This is my first post here on archinect. I wanted to get an opinion from you regarding my job search. I graduated last june 2016 and ever since I've been hunting for my first job. I got my first offer within 2 weeks of graduation, however I declined it as I found the pay to be very low. I was a fresh graduate into the market and I had my expectations high on the salary so I took advise of my mentor and declined the offer. The following week I got called to another interview and got a good response from the employer. He promised to get back to me but he didn't me. Ever since I've been continuing the search for my first job and have got no response. I've tried doing everything, sent emails, cold calls to 100's of firms, improved my resume, portfolio, cover letter and tried to get some connections work through my dad. Unfortunately, I've failed at all my attempts. I don't know what to do with my career after one year of joblessness. I was a pretty good student at my university with a cgpa of 3.8. I see my seniors and colleagues who were bad in the university get a job. I am really frustrated at this point in my life now.
I want to know what is wrong with me or my search that I ended up wasting one year of my life. (Though I've brushed on my skills and learnt a few more during this one year.)
I am planning to go for M Arch in the UK this september. Do you think its worth investing more time and money in a field where there is no hope.?
Most job ads ask us to send in just the resume first. They've rarely got back to me to ask for my portfolio. But I will add the link to my portfolio just to get your feedback
What was the low pay you declined? Also, that portfolio is 33 pages too long.
thegirlxyz
Jun 14, 17 7:36 am
It was AED 2500 (700$ approx). The main reason why I declined was because the employer was binding me in a 2 year contract where I would be fined if I leave before the stipulated time.
archiwutm8
Jun 14, 17 9:35 am
That's ridiculous
Non Sequitur
Jun 14, 17 11:51 am
hurrah for slavery! and people still think this place is not a shit show.
Wisdomseeker
Jun 13, 17 7:14 pm
You could try headhunters, temp agencies. Also, maybe try and expand your search to include manufacturers and developers. Places where you can develop transferable skills. If architecture is your dream, don't let anything stop you. The best advice I have ever gotten was, "if you can't find a job, create one." Best of luck.
thegirlxyz
Jun 14, 17 7:41 am
Yes I've registered myself with a couple of recruiters online but didn't get any response there aswell.
tomahawks_619
Jun 13, 17 9:50 pm
Hi, I am sorry you been having such hard time finding jobs. I was born and raised in Abu Dhabi before moving off and finishing my education in NYC (Pratt) .
I have to ask a few questions, did you apply to local firms or American / European firms ?
I only ask that because the "western" firms tend to prefer portfolio and aesthetic in that similar manner which is prevalent in their education.
Here are some criticism (please don't get offended cause I know the frustration of not finding job) - Look up portfolio from western schools ( GSD , Penn , Sci Arc , AA , Bartlett...)
- Find something which you are really good at ( construction drawings, renderings, diagrams ....). (This is because when you first get hired you don't even come close to designing. Most firms will use you for competitions or model making or diagrams etc... Hence find something which you are really good at and express it very strongly through out your portfolio
- Reduce the amount of pages as someone suggested. It's quality not quantity the people are looking at."
Lastly getting an M.Arch won't make much difference other than expose you to the style of western education. Just fix your portfolio and in the mean time learn or develop your skills in softwares. Most western firms prefer their new interns to be very proficient in the software
Hope this helps, I have a friend who transferred back from KPF abu dhabi after graduating with me . Hope the advice helps
Good luck.
thegirlxyz
Jun 14, 17 7:45 am
Thank you for your advice.I'll definately take it into consideration. I've applied mostly to the local firms but have also tried my luck with some of the top western firms.
But If I don't take an M arch and dont find a job soon I'll lose my entire career because of having such a gap in it. Nobody will hire me because I have such a gap.
danielkragskov
Jun 14, 17 9:29 am
Hey Afrah. I won't comment on the strategies for job hunt, but I can maybe give you my opinion on your portfolio. Overall I think a lot of the projects and drawings are great, the layout and composition of the portfolio is to me quite bad though.
I think the lack of attention to detail is a problem. It shows in your texts with as you have a lot of errors and lack of capitalization. It shows in some of the spreads, for instance on page 12, where your pictures on the left are not aligned. I'll just walk through it step by step.
Cover: Not too interesting but okay
Page 2-5: Get rid of it
Page 6-7: Align text and ditch the harsch black/white theme
Page 8-11: Fine
Page 12-17: Very messy, but nice plans and okay pictures. Keep one diagram, picture 2 and 4 one page 12 and the plans on page 14-15. Ditch almost all of the text. Keep picture bottom left and middle.
Page 18-19: GREAT sections. Give a spread each!
Page 20-21: Nice.
Page 22-27: Choose two pictures, make the sections bigger, choose two elevations max, make the plans bigger.
Page 28-29: Okay, maybe don't have people walking in the grass, looks kinda stupid.
Page 30-31: I don't understand whether the plan on the left is one or two plan drawings. Make it clear and bigger. I think I like the layout of the building but it is really hard to judge. At first I did not see the section also. It is not so nice though so get rid of that and the elevations.
Page 32-33: Really nice content but it needs breathing space! Again remove people walking on the grass... The sections are also okay, give them a spread by themselves.
Page 34-35: Okay, the diagram on the right is way more pleasing than the picture and the other diagram though. I would want that bigger.
Page 36-37: Cut the text. One of the sections are enough as they are not really interesting. Generally this project seems a bit out of context so maybe add surrounding buildings in the section.
Page 38-39: Nice plans, make them the same scale and align them to make them easier to compare. Select on of the elevations.
