My problem: I get interview calls but after each interview I get rejected. In the past 3 months I have got 6 interview calls and each time I have got a rejection note. The first 2 firms were corporate design firms the other three were medium and one was a small size firm.
Background: I did my undergraduate studies from India (5 year program ) after which I was working with a medium size firm for 3 years. I got a chance to work on small to medium scale projects with focus on residential and institutional. After moving to Untied States I joined the 2 year masters programs at Pomona. It was a 3 year program but my first year got waived off based on my previous background. During the last summer I did an internship with a small architectural firm for 3 months.
Every time I get an interview call I am told that they like my work samples. I have good proficiency in autocad, revit,rhino, 3d max & sketchup. I am not sure where am I going wrong. Is it the portfolio or am I doing something terribly wrong in the interview. All my interview questions have been: tell us about yourself? my skill set ?proficiency with Revit and cad? For all the interviews I arrived 15 mins earlier , professional dress code . I followed up the interview with thank you notes but some how don't seem to be cracking the interview.
On the other hand a lot of my batch mates have not got so many calls but most of them got a job from the one or two interview calls which they got.
I have attached my portfolio. Any help with the process and step would be greatly appreciated.
Congratulations on getting the number of interviews that you have received. It's way better than applying to a hundred different firms and never hearing back. Still, I know it hurts just as much to get the interview only to be rejected. Not even to mention in happening again, multiple times.
However, you seem to taking a rather passive approach to these rejections. Aside from coming on to archinect with this question, have you ever asked this from your interviewer? You've already been rejected, you have nothing more to lose in asking why or how you can improve. In fact, it's a nice note to end on. Instead of an "oh.. okay well, thanks for your time and consideration", asking what you can more you can do to be considered again in the future shows investment and interest in the office.
On that note, do you show investment and interest in the office during the interview? The way you describe yourself when you posed your question is awfully plain, like a checklist. Yes you have this knowledge. Yes you have these qualifications. Yes you know these programs. Fine. You get the interview. At the interview, you have a chance to reveal your own personality and interests. When the market is saturated with a lot of grads with similar qualifications searching for jobs, what separates you from the pack? Are you actually interested in the firm's work, the firm's culture, the firm's design approach, etc? You got interviews at what sounds like a variety of firms. Were there any that you liked more than the other? What did you learn about the firms and what you want from a job? In all interviews, you should be interviewing the firm as much as they are interviewing you. Questions are good and they show the will to learn. Ask more and show interest. How badly the firm will want to hire you is influenced by how badly you want to work for them. If you are only moderately interested in working for the firm, it can show in the interview, and the firm will only be moderately interested in hiring you. And I feel that this holds more and more true the smaller the firm gets because the firm would ideally like to find a candidate that fits in with the firm's culture.
There could be a number of other reasons why you didn't get the job, but the way you posed your question and since it sounds like you come from a non-American background, this is the reason that comes to my mind. It's a bit of a cultural difference between American and a lot of Asian countries, but simply being proficient at a checklist of qualifications isn't necessarily enough to land you a job.
no_form
Jun 19, 15 3:42 pm
One potential hang up for employers. Do you need a work visa?
My problem: I get interview calls but after each interview I get rejected. In the past 3 months I have got 6 interview calls and each time I have got a rejection note. The first 2 firms were corporate design firms the other three were medium and one was a small size firm.
Background: I did my undergraduate studies from India (5 year program ) after which I was working with a medium size firm for 3 years. I got a chance to work on small to medium scale projects with focus on residential and institutional. After moving to Untied States I joined the 2 year masters programs at Pomona. It was a 3 year program but my first year got waived off based on my previous background. During the last summer I did an internship with a small architectural firm for 3 months.
Every time I get an interview call I am told that they like my work samples. I have good proficiency in autocad, revit,rhino, 3d max & sketchup. I am not sure where am I going wrong. Is it the portfolio or am I doing something terribly wrong in the interview. All my interview questions have been: tell us about yourself? my skill set ?proficiency with Revit and cad? For all the interviews I arrived 15 mins earlier , professional dress code . I followed up the interview with thank you notes but some how don't seem to be cracking the interview.
On the other hand a lot of my batch mates have not got so many calls but most of them got a job from the one or two interview calls which they got.
I have attached my portfolio. Any help with the process and step would be greatly appreciated.
http://issuu.com/namratatulsianey/docs/portfolio_namrata_tulsianey
Thanks
Congratulations on getting the number of interviews that you have received. It's way better than applying to a hundred different firms and never hearing back. Still, I know it hurts just as much to get the interview only to be rejected. Not even to mention in happening again, multiple times.
However, you seem to taking a rather passive approach to these rejections. Aside from coming on to archinect with this question, have you ever asked this from your interviewer? You've already been rejected, you have nothing more to lose in asking why or how you can improve. In fact, it's a nice note to end on. Instead of an "oh.. okay well, thanks for your time and consideration", asking what you can more you can do to be considered again in the future shows investment and interest in the office.
On that note, do you show investment and interest in the office during the interview? The way you describe yourself when you posed your question is awfully plain, like a checklist. Yes you have this knowledge. Yes you have these qualifications. Yes you know these programs. Fine. You get the interview. At the interview, you have a chance to reveal your own personality and interests. When the market is saturated with a lot of grads with similar qualifications searching for jobs, what separates you from the pack? Are you actually interested in the firm's work, the firm's culture, the firm's design approach, etc? You got interviews at what sounds like a variety of firms. Were there any that you liked more than the other? What did you learn about the firms and what you want from a job? In all interviews, you should be interviewing the firm as much as they are interviewing you. Questions are good and they show the will to learn. Ask more and show interest. How badly the firm will want to hire you is influenced by how badly you want to work for them. If you are only moderately interested in working for the firm, it can show in the interview, and the firm will only be moderately interested in hiring you. And I feel that this holds more and more true the smaller the firm gets because the firm would ideally like to find a candidate that fits in with the firm's culture.
There could be a number of other reasons why you didn't get the job, but the way you posed your question and since it sounds like you come from a non-American background, this is the reason that comes to my mind. It's a bit of a cultural difference between American and a lot of Asian countries, but simply being proficient at a checklist of qualifications isn't necessarily enough to land you a job.
One potential hang up for employers. Do you need a work visa?