Why not do both?

It sucks having a boss, especially at large corporate offices. Like my old one in NYC.
However, there's a lot of benefits involved and "stable" income.

I've known of plenty of people who do work on the side while having a the regular job. Moonlighting.

You're not going to design anything at the job in the big city, but you can use the paychecks to help fund your own office, and eventually establish a real firm with those earnings.

That's what I would do.

Yeah I'm with you on having a boss , it really sucks. I really couldn't stand it.

If it's only about the stable income I should just stay in my place, but yeah in the big city I'd have bigger income.

Thanks for answering :]

I say go get more experience in a firm and when you feel comfortable enough you can start private practice.

Might be hard to start a firm with just two jobs.

go to the city, and moonlight on whichever project looks most promising

2 years experiance as a cad monkey, right?

Of course they allowed you to take your exams even though it is fairly clear you aren't ready yet.

To be honest with you, you should spend more time working for someone else. Just my 2c.

Take the 2 private jobs. Its not easy working for your self but there isn't anything that you can't learn on your own. Get a mentor that will provide some guidance for you.
Take the risk, you are young and don't have much to loose. If you don't do it you'll regret it when you are stuck pulling overtime picking up red lines all day and not learning a thing.

I have to ask the question.

If you worked for two years as an aprentice (intern) doing "mostly cad and 3d jobs", how is it that you were able to take the exams, pass them, and become licensed? The question is boiled down to how did you manage to get through all the catagories as outlined by NCARB and the IDP process doing mostly cad work?

Is this in America or somewhere else?

I studied the hell out to pass the exam

I'm swaying more on what frostbite is saying....I mean I am still working towards doing projects on my own...yeah I have a mentor doing this one....and yeah bosses suck big time

As for the exam..yeah I was mostly a cad monkey, but I designed some stuff, it is where I excel and I enjoy doing it....but ultimately I just studied just enough to pass the exam...and yeah I'm not from america..it still feels like I'm in a land of the free though :)

Yes it was mostly cad work, but I had a few site visits...and some clerical works on the side.....some research too.....

I don't wanna regret going in the job and hating having a boss again and knowing that I can do this and have a mentor by my side..

Thanks for all your 2c it shed some light on my somewhat kind of dark tunnel

There is always a boss!

Sorry!

Even if you work on your own, you may not have someone yelling at you about the quality of your work...

... But when it comes to bookkeepers, accountants, lawyers, graphic designers, marketing firms (if you get that big), insurance agents, real estate agents, auditors, planners, permitting and inspectors and your clients, you're certainly going to be treated like shit.

In fact, the reason your bosses are probably shitty people is they have to take the brunt of the above, translate into some sort of work-like motivation speech, soften it and then tell you what to do. Being a filter (even though you get better pay and more benefits) is not an easy job.

Two years of CAD work and 3D modeling before getting licensed... Must be nice. Here in Amurikahhh, we slave away for nearly a decade before finally getting the privilege of paying yearly fees for a stamp that may eventually be used a decade later. If you're lucky...

It's a good system we have here! It weeds out talented designers that don't have the patience to jump through mindless hoops, while keeping incompetent companies in business by artificially limiting the potential competition. Yeeeah!

I'm not sure of the sanity of a clients that wants to hire an architect of extremely limited experience, but if they do, more power to ya! It doesn't matter if it's your uncle's new goat pen, or a redesign of the family outhouse. You will experience this awesome, weird feeling called... pride. Most of us have no idea what that is.

Finish your 2 projects. If more offers come, take them up as well. If you run dry that big city job will still be there.

This is a no brain decision.

It clearly is a no brain decision...guess this says too much of my experience.....thanks for the help peeps i gladly appreciate all of it

:)

steelstuds, you have a warped way of looking at licensure - 'talented designers' are a dime a dozen unless they have SOME technical prowess.

in fact if you re-read what you just said you're advocating the worst nightmare of everyone on this forum: multiplying competition among architects by removing the licensure process.

