$275 a month, yes, a month at morphosis when in grad school. long hours, no money, no free time.

it was worth it.

Wow. Based on a forty hour work week, that comes out to about $1.72 an hour. I pray you were working part-time.

worked as a laborer for an erector for three summers
earned 11.50/hr + time and a half usually for ten hours a week

worked as a draftsman for a small arch firm made 10/hr and then 12.02/hr w/o OT pay

worked during school for an art museum cataloging artwork and constructing and tearing down exhibits for 9.25/hr part-time

worked as a draftsman/designer for a large civil engineering/arch firm for a summer, made 14/hr w/o OT pay

all in all, it took me four years (and two of those spent as a college grad) before i began to earn as much as when i worked construction

while in grad school...

local library 9.80/hr
graphics job 12-16/hr depending on project
local arch firm 13/hr

summers while getting BArch: worked at window manufacturer for $7/hr
summers while getting BArch: worked for structural/civil engineer $13/hr plus overtime plus medical
after BArch graduation: work at medium size arch firm $13.70/hr plus overtime plus medical, one raise in three years (not just me, everyone)

Oh, and it's not all "mind numbing grunt work". Some if it is really fun. All of it is "mind stretching". Meaning - learning, and intensive learning is difficult to do everyday, especially after the degrees are earned.

no experience before M.Arch
bartended for 5/hr
full time internship for medium sized commercial firm 16/hr w/o OT, full medical/beni's and 401k(after 1 year)
the work can get a little "elementary", but so far not bad

wow, silverlake - OW ! that is really low wages - are you still working for thom ?

i interned for 3 yrs while in school for starchitects, got paid $12 /hr. + full time in summers. my repsponsibilities were pretty much assisting in competition entries, boards + models.

won a few -
so the morale in office was on a good high.

it was a few years back. i had student loans, a free place to stay in la for the summer so i was in good shape. i heard they pay better nowadays...

First job out of school - worked for 1 person office, salary @ 15/hr + vacation (no medical), 45 hours a week - got to design, do working drawings, build models. Generally a nice place to work and learned a lot. Small offices will give you more responsibility if that's what you want, just make sure you will get along (sat right next to the boss, haha).

I work for a small design firm doing models, drawings, working on costing, going to meetings, building, and some input on design. From the day I started I have had almost too much responsibility. I set my own hours as long as my work gets done, but I'm working on a million things at once without a lot of guidance. Sometimes I fail miserably. (I'm learning a lot about contractors right now). The money isn't so good, but I feel like I'm learning everything I will need to get out there on my own when the time is right.

i am doing the same as SV , and i love it, just the pay is low, but it looks like the norm for archietcture, except if you look in the salary poll, it looks different from what people complain in these forums