Folks are still hiring in NYC. Don't accept any offer below $15 an hour or you will have a hard time getting by strictly on your own. NYC is very expensive to live in, this is made even worse by extremely rapid gentrification in previously affordable neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens specifically that attract our "type".

Living in Jersey is alot cheaper and there are some nice hoods to lay your head in.

yikes, i was thinking i should expect more than 15 an hour.. i am not going for any high profile places, just respectable in their own regards. also as far as living, i will have the luxury of sharing rent with my girlfriend. than will make things reasonable i assume.

i looked at the 2005 AIA compensation survey, but wasnt sure which category i fall into, entry level first year, second year, third year, or architect 1?? It will be my first year out of school, however I do have over two years of professional experience.. Plus i like the think that those numbers are influenced by the many high profile NY firms that pay entry level employees 300 bucks a week.. do anyone know the facts about the survey?

15 bucks an hour? you must be shrooming. prepare to pack your things, and move to East New York. for 30k a year you will not even find housing in Hoboken or Jersey City you can afford.

Plus, this is about raising the standards of the industry. ask for what you are worth. starting out, you should absolutely not accept less than 40k under any circumstances, and with a masters and 2 years experience, you could easily ask upwards of 45k and 50k.

don't sell yourselves short, newbies!

now thats what i wanted/expected to hear!

full disclosure: i'm almost 3 years out of school (B.Arch), work in a very good, but not high-profile firm (30 people) and am at 46k. and i feel like that's a little low. my 2 closest friends are at 50 with same amount of experience.

that sounds about what I was expecting. Is it typical for interviewers to ask how much you want, or will they just make an offer?

As far as I can remember, everyone has asked how much I wanted.

I asked for a low amount at my first job because I was unfamiliar with the job market. Once I found out what I should be making, the office was reluctant to give me a big raise so I had to switch offices.

So my advice is to ask for a little higher than what you want because if they really want you, they will make you an offer either way.

This, of course, is my own philosophy. But especially in NYC, where there are hundreds of good offices, I say be aggressive with your demands.

thanks.

I'm not shrooming, $15 an hour is serious intern level pay in NYC. Don't think your masters will give you a leg up on pay however. Best I've seen you can hope for is slightly north of $20 an hour. If you have two years of full-time experience you may be able to command $20 an hour from a firm straight out, but trust me it is not uncommon for NY firms to offer $10 an hour or less for intern-level architects regardless of where you come from.

And forget east NY, its too gentrified, and forget Jersey city for the same reason. You'll be living in Queens/the Bronx/Staten or other parts of Jersey.

What do they pay old men in New York....or do they pay them at all...?

I'm sorry but that's just wrong. and honestly, i think you are doing people a disservice by offering that kind of advice.

if someone wants to work for a starchitect or whatever, then i guess you can expect 10 or 15 an hour, but there are many, many, many well-regarded firms who do good work and respect their employees enough to provide good pay and benefits. i do not know a single person who makes less than 45k with 2 or 3 years experience.

the only people i know making less than 55 w/ 2+ years of experience work in the public (gov't) sector...many folks i know who graduated LAST YEAR are making 60, even at smaller firms

if you're 2 years SOLID experience, unless you go for a little unknown guy doing sf homes you'd be killing yourself (and creating an environment for you to feel unappreciated) for anything less than 55. BUT you have to be honest w/ yourself about how truly solid your experience is...how many projects you've seen go through start to finish, your wholistic grasp on the process and your own individual talent

my hunch is those 60+ interns will be the first ones cut when firms start letting go

don't undervalue yourself but don't overvalue either

well how important is it that my experience is in the form of short term internships (3-6 months)? its all from respectable firms.

See that's what I'm sayin'. Theres a difference between two years full time solid employment and accumulating two years experience between semesters and part time work during them. If you have two years solid experience you can command a salary like what Chaos is sayin', if you have two years of experience but most of it was summers/part-time and this is your first fill time gig, your an intern in the eyes of most firms and expect intern pay.

thats kind of what i was thinking, however, my experience wasnt just summer and 2 week intervals, it was six months at multiple firms doing real things. I understand that without "solid" experience, i might be less desirable, but I know that upon an actual conversation about that experience, it will come across as legit.
Also, even as a working student, 10-15 an hour is pretty weak.

Even with zero experience, never touched a Construction Document in your life, you should expect at least 40-45k (assuming you know CAD, obviously).

Seriously, don't under value yourself. I started out way more than that in NYC (this was during my second year undegrad at NYIT)

whoa, nyc pays oodles more than seattle.

i wasn't aware of that...

I don't get paid shit here. Well, I used to, the year after school with only one summer of real "firm" experience, i got a 40+ job at a corporate firm and was doing really well for myself. however after 9 months of flat front khakis, wing tip shoes, clients with breitling watches and maserati's, hi-rises with eyebrow slabs and beige brick, i decide to gather what was left of my soul, take a massive pay cut, and work for a smaller more creative firm. Even though it bothers me that I'm still making less then i was 3 years ago, I make enough to have a decent apartment in brooklyn and enjoy myself (you really don't need to make that much to get by here), and I actually get excited to go to work. I'm sure sooner then later I'll buck up and realize I need to start saving more money and go to another larger firm but 'till then I'm content.

New York City actually has comparatively excellent water quality. So you shouldn't have to spend any of that $15/hour on bottled water.

Consider working in a very wealthy, more affordable city in a growth area. The wealthiest metro regions in the country are New Haven-Fairfield, CT and Silicon Valley, CA. Relatively fast-growing states include AZ, NV, ID, CT, NH, TX, GA, and especially NC. You can make $55K and enjoy 1/6th the cost of living of Manhattan (enabling you to buy a home before you reach the age of 55), plus you won't have to worry about being obliterated in a nuclear attack.

i drink from the tap.

I hate drinking water.... It's such a flavorless experience.

i've been drinking alot lately and it definitely isn't water...bartender made most awful shot ever last night, sambuca & tabasco...just thinking about it makes me ill...i greatly prefer the cosmopolitans

on second thought, water might be a good idea

I prefer the purple drink