Good evening - I'm an intern architect approaching a year out of work. After hundreds of resumes, few interviews - some possibilities still in the air, etc. etc. and the random job resumes... I've put my latest energy into starting my own residential design llc, with another colleague who recently lost his job. We have our website; we're creating marketing material...it all looks professional and high quality...and now we are starting to network as much as we can...
Any thoughts on the viability of this in this current economic state?
Has anyone had success? or are starting a similar path? Where do we find work?!
I would enjoy any conversations regarding young designers (not yet registered) who are embarking on their own design businesses...
my question for you is.... should I go to grad school in arch or look for design opportunities outside of arch and spend the next two years getting a mba or something in the hopes of working in product design and dev't...
I am scared I will graduate in two years, struggle to find steady employment after that, and so I will end up being licensed 5 or 6 years out of grad school...
My city's newspaper had a recent article titled something like "First to suffer, last to recover"...regarding architects, orcourse... in our state... with not so comforting statistics. I'm on a continual rollercoaster of optimism...pessimism...
I am comforted, however, by the fact the 40% of my class has gotten laid off at some point in the last year (I can't take this out on me, in other words). I get upset, though, knowing that the majority of my friends/classmates DO have jobs...
I wouldn't worry about 2 years from now...btw.
The design industry goes thru this every 8 years I'd expect, just look at statistics on minor recessions hitting every 11 years on avg or so. Thinking about my last firm...it was once at 75...then 40...then 50...now 30... I don't like this caveat in this career...
I graduated in 2008... tried to get a job for 6 months... all I could find was some temp contract work because it seems not too many people are hiring permanent employees... ANyway, I digress....
My best friends brother had a very successul high end residential home design and product supply company we ended up going in together on a few projects after his business also crumbled... Bottom we charged 55 an hour for design and consturction documentation for residential services... we both usually walked a way with 1000 -1500 each project and it got us by... I actually really enjoyed it because I am a lot more motivated to work by myself than I thought I would be... We didn't really go at it full force and try to find business... the business just came to us because of his reputation.
Anyway, I moved to china to work here and now am always wondering if I should just go back to the States and seriously give it a try... I am from the MidWest so that is where I would be returning to.. I think it can be done if you are determined, but my other financial obligations were to great that I was unable to give it the time needed...
Apr 30, 10 6:41 am ·
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So, will this pan out ? - or what's next to do...
Good evening - I'm an intern architect approaching a year out of work. After hundreds of resumes, few interviews - some possibilities still in the air, etc. etc. and the random job resumes... I've put my latest energy into starting my own residential design llc, with another colleague who recently lost his job. We have our website; we're creating marketing material...it all looks professional and high quality...and now we are starting to network as much as we can...
Any thoughts on the viability of this in this current economic state?
Has anyone had success? or are starting a similar path? Where do we find work?!
I would enjoy any conversations regarding young designers (not yet registered) who are embarking on their own design businesses...
Thank-
my question for you is.... should I go to grad school in arch or look for design opportunities outside of arch and spend the next two years getting a mba or something in the hopes of working in product design and dev't...
I am scared I will graduate in two years, struggle to find steady employment after that, and so I will end up being licensed 5 or 6 years out of grad school...
My city's newspaper had a recent article titled something like "First to suffer, last to recover"...regarding architects, orcourse... in our state... with not so comforting statistics. I'm on a continual rollercoaster of optimism...pessimism...
I am comforted, however, by the fact the 40% of my class has gotten laid off at some point in the last year (I can't take this out on me, in other words). I get upset, though, knowing that the majority of my friends/classmates DO have jobs...
I wouldn't worry about 2 years from now...btw.
The design industry goes thru this every 8 years I'd expect, just look at statistics on minor recessions hitting every 11 years on avg or so. Thinking about my last firm...it was once at 75...then 40...then 50...now 30... I don't like this caveat in this career...
I graduated in 2008... tried to get a job for 6 months... all I could find was some temp contract work because it seems not too many people are hiring permanent employees... ANyway, I digress....
My best friends brother had a very successul high end residential home design and product supply company we ended up going in together on a few projects after his business also crumbled... Bottom we charged 55 an hour for design and consturction documentation for residential services... we both usually walked a way with 1000 -1500 each project and it got us by... I actually really enjoyed it because I am a lot more motivated to work by myself than I thought I would be... We didn't really go at it full force and try to find business... the business just came to us because of his reputation.
Anyway, I moved to china to work here and now am always wondering if I should just go back to the States and seriously give it a try... I am from the MidWest so that is where I would be returning to.. I think it can be done if you are determined, but my other financial obligations were to great that I was unable to give it the time needed...
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