Page 40-41: I did not understand anything before I looked at the tiny pictures on the top left. They look really beautiful to me, please choose three to enlarge. Only have one plan and one elevation/section. The drawings to the right confuses me even after 2 mins of trying to understand it.
Page 42-43: Get rid of this section. If you want to show the models use them in the correct projects.
Page 44-45: I guess this is a real project you have been doing for a company at some point. It does not tell me anything as it is now. Simplify the two diagrammatic plans on the left and use them to explain the enourmos amount of text. Make the plan on the right easily readable and maybe with a bit more detail. Get rid of most of the text. If you have a picture or section or anything more spatial than a plan, I would add it. You could also just leave it out.
Page 46-47: I think you are as good as me with architectural photography. I have not added my photods to my portfolio as it does not really have the level. So get rid of them.
Page 48-49: Actually really nice large picture and the one on the top right. If you have more material on these two projects I would add it. Nice undersstanding of color, atmosphere and composition.
Page 50-51: Get rid of it, really bland and boring.
Page 52-53: Get rid of it, but the project on the left intriuged me so if you have more of it, consider making a project spread.
I hope this could help a little. This is just my opinion as a 'westerner' with no experience in the market in UAE.
thegirlxyz
Jun 14, 17 2:40 pm
Thanks a lot @danielkragskov. I really enjoyed reading your review about my portfolio and would definately alter it accordingly. Thank you for spending so much time and effort scrutinizing it.
Hi guys
This is my first post here on archinect. I wanted to get an opinion from you regarding my job search. I graduated last june 2016 and ever since I've been hunting for my first job. I got my first offer within 2 weeks of graduation, however I declined it as I found the pay to be very low. I was a fresh graduate into the market and I had my expectations high on the salary so I took advise of my mentor and declined the offer. The following week I got called to another interview and got a good response from the employer. He promised to get back to me but he didn't me. Ever since I've been continuing the search for my first job and have got no response. I've tried doing everything, sent emails, cold calls to 100's of firms, improved my resume, portfolio, cover letter and tried to get some connections work through my dad. Unfortunately, I've failed at all my attempts. I don't know what to do with my career after one year of joblessness. I was a pretty good student at my university with a cgpa of 3.8. I see my seniors and colleagues who were bad in the university get a job. I am really frustrated at this point in my life now.
I want to know what is wrong with me or my search that I ended up wasting one year of my life. (Though I've brushed on my skills and learnt a few more during this one year.)
I am planning to go for M Arch in the UK this september. Do you think its worth investing more time and money in a field where there is no hope.?
Most job ads ask us to send in just the resume first. They've rarely got back to me to ask for my portfolio. But I will add the link to my portfolio just to get your feedback
https://issuu.com/afrahfatima/docs/new_portfolio-ilovepdf-compressed
What was the low pay you declined? Also, that portfolio is 33 pages too long.
It was AED 2500 (700$ approx). The main reason why I declined was because the employer was binding me in a 2 year contract where I would be fined if I leave before the stipulated time.
That's ridiculous
hurrah for slavery! and people still think this place is not a shit show.
You could try headhunters, temp agencies. Also, maybe try and expand your search to include manufacturers and developers. Places where you can develop transferable skills. If architecture is your dream, don't let anything stop you. The best advice I have ever gotten was, "if you can't find a job, create one." Best of luck.
Yes I've registered myself with a couple of recruiters online but didn't get any response there aswell.
Hi, I am sorry you been having such hard time finding jobs. I was born and raised in Abu Dhabi before moving off and finishing my education in NYC (Pratt) .
I have to ask a few questions, did you apply to local firms or American / European firms ?
I only ask that because the "western" firms tend to prefer portfolio and aesthetic in that similar manner which is prevalent in their education.
Here are some criticism (please don't get offended cause I know the frustration of not finding job)
- Look up portfolio from western schools ( GSD , Penn , Sci Arc , AA , Bartlett...)
- Find something which you are really good at ( construction drawings, renderings, diagrams ....). (This is because when you first get hired you don't even come close to designing. Most firms will use you for competitions or model making or diagrams etc... Hence find something which you are really good at and express it very strongly through out your portfolio
- Reduce the amount of pages as someone suggested. It's quality not quantity the people are looking at."
Lastly getting an M.Arch won't make much difference other than expose you to the style of western education. Just fix your portfolio and in the mean time learn or develop your skills in softwares. Most western firms prefer their new interns to be very proficient in the software
Hope this helps, I have a friend who transferred back from KPF abu dhabi after graduating with me . Hope the advice helps
Good luck.
Thank you for your advice.I'll definately take it into consideration. I've applied mostly to the local firms but have also tried my luck with some of the top western firms.
But If I don't take an M arch and dont find a job soon I'll lose my entire career because of having such a gap in it. Nobody will hire me because I have such a gap.
Hey Afrah. I won't comment on the strategies for job hunt, but I can maybe give you my opinion on your portfolio. Overall I think a lot of the projects and drawings are great, the layout and composition of the portfolio is to me quite bad though.
I think the lack of attention to detail is a problem. It shows in your texts with as you have a lot of errors and lack of capitalization. It shows in some of the spreads, for instance on page 12, where your pictures on the left are not aligned. I'll just walk through it step by step.
I hope this could help a little. This is just my opinion as a 'westerner' with no experience in the market in UAE.
Thanks a lot @danielkragskov. I really enjoyed reading your review about my portfolio and would definately alter it accordingly. Thank you for spending so much time and effort scrutinizing it.