hi everyone merry christmas! so i was doing a little bit of reflecting in my life, i've been 2 yrs off from college and currently have a 1 1/2 year of experience in architecture.
i tried comparing experiences with my classmates from college and found out that some of them have handled a project on their own did some site visits etc. while i on the other hand handled projects, but lesser experience outside the site.
what i usually do is do revisions which makes me feel like a cad monkey [or is this part of arki life?], sometimes talking to the engineers, respond to some technical form concerning the site which is sometimes hard for me to do because i haven't seen what was happening in the site and because my boss just leaves the work to me with some vague instructions [like which/how/and in what criteria should i approve a doorknob? what kind of paint to use etc]
because of sometimes having a feeling that iam being left in a limbo of decisions in the projects, i felt that the experience that i got from the office was inadequate although i couldn't blame my boss for not being able to mentor me since my boss is too busy juggling 2-4 projects.
anyhow, it made me wonder, for a person working in architecture [example, for 2 years] are there any "standards" as to how much experience you should get?
thanks i hope someone would shed a light on this! :)
There's really no "standards" because theres alot of factors involved. Every office and boss is different.
I think alot depends on the size and type of the project your working on.. also what type of office are/were you in? ..if its corperate (from what I hear) they will try to piggeon hole you into that cad monkey position and you might not ever get to the site.
I would say the size of the office also has alot to do with it ..I have 2.5 yrs exp. and a year ago i went from a medium size office to a small office and my responsibility shot through the roof.
Just be glad you're getting any experience, I can't seem to get squat with only a BSAS degree, I suppose I picked a crappy time to try to graduate right now.
@ outthere: in my 1 1/2 year of work experience, i handled a 2-4, 8 storeys condominium-resort bldgs, and yes its a medium size office and we're 3 man team on that project, so you could expect a lot of cad working to do. :)
@milwaukee 08: just don't give up, for me, it took me 8 months before I landed on my very first job. there's always a company out there who's hiring people. :)
I have 3 years full time experience - 90% of which is was purely the design side.
In terms of "responsibility", i have been really lucky and have been given alot. I worked within a design team for my first 1-1.5 yrs where i would basically help produce design packages but was not the lead designer(which is totally necessary because it is when you will learn the most). I then started getting to take projects more on my own (still with a design leader above me kinda there for guidance if you need them, but really hands off other than that).
In terms of "experience"- i have some lacking areas. I have alot of design experience- most in my sector which is hospitality (and some commercial mixed-use). I do the general start up design processes like study the site, adjacencies, circulation/function, - they give you a program and a site and you run with it..then ALOT of presentation work-how to graphically present them, color them, render them, etc.
I LACK experience in production and the details. I am trying to learn as much as i can but its hard- when i never work in the CDs. This is making some of my AREs difficult. hopefully ill get some of that experience soon!
"..if its corperate (from what I hear) they will try to piggeon hole you into that cad monkey position and you might not ever get to the site"
-my friends that work more on the production side are the ones that get to go to the site the most.
- I work at HKS. And i guess you can say I have been "pigeon holed" into designing concepts for skyscrapers and resorts.
Sounds like an interesting project mcolor.. and the size of it seems to be why there’s 3 people working on it
right now i work on (1) 7 story condo (was 2 until 1 was recently completed) by myself ..we are a very small firm so i do everything ..CAD, shop dwgs, dealing with the client, contractor, engineers, some rendering, site visits, minutes, etc.
i wasnt around for the beginning of these projects but there are some renderings and previous studies in the file done by the person i replaced.. while i have been involved in DD's, CD's, and CA i have yet to see the initial design phases of a project
but pmarch is right ..the more responsibility you get the more you learn
ah thank you so much for enlightening me, i guess there's no ending to what an architect needs to learn i guess all of us have weak points in some parts in architecture. all we need to do is learn and learn :) but i am glad that im working in this profession :)
Jan 6, 10 8:51 am ·
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standards for experience
hi everyone merry christmas! so i was doing a little bit of reflecting in my life, i've been 2 yrs off from college and currently have a 1 1/2 year of experience in architecture.
