I'm finishing up my M.Arch in the next few months (one class left over the summer) and will be applying and looking for an office job to start, tentatively, in May.
I've been working for a residential designer and an architect as an independent contractor/hired gun for all of that (6 years). 60% of my work is single-family residence and 40% is a mixed bag of commercial/institutional/etc.
I also have one project (of my own) on the ground and one in framing currently.
Reasonable or not, I feel a great deal of trepidation in approaching firms (of any size really) and am not sure how much of what to put in the portfolio I send out (school/work for others/my own work). Obviously, there's a great deal of "knowing your audience" that goes into the firms I would apply to, but I'm concerned about how my hodge-podge of architectural background will be received, or what positions I'm really qualified for are. I've been told by some larger firms HR departments I fall somewhere between Arc2 and Arc3. One of my concerns I think stems from having a substantial portion of my IDP completed already (CD's are totally done and I feel like that's what most firms want to hire recent grads for anyway), and firms thinking I'll bolt within a year as I'll have the hours completed at that point and hopefully my exams all passed.
Are there some things I should leave out? Do some of these things actually make me LESS attractive to a potential firm? I'm in the Dallas area which seems overrun by mid to large firms doing high volumes of larger projects, which means maybe my residential work has less value?
Or am I in my own head too much?
midlander
Mar 30, 16 12:11 pm
you are overthinking it. what kind of firm do you most want to work for, and what kind of role do you want? show them the work you've done that you could relate to their work and that role. if they're interested, you can talk in person and show them things that take more explanation to relate. if it really doesn't relate to their work or show relevant skills you can offer, leave it out.
I'll try to be brief.
I'm finishing up my M.Arch in the next few months (one class left over the summer) and will be applying and looking for an office job to start, tentatively, in May.
I've been working for a residential designer and an architect as an independent contractor/hired gun for all of that (6 years). 60% of my work is single-family residence and 40% is a mixed bag of commercial/institutional/etc.
I also have one project (of my own) on the ground and one in framing currently.
Reasonable or not, I feel a great deal of trepidation in approaching firms (of any size really) and am not sure how much of what to put in the portfolio I send out (school/work for others/my own work). Obviously, there's a great deal of "knowing your audience" that goes into the firms I would apply to, but I'm concerned about how my hodge-podge of architectural background will be received, or what positions I'm really qualified for are. I've been told by some larger firms HR departments I fall somewhere between Arc2 and Arc3. One of my concerns I think stems from having a substantial portion of my IDP completed already (CD's are totally done and I feel like that's what most firms want to hire recent grads for anyway), and firms thinking I'll bolt within a year as I'll have the hours completed at that point and hopefully my exams all passed.
Are there some things I should leave out? Do some of these things actually make me LESS attractive to a potential firm? I'm in the Dallas area which seems overrun by mid to large firms doing high volumes of larger projects, which means maybe my residential work has less value?
Or am I in my own head too much?
you are overthinking it. what kind of firm do you most want to work for, and what kind of role do you want? show them the work you've done that you could relate to their work and that role. if they're interested, you can talk in person and show them things that take more explanation to relate. if it really doesn't relate to their work or show relevant skills you can offer, leave it out.