To give a small background about me, I am 25 years old with two Master degrees. One in architecture and one in Urban Design. I currently live in Chicago and the job market seems spotty. I recently landed a job only to be laid off 5 months later. To clarify I wasn't laid off because of my skills. The firm doesn't have the money to pay me. I even offered to take a pay cut but still nothing. I was told to check back in a few weeks or months but I will take that with a grain of salt.
Has anyone else experienced this constant on and off with architecture jobs? It seems like a lot of firms these days are getting away with hiring people and quickly calling them interns to do as much work and little pay for them and then letting them go after several months.
I am at my wits end and ready to throw my career decision out the window. I rather know I have stable job then. I would like to hear some advice and any route others have taken. Thanking you in advance!
Spencer, ignore Jla... he/she runs deep with the tin-foil hat wearing crowd.
Simply put, if you're only 25 with two graduate degrees (how is that possible?) I assume you have little work experience therefore if things go sour, you're just part of the expendable staff. Clients drop-out and offices run out of fees... then people get cut. That's just how the business works at times.
Best to shore-up your portfolio and look into offices with more stability. Ask what projects are on the books while in an interview and what type of responsibilities they would expect you to hold. Ask as well what the average tenure in the office is. If most employees have been with the office for 5+ years then it's decent sign that the office has enough work to keep them happy.
What did I say wrong? Start a business or grin and bear it. Those are the options. Stability is never guaranteed in either but at least it's in your hands if you have a business. Idp and such cannot be fulfilled that way because then... well we would have complete chaos. The leading cause of death would be architecture like in Northern Europe and most of the world. And most architects would have to pay a fair wage which would force them into prostitution, drug dealing, robbery, and all kinds of other things. The world would end shortly after from a horrible plague that will start in a poorly ventilated hospital designed by a non Idp route "architect". Other than that you can design, do freelance work for archs, etc... Reason why these jobs are usually short lives is because they hire when they have a project and them fire once they are done with you. If you freelance that can be planned around and everyone will be upfront with each other. No surprises.
i don't think its really possible to start your own firm with no experience.... you simply just don't know anything and can't possibly serve the client well.
I graduated in 2009. I was let go from Leo A. Daly the day I received my MArch. I spent a year looking for jobs to no avail. Until I decided to work on my own. At first it was just a couple drawings and such. Then I landed my first project. An interior for a restaurant. I loved it. I learned a tremendous amount about our profession. Anyway, did that for three years consistently finding work enough to keep me busy. It was great.
I finally found a job at a small firm where I was actually able to use what I learned as opposed to just being another "new intern".
It can be done. I had a few built projects, I did analysis for local retailers, "drafting" and computer modeling for developers, as well as pre-design work for developers.
Should I have been more experienced? Probably, but every issue I ran into, became a learning experience in learning about our profession. Luckily, no huge issues came up.
Obviously, I was limited on what I could do. Interior work less than 3,000 SF. Residential work and additions. I also did a lot of custom building (shelves, tv stands, built ins, etc.).
It's possible.
But this job market is 100 times better than the market I was in. I know it's not perfect, but firms are actually hiring now. Hearing that a firm was hiring back in 2009-2010 was extremely rare. You were mostly hearing about who just downsized (more).
If you're not finding a job now, it's most likely that you're being picky. Unless I'm wrong, but something tells me I'm not far off.
The most important part to the OP's question is having a stable job.
The answer is NO. And definitely not in architecture.
That is unless you believe we live in a fair and just world without greed, unlimited resources and even the sociopaths that run governments throughout the world will hold hands with 'us' and sing kumbayah as another billion inhabitants join the world.
At this point in time you are better off reading the cub's scouts survival manual than paying for an education in architecture. It will suite you better in the long run.
Hind sight is always 20/20, and I regret sticking architecture out 6 years after the 2008 only to be stifled by one architecture job to another.
I can only hope that leaving architecture on my behalf will be one of the brighter decisions of my life, for I couldn't imagine being any older than 30 and doing the ole' downturn in the economy again. That or hope that we will never see a stale economy again beyond what it is now!
25 years of age is the age to bale, think of being 45 and all you know is architecture... eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk!
I agree with the above two posts, I'm 27, and I'm desperately looking for a way out. The constant stress, the low pay, the fact that I work my ass off and nothing I do is my own, it's starting to cause me physical pain. If you want my advice, either go back to school and study something that will land you in a long term career (medicine, education, technology ect.) or start taking civil service tests, they're good jobs with good pay and they actually give benefits (unheard of in the architecture world).
Civil Service Tests? I don't think you need to take a test to work in the government.
Something happened after 9/11 that salaries shot up in the government. It's always been a secure job prior to that though. There is nonsense, but it's mostly reasonable. Army is probably the best place to work.
As far as the profession goes, It's hard to get hired as an architect in the government. Sometimes you just have to take what they give you. I get about $85k a year, but I have to live in a remote area. I only have a bachelor of Science. I would go back and study engineering if I could. That way, I would be more marketable and actually get to choose where I live. I'm actually contemplating going back to get an ABET degree now.
I'm talking about civil service tests outside of the architecture field. We go to school and are taught that that's the only way to be a successful person. Meanwhile, the guys hauling the trash are getting paid twice as much to work a 4 hour day, and they're getting benefits, and a pension and they can work a second job without burning themselves out if they want to. All I'm saying is that if you don't want to go back to school and dig yourself further in debt, looking into the civil service field is a good option.
