Hi. I am an architecture graduate who wants to change careers. But since our's is a professional course, I don't know what my prospects are outside of the Architecture and design field. But I'm very unhappy with my job and am desperate to change my line of work. Will an MBA degree help me land a job that is completely unrelated to Architecture? Say, HR or Finance for example?
thisisnotmyname
Feb 28, 21 12:28 pm
Yes, I think so. I know someone with a B.Arch who later got an MBA and now works as a CPA in an accounting firm.
Early in my career, I tried to apply for entry level administrative jobs in law and corporate consulting firms and my academic background in architecture was a real handicap. The recruiters seemed much more comfortable with people that had business degrees.
monosierra
Feb 28, 21 9:55 pm
There was a bloke who went to HBS a couple of years after the GSD and is now working as a corporate consultant. You might find some principals and founders of certain commercial practices who have an MBA. Naturally, their energies are focused on business development rather than design.
evamcleigh
Aug 22, 22 4:47 pm
do you remember who was it?
whistler
Aug 24, 22 4:47 pm
If I were to do it again. That's the combination I would pursue. Not necessarily to be a sleazy developer but to understand and appreciate design with a greater knowledge of management / project development IE finance with some exposure to entrepreneurial skills that I learned on the job. 1.5 yrs of MBA school is really an executive summary of what you need to know and what I learned through my career. It gives you a very board base to work from either on the design side or finance and development side.
I have sent 2 of my kids through business programs for that reason.
Stasis
Aug 24, 22 8:16 pm
My friend went to Yale MArch and MBA dual program, then he never came back to Architecture... :) He became an asset manager at a large finance corp.
greenlander1
Aug 25, 22 2:20 am
MBA's have the most utility for people trying to pivot. Somewhat related I am working with a couple lawyers who studied architecture. One guy even got his license and then decided wasn't for him and is doing law.
I've met a lot of people who moved into the finance/ business side after architecture and they are doing very well.
It's a little bit of chicken or the egg scenario, but seems like a lot of former architects are a lot better at pivoting when searching for solutions which is big edge sometimes over the pure finance folk.
sameolddoctor
Aug 25, 22 4:30 pm
If you go to an MBA, I feel it is important to go to a good (big name) school. An architect I know went to a B-grade college for his MBA and ended up returning in a grunt role to architecture. It is so much about the connections in B-school.
whistler
Aug 29, 22 5:02 pm
I'm sorry but I don't buy the "connections you make at school" argument. to justify expensive tuition. It's a sad commentary on the profession and one's own personal skills or effort level
. I have heard it my whole life ( and maybe because it's not my background i find it offensive ) does it exist sure, but I think it's a very narrow view of how the world works.
sameolddoctor
Aug 29, 22 8:31 pm
Sure, but this is my observation based on the guy that I knew - who did architecture, then B-school at a B-grade school (ratings wise, but I am sure it was a good school), then returned to churn out BIM drawings for crappy projects, as there was nothing they could find even with the business degree. Another person I know did B-school to return to a small residential practice, to do Business Development -- did they need that MBA to find residential clients (that mostly come to their firm from word-of-mouth)? I dont think so.
Then again, to each their own.
reallynotmyname
Aug 30, 22 11:02 am
Unlike fancy arch schools, the starting salaries for grads of prestige B-schools are often big enough to offset the high tuition. It is also undeniable that a lot of elite US companies recruit heavily from a handful of prestige schools.
Chad Miller
Apr 1, 24 7:15 pm
The average fancy arch school has a cost of $175k. That's over $2,200 a month payment for 20 years. I'm not convinced you'd make that much more to offset the high cost of a fancy arch school.
monn
Mar 31, 24 7:14 am
@reallynotmyname : I wish you did the math before commenting that the reward isn't big enough. I literally just did the maths to get NPVs. Kept the variables pretty conservative.Used Whartons numbers. You can easily pay it off in 5 years if not less.
reallynotmyname
Apr 1, 24 5:11 pm
@monn: I wish you would work on reading comprehension... I wrote "are often big enough" meaning that the reward is indeed big enough.
