I'm a 23 old with BArch (8 semesters) and no work experience. I graduated from Turkey 2 years ago and wasn't employed for a year as it's almost impossible to find a job when you've just graduated (+ the growing umeployement rate). Then I had to migrate to Germany in may due to political situations, and haven't worked here yet either (language barrier + depression and had no work permit until recently) .
Lately I've started to think about my architecture carreer a lot. I like designing buildings but I don't like the technical part (which most architects seem to do for a very long while until they get good enough to be allowed to design) and to be honest I don't have much knowledge about this part of the job either - since my classes at uni were mostly design-oriented
and I've heard that architects don't get payed well in Germany (alongside europe, although I think other EU countries pay a little better). I mean they are not poor -as long as they can get/keep themselves employed, which I've heard also not easy- but in my opinion the salary is not worth all the hard work and I'd like my life standarts higher than that.
I've been thinking a change in my carreer (to software engineering) on the other hand I 'm not sure if I'm ready for another 6 years of study (3 years for bachelor + 2 years for master + and a year for german classes - according to Germans I still need to go through the master part cause otherwise I wouldn't be licensed anyway)
I mean I'd surely get paid A LOT more if I were a software engineer or sth but it's not all about that. however if I go back to architecture, I have doubts if I'd be succesfull due to the lack of my technical knowledge and even if I figured that out somehow I'd still be not satisfied with my labor/salary ratio.
I'm very confused, what would you suggest?
Non Sequitur
Feb 25, 19 10:54 am
Everyone and their grand-ma prefer the designy side of architecture and anyone can design anything. Understanding the technical side is what gets you employed and drives your career forward. Consider looking into short college level courses on building sciences if you want a fighting chance in architecture.
SneakyPete
Feb 25, 19 12:07 pm
I don't want to assume what you meant, but when I hear things like "anyone can design anything" I want to slap somebody. DESIGN IS INCLUSIVE
AND RELIANT ON THE TECHNICAL. OTHERWISE IT ISN'T DESIGN, IT'S JUST ART.
Non Sequitur
Feb 25, 19 12:14 pm
I agree with your statement Pete. I guess I tend to jump quickly onto the "I prefer design over technical" folks and tend to assume that's a just an excuse to push away the difficult/interesting parts that make buildings real.
SneakyPete
Feb 25, 19 12:19 pm
Totally agree.
Non Sequitur
Feb 25, 19 12:33 pm
I wrote my above response while obsessively trying to organize bolt patterns on shop drawings.
randomised
Feb 25, 19 12:47 pm
'Bolt pattern organiser' would make for a great title on a business card or skills graph on a CV (5 bolts out of 7!)
randomised
Feb 25, 19 10:55 am
First congrats on the freedom, welcome to the EU :-)
You say you don't like the technical part of architecture, yet you're considering studying software engineering. That seems to be quite a technical direction as well.
If you like the design part of architecture most, you still have options with a decent pay check. You don't have to flush it all down the toilet in my opinion. Have you e.g. considered interior architecture?
Also office culture in Turkey might just be different from German office culture, maybe there will be more opportunities for actually designing, did you try working or an internship in a German architecture office?
I'm a 23 old with BArch (8 semesters) and no work experience. I graduated from Turkey 2 years ago and wasn't employed for a year as it's almost impossible to find a job when you've just graduated (+ the growing umeployement rate). Then I had to migrate to Germany in may due to political situations, and haven't worked here yet either (language barrier + depression and had no work permit until recently) .
Lately I've started to think about my architecture carreer a lot. I like designing buildings but I don't like the technical part (which most architects seem to do for a very long while until they get good enough to be allowed to design) and to be honest I don't have much knowledge about this part of the job either - since my classes at uni were mostly design-oriented
and I've heard that architects don't get payed well in Germany (alongside europe, although I think other EU countries pay a little better). I mean they are not poor -as long as they can get/keep themselves employed, which I've heard also not easy- but in my opinion the salary is not worth all the hard work and I'd like my life standarts higher than that.
I've been thinking a change in my carreer (to software engineering) on the other hand I 'm not sure if I'm ready for another 6 years of study (3 years for bachelor + 2 years for master + and a year for german classes - according to Germans I still need to go through the master part cause otherwise I wouldn't be licensed anyway)
I mean I'd surely get paid A LOT more if I were a software engineer or sth but it's not all about that. however if I go back to architecture, I have doubts if I'd be succesfull due to the lack of my technical knowledge and even if I figured that out somehow I'd still be not satisfied with my labor/salary ratio.
I'm very confused, what would you suggest?
Everyone and their grand-ma prefer the designy side of architecture and anyone can design anything. Understanding the technical side is what gets you employed and drives your career forward. Consider looking into short college level courses on building sciences if you want a fighting chance in architecture.
I don't want to assume what you meant, but when I hear things like "anyone can design anything" I want to slap somebody. DESIGN IS INCLUSIVE AND RELIANT ON THE TECHNICAL. OTHERWISE IT ISN'T DESIGN, IT'S JUST ART.
I agree with your statement Pete. I guess I tend to jump quickly onto the "I prefer design over technical" folks and tend to assume that's a just an excuse to push away the difficult/interesting parts that make buildings real.
Totally agree.
I wrote my above response while obsessively trying to organize bolt patterns on shop drawings.
'Bolt pattern organiser' would make for a great title on a business card or skills graph on a CV (5 bolts out of 7!)
First congrats on the freedom, welcome to the EU :-)
You say you don't like the technical part of architecture, yet you're considering studying software engineering. That seems to be quite a technical direction as well.
If you like the design part of architecture most, you still have options with a decent pay check. You don't have to flush it all down the toilet in my opinion. Have you e.g. considered interior architecture?
Also office culture in Turkey might just be different from German office culture, maybe there will be more opportunities for actually designing, did you try working or an internship in a German architecture office?