After researching online and finding a lot of mixed answers I wanted to ask here about some opinions on salary figures for after graduation.
During 2010-2011, I attended a tech school and obtained an AAS degree in Architectural Building technology. Shortly after I worked at a small architecture firm for three years until late 2014. In early 2015, I went back to school to work on my Bachelors degree and in a years time from now my Masters degree. I wanted to reach out to all of you regarding negotiating compensation out of school. After researching the AIA website as well as others there really isn't any clear figure for someone with prior experience in the field and prior education. I've seen figures really all over the board from 40k all the way up to 60k. Is it reasonable to think somewhere around 50k-55k considering my prior education and experience?
When the time comes to interview for employment opportunities I wanted to be able to negotiate a fair compensation but not sell myself short, so my question to all of you is what is someone potentially worth with three years of prior experience in the field and prior education?
thisisnotmyname
May 8, 18 1:38 pm
To what extent does to the prior experience and training make you more productive in an office than a totally inexperienced newbie? That is what will be used to determine any salary premium you may get over a more typical M.Arch grad with little to no architectural work experience.
Peter Normand
May 8, 18 1:38 pm
Do you know Revit?
Also the fact you will be returning to school to get the masters degree may lead to a slightly lower salary figure from a prospective employer. I don't know if you should not tell them, they might be able to arrange full time work until school starts and then part time over the summers and school breaks if you are upfront about going for your final degree. Best to be honest and not burn bridges. I did this between undergrad and graduate school and it was a good experience the firm I worked for had a few emeritus faculty so they helped with letters and scholarships.
What city are you looking for work in?
maxspeed3
May 8, 18 1:40 pm
Peter,
maxspeed3
May 8, 18 1:54 pm
Yes, I do know Revit with experience with Revit 2012 to Revit 2017 as well as the Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator etc.) May I ask why that returning to school could lead to a slightly lower salary figure? I returned to school to study to obtain a masters degree because in the future I want to become a licensed architect and can't do so, in most states without a masters degree.
I'd primarily be looking for work in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, but other cities such as Chicago or Kansas City are also possibilities.
Bench
May 8, 18 2:46 pm
Because there would be an acknowledged 'cap' in how long you'd be staying with the office, therefore less reason for them to offer you a salary premium (which is normally an incentive on the employer's part for attempting to keep someone in-house longer).
randomised
May 8, 18 3:25 pm
Are you talking about the salary after your B.Arch but before M.Arch or only after getting that M.Arch? Think there's some confusion here...
thisisnotmyname
May 8, 18 3:39 pm
Yes, I thought the OP was asking about salary post M.Arch....
You are correct. I'm asking about salary after M.arch. What specifically would be a fair figure to negotiate for since there really isn't a clear answer that I could find with having prior experience. I'm just looking to see if anyone is in a similar situation to get an idea.
thatsthat
May 9, 18 11:34 am
Instead of thinking about it in terms of 'I have 3 years of experience and an MArch', it may be more worthwhile to look at location and level of job you'd be doing and compare that way. You wouldn't necessarily be licensed (unless you are) but you probably wouldn't be a complete newbie either depending on what you did during your 3 years experience. The AIA salary calculator may give you a decent idea for the area you intend to live, and it's sorted by job title and firm size.
I was in a similar situation when I graduated with an M.Arch. I had started college, left to work full time for about 4 years, mostly in architecture firms, and then went back to finish my degrees. What I found was that interviewers tended to discount experience that happened before I graduated as "student work", regardless of the fact that I was not a student and was a full time employee.
If you have at least a year of full time prior experience, most employers will be more than happy about that, partly because you can be assumed to be generally up to speed on typical firm practices, but also because it lets them classify you as salaried instead of hourly (because you meet the Dept of Labor's test of having a professional degree plus at least 1 year of experience), so they don't have to pay overtime. But to get them to factor in more than that one year of your experience in determining your role and salary, it's a tougher battle. You should make sure to include in your portfolio photos of completed projects that you worked on, bid set drawings, and well developed details, preferably with photos of how they turned out in construction. Those help to establish that you've had progressive responsibilities beyond a typical first-year grad. And of course you'll be able to talk about that in your interviews.
As for salary: there's no way to pin a number on that without knowing firm size, type, and location. Archinect's survey, the AIA surveys, GlassDoor, Dept of Labor statistics, etc. can help you with that. In my location it's unusual that anyone with less than 5 years of experience and a license cracks the 50k limit, but I'm not in a major city and there are very few larger firms, so it may not be relevant to your situation. Overall you can probably expect to be considered at the 1-2 years out of grad school level for sure, and anything more than that will depend on your portfolio and interviews, as well as just your interviewers' attitudes.
starling
May 10, 18 10:35 pm
At my firm, a starting salary for an entry level full-time designer with a professional degree (5 year BA or MArch) ranges anywhere between 50k to 60k. With prior experience you could negotiate at the higher end of this figure. I think your 50-55k figure is accurate if you are looking for work at a mid to corporate size firm in larger cities like NYC.