Mar 26, 14 12:25 am ·
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Fustrated
Hello all,
To give a small background about me, I am 25 years old with two Master degrees. One in architecture and one in Urban Design. I currently live in Chicago and the job market seems spotty. I recently landed a job only to be laid off 5 months later. To clarify I wasn't laid off because of my skills. The firm doesn't have the money to pay me. I even offered to take a pay cut but still nothing. I was told to check back in a few weeks or months but I will take that with a grain of salt.
Has anyone else experienced this constant on and off with architecture jobs? It seems like a lot of firms these days are getting away with hiring people and quickly calling them interns to do as much work and little pay for them and then letting them go after several months.
I am at my wits end and ready to throw my career decision out the window. I rather know I have stable job then. I would like to hear some advice and any route others have taken. Thanking you in advance!
Best,
Spencer
There are 2 routes
1 deal with the dumb bullshit system.
2 start your own business.
The first is no more stable than the second these days. The second is in your hands the first is often not.
Spencer, ignore Jla... he/she runs deep with the tin-foil hat wearing crowd.
Simply put, if you're only 25 with two graduate degrees (how is that possible?) I assume you have little work experience therefore if things go sour, you're just part of the expendable staff. Clients drop-out and offices run out of fees... then people get cut. That's just how the business works at times.
Best to shore-up your portfolio and look into offices with more stability. Ask what projects are on the books while in an interview and what type of responsibilities they would expect you to hold. Ask as well what the average tenure in the office is. If most employees have been with the office for 5+ years then it's decent sign that the office has enough work to keep them happy.
What did I say wrong? Start a business or grin and bear it. Those are the options. Stability is never guaranteed in either but at least it's in your hands if you have a business. Idp and such cannot be fulfilled that way because then... well we would have complete chaos. The leading cause of death would be architecture like in Northern Europe and most of the world. And most architects would have to pay a fair wage which would force them into prostitution, drug dealing, robbery, and all kinds of other things. The world would end shortly after from a horrible plague that will start in a poorly ventilated hospital designed by a non Idp route "architect". Other than that you can design, do freelance work for archs, etc... Reason why these jobs are usually short lives is because they hire when they have a project and them fire once they are done with you. If you freelance that can be planned around and everyone will be upfront with each other. No surprises.
i don't think its really possible to start your own firm with no experience.... you simply just don't know anything and can't possibly serve the client well.
Not a traditional arch firm. I agree, but he can freelance doing design vis, drafting, small design projects...then work your way up to bigger things.
I graduated in 2009. I was let go from Leo A. Daly the day I received my MArch. I spent a year looking for jobs to no avail. Until I decided to work on my own. At first it was just a couple drawings and such. Then I landed my first project. An interior for a restaurant. I loved it. I learned a tremendous amount about our profession. Anyway, did that for three years consistently finding work enough to keep me busy. It was great.
I finally found a job at a small firm where I was actually able to use what I learned as opposed to just being another "new intern".
It can be done. I had a few built projects, I did analysis for local retailers, "drafting" and computer modeling for developers, as well as pre-design work for developers.
Should I have been more experienced? Probably, but every issue I ran into, became a learning experience in learning about our profession. Luckily, no huge issues came up.
Obviously, I was limited on what I could do. Interior work less than 3,000 SF. Residential work and additions. I also did a lot of custom building (shelves, tv stands, built ins, etc.).
It's possible.
But this job market is 100 times better than the market I was in. I know it's not perfect, but firms are actually hiring now. Hearing that a firm was hiring back in 2009-2010 was extremely rare. You were mostly hearing about who just downsized (more).
If you're not finding a job now, it's most likely that you're being picky. Unless I'm wrong, but something tells me I'm not far off.
The most important part to the OP's question is having a stable job.
The answer is NO. And definitely not in architecture.
That is unless you believe we live in a fair and just world without greed, unlimited resources and even the sociopaths that run governments throughout the world will hold hands with 'us' and sing kumbayah as another billion inhabitants join the world.
At this point in time you are better off reading the cub's scouts survival manual than paying for an education in architecture. It will suite you better in the long run.
Hind sight is always 20/20, and I regret sticking architecture out 6 years after the 2008 only to be stifled by one architecture job to another.
I can only hope that leaving architecture on my behalf will be one of the brighter decisions of my life, for I couldn't imagine being any older than 30 and doing the ole' downturn in the economy again. That or hope that we will never see a stale economy again beyond what it is now!
25 years of age is the age to bale, think of being 45 and all you know is architecture... eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk!
DeTwan is right. Unless you can't possibly live without architecture, get out. It's a dying profession.
I agree with the above two posts, I'm 27, and I'm desperately looking for a way out. The constant stress, the low pay, the fact that I work my ass off and nothing I do is my own, it's starting to cause me physical pain. If you want my advice, either go back to school and study something that will land you in a long term career (medicine, education, technology ect.) or start taking civil service tests, they're good jobs with good pay and they actually give benefits (unheard of in the architecture world).
Civil Service Tests? I don't think you need to take a test to work in the government.
Something happened after 9/11 that salaries shot up in the government. It's always been a secure job prior to that though. There is nonsense, but it's mostly reasonable. Army is probably the best place to work.
As far as the profession goes, It's hard to get hired as an architect in the government. Sometimes you just have to take what they give you. I get about $85k a year, but I have to live in a remote area. I only have a bachelor of Science. I would go back and study engineering if I could. That way, I would be more marketable and actually get to choose where I live. I'm actually contemplating going back to get an ABET degree now.
I'm talking about civil service tests outside of the architecture field. We go to school and are taught that that's the only way to be a successful person. Meanwhile, the guys hauling the trash are getting paid twice as much to work a 4 hour day, and they're getting benefits, and a pension and they can work a second job without burning themselves out if they want to. All I'm saying is that if you don't want to go back to school and dig yourself further in debt, looking into the civil service field is a good option.
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