representative of specific design issues that you wanted to be considered in the studio. best of luck!
btw, i just thought i'd mention that my best teacher in college, the one i learnt most from, also had a background in art.

Ayodh,
I think one of the things we have established is that ID studios are much different than Arch studios. I now understand why I see all those fascinating abstract building models in the halls that don't meet any type of egress, fire code, etc...it sounds like you all just do whatever you like? :)

Also, take a look at your school's policy on the rights to your work. At many colleges the school owns the right to the work because the faculty created and managed the environment it was made in.

Do know one thing for certain: that if any of your professors go to interview for another academic job, at least half of their portfolio will be of student work, so there is no reason to find it particularly strange, or get worried about it. It is common and accepted practice. A good professor gets awesome, innovative, sustainable, buildable work out of their students, a poor one does not. It does not just spring up from the student's head like Athena.

not whatever we like, but close enough. is why students have to work for 3-5 years before getting licence after graduation...;-)


useful to remember this is not academic position. while it is not odd to show students work to academics it is not normal in professional world (or at least it isn't in my experience). best to be careful on that cuz you may not be giving message you think you are.

on other hand i think you make a good case and can see it swaying interviewers in the right office. personally i don't think the skills are 100% equivalent...i mean, setting a budget in simulation at school and actually meeting one in real world are not the same thing, nor are the issues students face and professionals face the same. the scope of work in office is enormously broad. in school purposefully narrow. portfolios are intended to show you can deal with that breadth...usually with built work if you want to be in higher level position...which sort of gets to the real point. built work, well executed, for which you can take responsibility, is what i would look for in a mid-level position. your student's work, well executed...hmmm...not so sure. but maybe it is different in ID world and i am just exposing my biases...

incidentally, in my own portfolio of built work i don't include projects i wasn't principal designer for.

interesting question. given my experience teaching, etc. i would normally say it wouldn't translate as much as you'd like. but Interior Design is a very different world than architecture and the classes are structured very differently. in this case, i'd say it would translate more and you should definitely include a page or two of student's work in your own portfolio....just make sure to preface it with the goals of the course, your proposed assignment and what constraints and aid you supplied to each of the student's projects. it will never be a 1:1 translation between academia and the profession, but it seems that your goal is pretty logical and therefore achieveable.
best of luck.

Thank you everyone for your input!

I'm still unsure...I may just use text and diagramming to explain my input in the classroom, and have student work ready in case someone asks for it. I think my argument as to equivalent skills, etc. can be heard out in an interview if it seems appropriate. It just seems so crappy to have to toss three years of difficult work aside as worthless.

Too many of you have indicated you might see student work in a professional portfolio, no matter how well explained, as dodgy. I just can't take that chance. And I need to start sending things out, not hemming and hawing over this.

Chances are I'm going to have to settle for a junior-to-mid position and then just rock their socks off. Maybe the right office will see more worth in my experience. I'll let you know how it goes!

It's not so much that it is "dodgy" to show student work, just irrelevant. As an employer, I just don't see how showing me something that one of your students did in any way helps me see how you would do in our firm.

I would think that you might want to keep your teaching position and try to leverage your academic credentials to small clients and build out a portfolio of your work. Even if that work is small, it would be your own and as an employer I could use that to make the mental leap to determine how you would fit in with our firm.

Good luck.