I just finished my first year of architecture school. This is the finish of my third year of college but i was previously just an undeclared student. My school's first year program is very much beginner level and we never even focused on actual buildings.
I am currently looking for a job this summer and was wondering what the possibilities of getting a job or internship within an architecture firm or company were. I know most that I have researched are for upper level students which i don't qualify for. I also have limited knowledge of softwares that are used today. We will learn those next year. We only used Rhino, indesign, and illustrator this past year. I have good modeling capabilities but I have been told this is necessarily required a lot these days. Many of my peers in school have beginner level jobs working within a firm but thats only because their parents work there or know someone that does. If i wasn't to get an architecture related job this summer how would i go about contacting architects in the area. If i was to send an email what should I say to seem like a prospective intern in the future or even just establishing a relationship. I don't want to seem like I am just coming out asking for a job but in a way this is kinda what i am doing. Nor do I want to be 'that annoying student' because I have heard people being referred to this before.
Advice
-E
Quentin
May 16, 16 5:25 pm
You're about 3 months behind the ball...
SpatialSojourner
May 16, 16 5:45 pm
I would say, if you don't have connections to someone inside a firm, you're probably not likely to get a job working at an architecture firm - especially with it already being mid-May. I would try to find any job to make money and work on your skills and have fun in your off time. Your end question is called an informational interview - I think that emailing or calling to set something up to just speak/get advice from local architects would be a great thing to do... getting a job is about connections, connections, connections and you should be able to start making those this summer and maybe next year you'll have one in the profession. Architecture firm principals usually are quite interested in providing feedback/advice to students.
eastcoast
May 16, 16 5:53 pm
**I am aware that as in intern you need to apply in the spring semester, however an internship wasn't even a considerable option during that time as I was originally planning to be abroad for the majority of the summer. After the attacks in Belgium i was informed two weeks before the end of school that my trip was pushed to a later date so now I am just job hunting. I'm not really asking about an actual intern position because I already know I am not qualified to do that. Just a beginner position in a business environment or how to establish that for next summer. If anyone knows advice on that area.
MinimalCrazy
May 16, 16 11:48 pm
Getting a job this year is not critical for finding a job next year. If all doesn't work out, your time is better spent learning (getting real comfortable) programs, reading books and enter competition! Heck if you do those three things right, you can land a better design job the next year rather than working at some random no name office.
3tk
May 17, 16 11:34 am
So, here's the deal - every minute in an office equates to a dollar value; either it's used to do work that someone pays the firm to do, or it doesn't. That is to say, it costs money to have interns because you spend more time training them than the produced work they bill for (at least in most cases). There's a reason why many are used on competition or other 'non-billable' work.
As others mention above, you might be able to get work if you know someone where you could do other office tasks: organize a library, answer phones, clean, archive drawings, etc.
The one thing I'm increasingly wanting to see is a decent work ethic. This can be demonstrated at any job: show up early, stay late, do more than asked and ask to do more, know how to address people in writing and verbally as a professional (um, uh, you know, should never be uttered in a business conversation). Some jobs I've had that were very useful later on: construction (a lot of crews have last minute needs, and while they too have specific needs, having a grunt is always useful), lumber yards, home improvement stores (a lot of guys have these as side jobs while they work in construction or are retired from construction), survey crew. If you can get a job that gives you a free weekday, you might ask a local firm to job shadow once a week too.
I just finished my first year of architecture school. This is the finish of my third year of college but i was previously just an undeclared student. My school's first year program is very much beginner level and we never even focused on actual buildings.
I am currently looking for a job this summer and was wondering what the possibilities of getting a job or internship within an architecture firm or company were. I know most that I have researched are for upper level students which i don't qualify for. I also have limited knowledge of softwares that are used today. We will learn those next year. We only used Rhino, indesign, and illustrator this past year. I have good modeling capabilities but I have been told this is necessarily required a lot these days. Many of my peers in school have beginner level jobs working within a firm but thats only because their parents work there or know someone that does. If i wasn't to get an architecture related job this summer how would i go about contacting architects in the area. If i was to send an email what should I say to seem like a prospective intern in the future or even just establishing a relationship. I don't want to seem like I am just coming out asking for a job but in a way this is kinda what i am doing. Nor do I want to be 'that annoying student' because I have heard people being referred to this before.
Advice
-E
You're about 3 months behind the ball...
I would say, if you don't have connections to someone inside a firm, you're probably not likely to get a job working at an architecture firm - especially with it already being mid-May. I would try to find any job to make money and work on your skills and have fun in your off time. Your end question is called an informational interview - I think that emailing or calling to set something up to just speak/get advice from local architects would be a great thing to do... getting a job is about connections, connections, connections and you should be able to start making those this summer and maybe next year you'll have one in the profession. Architecture firm principals usually are quite interested in providing feedback/advice to students.
**I am aware that as in intern you need to apply in the spring semester, however an internship wasn't even a considerable option during that time as I was originally planning to be abroad for the majority of the summer. After the attacks in Belgium i was informed two weeks before the end of school that my trip was pushed to a later date so now I am just job hunting. I'm not really asking about an actual intern position because I already know I am not qualified to do that. Just a beginner position in a business environment or how to establish that for next summer. If anyone knows advice on that area.
Getting a job this year is not critical for finding a job next year. If all doesn't work out, your time is better spent learning (getting real comfortable) programs, reading books and enter competition! Heck if you do those three things right, you can land a better design job the next year rather than working at some random no name office.
So, here's the deal - every minute in an office equates to a dollar value; either it's used to do work that someone pays the firm to do, or it doesn't. That is to say, it costs money to have interns because you spend more time training them than the produced work they bill for (at least in most cases). There's a reason why many are used on competition or other 'non-billable' work.
As others mention above, you might be able to get work if you know someone where you could do other office tasks: organize a library, answer phones, clean, archive drawings, etc.
The one thing I'm increasingly wanting to see is a decent work ethic. This can be demonstrated at any job: show up early, stay late, do more than asked and ask to do more, know how to address people in writing and verbally as a professional (um, uh, you know, should never be uttered in a business conversation). Some jobs I've had that were very useful later on: construction (a lot of crews have last minute needs, and while they too have specific needs, having a grunt is always useful), lumber yards, home improvement stores (a lot of guys have these as side jobs while they work in construction or are retired from construction), survey crew. If you can get a job that gives you a free weekday, you might ask a local firm to job shadow once a week too.