i tried comparing experiences with my classmates from college and found out that some of them have handled a project on their own did some site visits etc. while i on the other hand handled projects, but lesser experience outside the site.
what i usually do is do revisions which makes me feel like a cad monkey [or is this part of arki life?], sometimes talking to the engineers, respond to some technical form concerning the site which is sometimes hard for me to do because i haven't seen what was happening in the site and because my boss just leaves the work to me with some vague instructions [like which/how/and in what criteria should i approve a doorknob? what kind of paint to use etc]
because of sometimes having a feeling that iam being left in a limbo of decisions in the projects, i felt that the experience that i got from the office was inadequate although i couldn't blame my boss for not being able to mentor me since my boss is too busy juggling 2-4 projects.
anyhow, it made me wonder, for a person working in architecture [example, for 2 years] are there any "standards" as to how much experience you should get?
thanks i hope someone would shed a light on this! :)
There's really no "standards" because theres alot of factors involved. Every office and boss is different.
I think alot depends on the size and type of the project your working on.. also what type of office are/were you in? ..if its corperate (from what I hear) they will try to piggeon hole you into that cad monkey position and you might not ever get to the site.
I would say the size of the office also has alot to do with it ..I have 2.5 yrs exp. and a year ago i went from a medium size office to a small office and my responsibility shot through the roof.
Just be glad you're getting any experience, I can't seem to get squat with only a BSAS degree, I suppose I picked a crappy time to try to graduate right now.
@ outthere: in my 1 1/2 year of work experience, i handled a 2-4, 8 storeys condominium-resort bldgs, and yes its a medium size office and we're 3 man team on that project, so you could expect a lot of cad working to do. :)
@milwaukee 08: just don't give up, for me, it took me 8 months before I landed on my very first job. there's always a company out there who's hiring people. :)
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want - Anon.
I have 3 years full time experience - 90% of which is was purely the design side.
In terms of "responsibility", i have been really lucky and have been given alot. I worked within a design team for my first 1-1.5 yrs where i would basically help produce design packages but was not the lead designer(which is totally necessary because it is when you will learn the most). I then started getting to take projects more on my own (still with a design leader above me kinda there for guidance if you need them, but really hands off other than that).
In terms of "experience"- i have some lacking areas. I have alot of design experience- most in my sector which is hospitality (and some commercial mixed-use). I do the general start up design processes like study the site, adjacencies, circulation/function, - they give you a program and a site and you run with it..then ALOT of presentation work-how to graphically present them, color them, render them, etc.
I LACK experience in production and the details. I am trying to learn as much as i can but its hard- when i never work in the CDs. This is making some of my AREs difficult. hopefully ill get some of that experience soon!
"..if its corperate (from what I hear) they will try to piggeon hole you into that cad monkey position and you might not ever get to the site"
-my friends that work more on the production side are the ones that get to go to the site the most.
- I work at HKS. And i guess you can say I have been "pigeon holed" into designing concepts for skyscrapers and resorts.
Sounds like an interesting project mcolor.. and the size of it seems to be why there’s 3 people working on it
right now i work on (1) 7 story condo (was 2 until 1 was recently completed) by myself ..we are a very small firm so i do everything ..CAD, shop dwgs, dealing with the client, contractor, engineers, some rendering, site visits, minutes, etc.
i wasnt around for the beginning of these projects but there are some renderings and previous studies in the file done by the person i replaced.. while i have been involved in DD's, CD's, and CA i have yet to see the initial design phases of a project
but pmarch is right ..the more responsibility you get the more you learn
ah thank you so much for enlightening me, i guess there's no ending to what an architect needs to learn i guess all of us have weak points in some parts in architecture. all we need to do is learn and learn :) but i am glad that im working in this profession :)
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