my head of school and now employer on seeing that I didn't list anything personal on my cirriculum vitae said that it was good to see what I offered professionally to the office but how was I enriching it? Those things that we do outside of work are at times equally important - for some firms it means an avenue that they be able to offer expertise in or attract business from (we have staff that are musicians, martial artists, active bloggers, surfers, etc and add a rather eclectic mood to the office)

i'm sure 'teaching breakdancing' or 'having a good sense of humor' will get me any further in an interview...hahahha

the obvious one is render bitch

another good one is carpet selector... very useful alt-skillset...

seriously though, what sort of consulting do you do, and what type of MS are you thinking about? There is definitely a market for specialized knowledge but what specifically are you thinking about? Not sure how useful something like PHD in math would be for somebody wanting to work in an architectural field... Unless you are thinking more of something like generative design technologies or something like that... or maybe structural systems design? building envelopes?

acoustical consulting, building performance consulting could be good i think... or even things like organization design, or technical things like security systems... there are security consultants, kitchen consultants, baggage constultants *for airports, etc... leed consultants...

small business consulting? graphics / branding?

another thought on alternative skillsets... is it really necessary to do a masters in an alternative discipline to have an *unusual skillset*? it might be possible instead of going back to school (and paying heavily to learn) to develop those alternative interests by working in the field...

i know of a number of architectural graduates who have developed alternative careers with their architecture degree, and then going on to work at consulting firms and learning more specialized knowledge through work... architects turned acoustical consultants, etc...

for example, here is an interesting job posting, a great company that does some pretty interesting stuff... interesting alternative architectural related work:

http://archinect.com/jobs/description.php?id=94849_0_30_0_C

DETAILER - PROJECT ARCHITECTURAL

Novum Structures is internationally recognized as a world leading Design/Build specialty contractor for high-technology spatial architectural structures and enclosures. Novum is searching for project architectural detailers with experience in coordinating structural and cladding interfaces. Ideal candidates will have coordinated steel structures with facades, skylights, doors, windows, metal cladding and flashing. Architectural tensile membrane experience is a plus.
Qualifications, Skills and Abilities
•10+ years commercial experience
•Proficient in AutoCAD, (preferably 3D) and manual sketching
•Ability to complete concept and submittal drawings
•Evaluates constructability and issues of tolerance
•Ability to work from sketches and incomplete architectural specs
•Highly organized and detailed with excellent accuracy
•Willingness to work within deadlines
•Use of basic computer tools and software including MS Word and Excel

Positions are available in our Milwaukee, WI and Sarasota, FL offices. Relocation assistance may be provided at Novum’s discretion.

Salary will commensurate with skills and experience. Please email your resume to [email protected]

Thanks for the comments, although I won't rush off to be a humorist just yet :-D Specializing through work is great in its own way, since you get to deal with your knowledge in a more raw and hands-on way than you would in a classroom.

I suppose that the biggest question relating to the "unusual skill set" would be related to the role you'd play in a traditional architecture firm if you went from being a specialist to being an architect (as opposed to the other way around). If you went from a specialty into a more traditional architecture firm, what sort of role would that typically bestow upon you? I've heard there could be a tendency to be pigeonholed into being something akin to an in-house consultant, although it's a rare firm that would generate enough work to keep one fully occupied in that role. When in an architecture firm, it seems that it would be more interesting to work as an architect with that background knowledge informing what you do.

As I wasn't working as a specialist for all that long, working as a more traditional architect may reduce that risk somewhat. However, I very much enjoy the specialty and don't really want to fully abandon it. I wound up doing acoustical consulting; the projects were pretty varied typology-wise, and there are also a lot of different factors beyond architecture that are involved (a good knowledge of mechanical systems, the way environmental factors and our perception affects noise, etc.) I was very fortunate to have a good mentor, and also school coursework / design work that related to the subject.

I'd be interested in getting another degree, most likely in acoustics or something closely related, for a few reasons. The most pragmatic reason is probably to enhance my knowledge of building systems that relate to acoustics (plus acoustics itself, of course ;-) ). The second reason is to further explore some of the more cutting-edge issues in the field(s). The "generative design technology" angle you'd mentioned definitely touches on one of those (another hobby I had was computer programming, although that sort of was laid aside for architecture), although there are definitely other specific areas that could be researched.

I'm not sure what the role of someone with that focus would be in a more traditional architecture practice. Ultimately, important emerging topics such as sustainability are tied intrinsically into technical subjects like building performance (of which acoustics is a part), and it's a lot easier to really design well using those things when you have a thorough knowledge of the processes at work. The way the profession seems to work now is to use more generalized technical knowledge during design while incorporating specific recommendations for specialists, which is in its own way a good thing (it's nigh-impossibly tough to be a structural engineer, mechanical engineer, civil engineer, and architect all at once!). However, there is something to be said for completely mastering the inner workings of your own paintbrush, so to speak; e.g., Calatrava. Of course, I could be misreading this; I've mostly the feel of a few years' experience to go on.

Again, thanks for the insight; it's good to know that, once the appropriate licenses are procured, the boundaries of the profession are rather flexible :-)

there are firms that do have studios consisting of specialized fields in design. at the firm i last worked for, we had a lighting design studio, an environmental graphics / branding studio, and a consultant group that focused on the design / discovery process similar to business consultants... the consulting group was more research focused, included people with backgrounds in sociology, etc. business consulting services...

so there are some larger architecture firms that have diverse skillset based design studios. these specialists are sort of like in-house consultants, they would typicall work with a variety of other project teams from more market focused project studios although they often had their own independent projects as well... they were hardly just in-house consultants however, they were pretty integrated with design processes, involved in architectural design aspects but usually coming at things from their own specialized knowledge perspectives.

not sure about acoustics, i think acoustics is usually a part of other engineering firms or hired on as a consultant, hard to imagine entire design projects coming from the perspective of acoustics...

that said, i think if you were to do an m.arch, acoustics is an important aspect of alot of architecture. even among architects there are those who have specialized knowledge that gives them a little more in depth knowledge in different areas... architects with backgrounds in structural engineering or urban planning or landscape or furniture / industrial design for example...

what about focusing on a particular specialized type of project work where acoustics plays an essential role? for example, theatre design... or say, law offices or courts... i'd imagine that extra acoustics knowledge could come in handy if you were working at a studio doing alot of theatre design for example...

My personal summary of the profession:

Architecture requires diversity and understanding in many different subjects. The more items you add to your tool box, the better off you are.

Bringing skills like construction management, and special systems detailing can be key.

I think what is often overlooked are skills you learned while working jobs NOT related to architecture.

My summer jobs working in warehouses, or landscaping helped me with organizational skills and people skills; but I can't necessarily put those on my resume.

Specialization can be good when there is a need for it (as has been pointed out in several posts), but it can also limit you.

Be well rounded, you can find a job that way.