Immigrant Developer
Apr 1, 24 5:57 pm
Hey, you can get an M.RED degree, a Master's in real estate development. Pretty much an MBA for architects.
Before any big project gets designed an Excel sheet gets done first. You can pivot to this side and manage more the project if architecture isn't for you. I have also seen a lot of Architecture development opportunities entailing marketing the firm and its services, more graphic design and writing involved.
Hi. I am an architecture graduate who wants to change careers. But since our's is a professional course, I don't know what my prospects are outside of the Architecture and design field. But I'm very unhappy with my job and am desperate to change my line of work. Will an MBA degree help me land a job that is completely unrelated to Architecture? Say, HR or Finance for example?
Yes, I think so. I know someone with a B.Arch who later got an MBA and now works as a CPA in an accounting firm.
Early in my career, I tried to apply for entry level administrative jobs in law and corporate consulting firms and my academic background in architecture was a real handicap. The recruiters seemed much more comfortable with people that had business degrees.
There was a bloke who went to HBS a couple of years after the GSD and is now working as a corporate consultant. You might find some principals and founders of certain commercial practices who have an MBA. Naturally, their energies are focused on business development rather than design.
do you remember who was it?
If I were to do it again. That's the combination I would pursue. Not necessarily to be a sleazy developer but to understand and appreciate design with a greater knowledge of management / project development IE finance with some exposure to entrepreneurial skills that I learned on the job. 1.5 yrs of MBA school is really an executive summary of what you need to know and what I learned through my career. It gives you a very board base to work from either on the design side or finance and development side.
I have sent 2 of my kids through business programs for that reason.
My friend went to Yale MArch and MBA dual program, then he never came back to Architecture... :) He became an asset manager at a large finance corp.
MBA's have the most utility for people trying to pivot. Somewhat related I am working with a couple lawyers who studied architecture. One guy even got his license and then decided wasn't for him and is doing law.
I've met a lot of people who moved into the finance/ business side after architecture and they are doing very well.
It's a little bit of chicken or the egg scenario, but seems like a lot of former architects are a lot better at pivoting when searching for solutions which is big edge sometimes over the pure finance folk.
If you go to an MBA, I feel it is important to go to a good (big name) school. An architect I know went to a B-grade college for his MBA and ended up returning in a grunt role to architecture. It is so much about the connections in B-school.
I'm sorry but I don't buy the "connections you make at school" argument. to justify expensive tuition. It's a sad commentary on the profession and one's own personal skills or effort level . I have heard it my whole life ( and maybe because it's not my background i find it offensive ) does it exist sure, but I think it's a very narrow view of how the world works.
Sure, but this is my observation based on the guy that I knew - who did architecture, then B-school at a B-grade school (ratings wise, but I am sure it was a good school), then returned to churn out BIM drawings for crappy projects, as there was nothing they could find even with the business degree. Another person I know did B-school to return to a small residential practice, to do Business Development -- did they need that MBA to find residential clients (that mostly come to their firm from word-of-mouth)? I dont think so.
Then again, to each their own.
Unlike fancy arch schools, the starting salaries for grads of prestige B-schools are often big enough to offset the high tuition. It is also undeniable that a lot of elite US companies recruit heavily from a handful of prestige schools.
The average fancy arch school has a cost of $175k. That's over $2,200 a month payment for 20 years. I'm not convinced you'd make that much more to offset the high cost of a fancy arch school.
@reallynotmyname : I wish you did the math before commenting that the reward isn't big enough. I literally just did the maths to get NPVs. Kept the variables pretty conservative.Used Whartons numbers. You can easily pay it off in 5 years if not less.
@monn: I wish you would work on reading comprehension... I wrote "are often big enough" meaning that the reward is indeed big enough.
Hey, you can get an M.RED degree, a Master's in real estate development. Pretty much an MBA for architects.
Before any big project gets designed an Excel sheet gets done first. You can pivot to this side and manage more the project if architecture isn't for you. I have also seen a lot of Architecture development opportunities entailing marketing the firm and its services, more graphic design and writing involved.