You should also consider additional benefits (401k match, overtime, bonuses) when negotiating your compensation.
For reference, I work for a large corporate firm in NYC. My starting salary at this firm upon graduation in 2013 was 53k.
After researching online and finding a lot of mixed answers I wanted to ask here about some opinions on salary figures for after graduation.
During 2010-2011, I attended a tech school and obtained an AAS degree in Architectural Building technology. Shortly after I worked at a small architecture firm for three years until late 2014. In early 2015, I went back to school to work on my Bachelors degree and in a years time from now my Masters degree. I wanted to reach out to all of you regarding negotiating compensation out of school. After researching the AIA website as well as others there really isn't any clear figure for someone with prior experience in the field and prior education. I've seen figures really all over the board from 40k all the way up to 60k. Is it reasonable to think somewhere around 50k-55k considering my prior education and experience?
When the time comes to interview for employment opportunities I wanted to be able to negotiate a fair compensation but not sell myself short, so my question to all of you is what is someone potentially worth with three years of prior experience in the field and prior education?
To what extent does to the prior experience and training make you more productive in an office than a totally inexperienced newbie? That is what will be used to determine any salary premium you may get over a more typical M.Arch grad with little to no architectural work experience.
Do you know Revit?
Also the fact you will be returning to school to get the masters degree may lead to a slightly lower salary figure from a prospective employer. I don't know if you should not tell them, they might be able to arrange full time work until school starts and then part time over the summers and school breaks if you are upfront about going for your final degree. Best to be honest and not burn bridges. I did this between undergrad and graduate school and it was a good experience the firm I worked for had a few emeritus faculty so they helped with letters and scholarships.
What city are you looking for work in?
Peter,
Yes, I do know Revit with experience with Revit 2012 to Revit 2017 as well as the Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator etc.) May I ask why that returning to school could lead to a slightly lower salary figure? I returned to school to study to obtain a masters degree because in the future I want to become a licensed architect and can't do so, in most states without a masters degree. I'd primarily be looking for work in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, but other cities such as Chicago or Kansas City are also possibilities.
Because there would be an acknowledged 'cap' in how long you'd be staying with the office, therefore less reason for them to offer you a salary premium (which is normally an incentive on the employer's part for attempting to keep someone in-house longer).
Are you talking about the salary after your B.Arch but before M.Arch or only after getting that M.Arch? Think there's some confusion here...
Yes, I thought the OP was asking about salary post M.Arch....
Check out Archinect's Salary Poll
Thank you very much!
You are correct. I'm asking about salary after M.arch. What specifically would be a fair figure to negotiate for since there really isn't a clear answer that I could find with having prior experience. I'm just looking to see if anyone is in a similar situation to get an idea.
Instead of thinking about it in terms of 'I have 3 years of experience and an MArch', it may be more worthwhile to look at location and level of job you'd be doing and compare that way. You wouldn't necessarily be licensed (unless you are) but you probably wouldn't be a complete newbie either depending on what you did during your 3 years experience. The AIA salary calculator may give you a decent idea for the area you intend to live, and it's sorted by job title and firm size.
https://info.aia.org/salary/
I was in a similar situation when I graduated with an M.Arch. I had started college, left to work full time for about 4 years, mostly in architecture firms, and then went back to finish my degrees. What I found was that interviewers tended to discount experience that happened before I graduated as "student work", regardless of the fact that I was not a student and was a full time employee.
If you have at least a year of full time prior experience, most employers will be more than happy about that, partly because you can be assumed to be generally up to speed on typical firm practices, but also because it lets them classify you as salaried instead of hourly (because you meet the Dept of Labor's test of having a professional degree plus at least 1 year of experience), so they don't have to pay overtime. But to get them to factor in more than that one year of your experience in determining your role and salary, it's a tougher battle. You should make sure to include in your portfolio photos of completed projects that you worked on, bid set drawings, and well developed details, preferably with photos of how they turned out in construction. Those help to establish that you've had progressive responsibilities beyond a typical first-year grad. And of course you'll be able to talk about that in your interviews.
As for salary: there's no way to pin a number on that without knowing firm size, type, and location. Archinect's survey, the AIA surveys, GlassDoor, Dept of Labor statistics, etc. can help you with that. In my location it's unusual that anyone with less than 5 years of experience and a license cracks the 50k limit, but I'm not in a major city and there are very few larger firms, so it may not be relevant to your situation. Overall you can probably expect to be considered at the 1-2 years out of grad school level for sure, and anything more than that will depend on your portfolio and interviews, as well as just your interviewers' attitudes.
At my firm, a starting salary for an entry level full-time designer with a professional degree (5 year BA or MArch) ranges anywhere between 50k to 60k. With prior experience you could negotiate at the higher end of this figure. I think your 50-55k figure is accurate if you are looking for work at a mid to corporate size firm in larger cities like NYC.
You should also consider additional benefits (401k match, overtime, bonuses) when negotiating your compensation.
For reference, I work for a large corporate firm in NYC. My starting salary at this firm upon graduation in 2013 was 53k.
Thank you very much for the information!