I've worked in architecture almost 20 years, mainly as a lower level employee (by choice). I'm just not exited about anything. I want to do my job and go home (as much as projects allow me to), but every employer I've had pushes me to move up the ladder, be licensed, and have extra involvement (ie local community boards). I understand not wanting a stagnant employee, but that's just not the path I envisioned when I got into this field. Now they are pushing for me to be an expert in a direction of my choosing, but I'm really not passionate about any of these other ideas either. Am I in the wrong profession? Is this not an option in any office setting? It is slightly strange to me that no other profession encourages everyone to be a top of the ladder employee. It seems like other professions you have to fight for it, and architecture you have to fight not to have it happen.
If I should consider alternatives other than a typical office setting, where could my diploma and experience take me instead?
x-jla
Mar 12, 21 2:00 pm
sounds like you’re being paid for seniority without taking on more responsibilities. That’s just not beneficial to any firm. I’d recommend looking at it from their position.
thatsthat
Mar 12, 21 2:20 pm
You can be an expert at something you're interested in that benefits the office and still go home at the end of the day, no? We have career draftsmen that are really great at detailing; I would call them experts. Do they work after 5? Nope.
thisisnotmyname
Mar 12, 21 3:36 pm
There are indeed offices out there where people don't ever advance. I've worked in a few. Usually small offices with 5 or less people where there's not enough work or revenue to make staff promotions possible. If you are willing to do low to mid level work for a a low to mid level wage forever, they would be glad to have you. Just know that you will basically never get a raise.
bowling_ball
Mar 12, 21 3:46 pm
They likely see potential in you, or maybe that you're not working to your full potential. That's flattery and they want you to step up, there's nothing wrong with any of that.
It's also ok if that doesn't interest you, but you may have an opportunity to get some backing in support of something you're interested in (ie training). For example, maybe you want to be the expert on contracts, or building science, or specifications, etc. That's another type of leadership that doesn't require you to necessarily take on a ton more responsibility, and may actually be interesting.
midlander
Mar 12, 21 7:13 pm
"up or out" career paths are extremely common outside architecture in competitive fields like consulting, banking, or law. it's more a matter of company culture than profession.
have you tried working in a different office? it might be a company culture mismatch.
OneLostArchitect
Mar 13, 21 11:55 pm
there are different types of bees.
worker bees... drone bees... nursing bees... assistant the queen bees... guard bees... field bees... and the queen bee.
just tell them... you just want to be a cad monkey... nothing wrong with that.
I've worked in architecture almost 20 years, mainly as a lower level employee (by choice). I'm just not exited about anything. I want to do my job and go home (as much as projects allow me to), but every employer I've had pushes me to move up the ladder, be licensed, and have extra involvement (ie local community boards). I understand not wanting a stagnant employee, but that's just not the path I envisioned when I got into this field. Now they are pushing for me to be an expert in a direction of my choosing, but I'm really not passionate about any of these other ideas either. Am I in the wrong profession? Is this not an option in any office setting? It is slightly strange to me that no other profession encourages everyone to be a top of the ladder employee. It seems like other professions you have to fight for it, and architecture you have to fight not to have it happen.
If I should consider alternatives other than a typical office setting, where could my diploma and experience take me instead?
sounds like you’re being paid for seniority without taking on more responsibilities. That’s just not beneficial to any firm. I’d recommend looking at it from their position.
You can be an expert at something you're interested in that benefits the office and still go home at the end of the day, no? We have career draftsmen that are really great at detailing; I would call them experts. Do they work after 5? Nope.
There are indeed offices out there where people don't ever advance. I've worked in a few. Usually small offices with 5 or less people where there's not enough work or revenue to make staff promotions possible. If you are willing to do low to mid level work for a a low to mid level wage forever, they would be glad to have you. Just know that you will basically never get a raise.
They likely see potential in you, or maybe that you're not working to your full potential. That's flattery and they want you to step up, there's nothing wrong with any of that.
It's also ok if that doesn't interest you, but you may have an opportunity to get some backing in support of something you're interested in (ie training). For example, maybe you want to be the expert on contracts, or building science, or specifications, etc. That's another type of leadership that doesn't require you to necessarily take on a ton more responsibility, and may actually be interesting.
"up or out" career paths are extremely common outside architecture in competitive fields like consulting, banking, or law. it's more a matter of company culture than profession.
have you tried working in a different office? it might be a company culture mismatch.
there are different types of bees.
worker bees... drone bees... nursing bees... assistant the queen bees... guard bees... field bees... and the queen bee.
just tell them... you just want to be a cad monkey... nothing wrong with that.