I'm frightened.

What country are you living and working in currently?

jk3hl: AIA dates back to 1850's. NCARB to 1920's. Yet architecture existed long before that. Sure, we use to have The Great (insert city name) Fire every few years, but that was fixed by introduction of building codes.

Licensure varies greatly from country to country (see original poster's case). In the Netherlands becoming licensed at a very young age is standard, and given the fact that most projects are awarded through competitions, it seems to work very well for them. In North America licensing has become nothing more than a self-preservation game. Over the years scope of architect's legal accountability has greatly shrunk. Meet the code and make sure it doesn't leak, and you are otherwise covered from other deficiency liabilities.

Look at LEED certification as an example of 'licensing' gone crazy. A decade ago they couldn't give the certificates away (it was literally a 10 minute test that cost 5 bucks) , but now that it's a publicly recognized initiative,USGBC spends more time and effort on coming up with elaborate certification schemes then it does on improving the standard itself.

I wish you wouldn't say stuff like "great designers are a dime a dozen".It's a self defeating attitude that is suffocating the profession. Technical prowess is an unreachable goal due to the complexity of modern architectural technologies. That's why any sizable project will have an army of specialty consultants (curtainwall, vertical transportation, specifications, food service and lab equipment, door hardware, signage, parking, detention, stage equipment, security, etc...) It takes a complex eco-system of specialists to accomplish anything these days, and architect as a master builder is an antiquated notion at best.

I say scrap architecture as a licensed profession and watch the amazing results brought out by it.

I have plenty of technical knowledge, and while I appreciate a great design, I wouldn't consider myself a talented designer. I would much rather pair up with a young, thirsty, tech savvy, but technologically weak designer, then with an old fart who's heart about Revit's amazing ability to potentially replace a cad monkey or two.

Idea of internship is a noble one, but your dangers of becoming a "toileteer" or "stairmaster" go to guy in your office are much too high. You'll come out of it as a fully broken-in corporate citizen at the other end. I'm telling the original poster that the 'sink-or-swim' opportunity he/she has is a much, much better choice.

We may be in a careers crushing recession right now, but it wasn't like that 3 years ago. Most offices were overworked, understaffed and underpaid. A lot of young architecture interns wouldn't have been in such situation were they not chasing the licensing carrot. A lot of the abusive design firms would have collapsed years ago were it not for having an arbitrary upper hand over an entire generation.

I already refused the job, and I'm opting to be a freelancer. I have some confidence in my design skills, but yeah I think I do embody what steel studs what saying -- without being too big headed ;p --

"I would much rather pair up with a young, thirsty, tech savvy, but technologically weak designer"


I would say yeah I am kinda young, still so thirsty of new ideas, has a number of knowledge in needed applications -and really gets into it to-, but I lack that technological prowess I am so scared about.


Freelancing all the way, and projects might come or not, well 2 has come, and I'm doing it with some help, and probably dabble on research again, to swim and linger on the process of progress of my own design theories.

the profession has bifurcated into design and construction. if you can find clients who will actually pay you for design, the cm will figure out how to construct it. i'm dead serious on that. the days of the architect managing both design and construction are fast coming to a close. the real question is, "can you find clients who will pay you simply for design?" the vast, vast majority will not, not even to the most talented of designers. are you willing to stake your livelihood on those odds?

Won williams ill play it by ear..i've already rolled the dice

I'd still like to know where you are practicing. Just curious.

I'd also like to know what you had to do in order to qualify to take your exams and how you managed it all in two years.

I'm in asia okay, I just don't wanna be specific, to avoid more arguments :p

Well to qualify for exams, in those two years I had to do different aspects of the field to complete certain hours. So that's the diversified experience required, along with a degree in architecture. So I did all that, took the exam, passed and now, practicing, well swimming. Crossing my fingers I won't drown anytime soon.

Thanks for the answers.

Good luck.