Hello everybody! I am new to this forum, I'm from Italy and I am a recent graduate in Architecture.
I am well aware that my profile is below average for my age and study level, so I would very much like to ask your advice about my portfolio and my chances to get a job in a european international firm. I'm not aiming necessarily at mvrdv or similar, but still I would like to work in an international environment, on competitions and interesting projects.
So here it is, my portfolio goo.gl/CQp44F
I'm reading tons of material to improve it, but I feel that I would waste time if I redesign it and don't start to send it right now.
Also, I am working on two competitions currently, so I will have more material in the future, but for now this is it. Thank you in advance for your opinion.
JLC-1
Jan 30, 17 1:23 pm
link doesn't work
it.architect
Jan 30, 17 1:28 pm
Sorry, tried to be cool with a short link, but did something wrong! :) I removed personal information and my name from first and last page.
I am also new into this community. Joined here few minutes ago. I just seen your portfolio. Looks great as usual. Thanks!
kjdt
Jan 31, 17 11:07 am
First get rid of the "Thank you for your time" page. Completely. Next, get rid of "Portfolio". Put your name on the cover. Or nothing.
As for the content: it's fine, but dull. It's very repetitive. All the projects are similar in scale, and all the plans and sections have the same level of detail/development - it's like the entire portfolio is schematic renderings of street scape sized projects. Have you done anything more detailed, on a smaller scale? Have you done any hand drawings? Any construction drawings? Do you have any built work, even if just a piece of furniture or a mock up of finishes? Do you have any artwork in other media to show some variety, depth of skills, imagination, design potential? I would suggest cutting your current projects by half, and replacing them with things that show a better range and understanding of architectural practice.
That playground image on page 10 is just awful, both as an image and in terms of design. Please nix that.
Your resume is over-fluffed for someone with your amount of experience. Nobody cares which individual courses you took where. The scoring system you're using for your software skills just calls attention to the ones in which you're not skilled - and the same thing with languages. If you have to list software applications at all, just make a list of those in which you are proficient enough that you'd be able to jump into a project and produce usable documents that day, with no need for software tutorials. Leave the others off. Make that into just a simple list - no scoring system. Similarly leave the letter/number designations out of your languages section - just note "fluent" or "basic conversational".
it.architect
Feb 1, 17 3:33 am
Roolardo, thank you!
kjdt, thank you so much for your suggestions, if I could meet you in person I would definitely buy you a drink! "Dull" is exactly the word I was looking for, but couldn't say it loud.
I don't have smaller scale projects, I built some tensegrities once, but my laptop bag was stolen and I lost all my projects done during bachelor (I know that is so dumb, now I keep everything on dropobox besides hard disk). I'm working on a couple of competitions now, so once it's done I can insert them, I also have a personal idea for a homeless tiny shelter, so maybe I can concentrate on that one, maybe even build a prototype.
Browsing through issuu and linkedin, I've seen that the most talented people have always some fancy hobby in their portfolio, such as handcraft dj sets they make or some graphic design or pieces of art, but unfortunately I don't have such creative hobbies or talents.
I am the living stereotype of an average twenty-something, I travel a lot but I go where everybody goes, I take pictures with my dslr camera but nothing worth showing anyone except my mother, I like drawing, but I'm not Michelangelo so I don't feel like putting it on the portfolio. I never did sport or music.
So you might think, what do I do? I read a lot, so I started an instagram page about books. But for now I'm not sure if want it to be associated with my persona or keep it separate.
Thank you for mention the playground, I will definitely remove it!
I agree with the over-fluff as well, I just did it because everybody put in every little thing they did and I felt pressure. But now I know I should stick with clean and simple, for skills as well.
Thank you again for very helpful advice, you made my day!
Hello everybody! I am new to this forum, I'm from Italy and I am a recent graduate in Architecture.
I am well aware that my profile is below average for my age and study level, so I would very much like to ask your advice about my portfolio and my chances to get a job in a european international firm. I'm not aiming necessarily at mvrdv or similar, but still I would like to work in an international environment, on competitions and interesting projects.
So here it is, my portfolio goo.gl/CQp44F
I'm reading tons of material to improve it, but I feel that I would waste time if I redesign it and don't start to send it right now.
Also, I am working on two competitions currently, so I will have more material in the future, but for now this is it. Thank you in advance for your opinion.
link doesn't work
Sorry, tried to be cool with a short link, but did something wrong! :) I removed personal information and my name from first and last page.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s7onqgr5jizw8me/portfolio%20me.pdf?dl=0
I am also new into this community. Joined here few minutes ago. I just seen your portfolio. Looks great as usual. Thanks!
First get rid of the "Thank you for your time" page. Completely. Next, get rid of "Portfolio". Put your name on the cover. Or nothing.
As for the content: it's fine, but dull. It's very repetitive. All the projects are similar in scale, and all the plans and sections have the same level of detail/development - it's like the entire portfolio is schematic renderings of street scape sized projects. Have you done anything more detailed, on a smaller scale? Have you done any hand drawings? Any construction drawings? Do you have any built work, even if just a piece of furniture or a mock up of finishes? Do you have any artwork in other media to show some variety, depth of skills, imagination, design potential? I would suggest cutting your current projects by half, and replacing them with things that show a better range and understanding of architectural practice.
That playground image on page 10 is just awful, both as an image and in terms of design. Please nix that.
Your resume is over-fluffed for someone with your amount of experience. Nobody cares which individual courses you took where. The scoring system you're using for your software skills just calls attention to the ones in which you're not skilled - and the same thing with languages. If you have to list software applications at all, just make a list of those in which you are proficient enough that you'd be able to jump into a project and produce usable documents that day, with no need for software tutorials. Leave the others off. Make that into just a simple list - no scoring system. Similarly leave the letter/number designations out of your languages section - just note "fluent" or "basic conversational".
Roolardo, thank you!
kjdt, thank you so much for your suggestions, if I could meet you in person I would definitely buy you a drink! "Dull" is exactly the word I was looking for, but couldn't say it loud.
I don't have smaller scale projects, I built some tensegrities once, but my laptop bag was stolen and I lost all my projects done during bachelor (I know that is so dumb, now I keep everything on dropobox besides hard disk). I'm working on a couple of competitions now, so once it's done I can insert them, I also have a personal idea for a homeless tiny shelter, so maybe I can concentrate on that one, maybe even build a prototype.
Browsing through issuu and linkedin, I've seen that the most talented people have always some fancy hobby in their portfolio, such as handcraft dj sets they make or some graphic design or pieces of art, but unfortunately I don't have such creative hobbies or talents.
I am the living stereotype of an average twenty-something, I travel a lot but I go where everybody goes, I take pictures with my dslr camera but nothing worth showing anyone except my mother, I like drawing, but I'm not Michelangelo so I don't feel like putting it on the portfolio. I never did sport or music.
So you might think, what do I do? I read a lot, so I started an instagram page about books. But for now I'm not sure if want it to be associated with my persona or keep it separate.
Thank you for mention the playground, I will definitely remove it!
I agree with the over-fluff as well, I just did it because everybody put in every little thing they did and I felt pressure. But now I know I should stick with clean and simple, for skills as well.
Thank you again for very helpful advice, you made my day!