I'm wondering if any of you who have experience working in the field would be willing to provide some information about the job market/prospects for new grads/realistic earning potential (in Canada especially, if possible)? I've heard that COVID has been terrible for the architecture job market, but can't find much about first-hand experiences.
- How is the field looking right now? Has your practice been suffering?
- When you graduated, did you get a job quickly (if so, how long ago)?
- How important do you think what school you went to is in the hiring process?
- What was your first job like? Did you progress in the field (ie. up the ladder) quickly?
- What was/is your salary (if you don't mind saying, it's just people have different ideas about what a good/poor salary is, and it's hard to get a concrete sense of what most, non-starichect architects realistically make). Lots of people say long hours, low pay, but is low pay for an architect in Canada like $35,000 per year? $50,000? More? Does it increase quickly based on experience, or plateau? I'm sure this depends on so many factors, but I'm just trying to get a sense of the average experience.
- What is your work-life balance like? Do you like your job/what about it do you like?
Any insight you could provide for someone considering this field in the current market would be so appreciated!
Non Sequitur
Nov 5, 21 9:39 pm
Token canadian arch here...
Job prospect is actually pretty damn good for most parts of the country and everyone is looking for staff to fill seats. We're significantly shorthanded (and swamped) but the problem is the same as it always is... there is simply not much talent to go around without poaching from other offices AND no one has time to train fresh grads, unfortunately.
Which province/city are you looking at? In terms of salary, you should expect 45-55k (cad) per year depending on the market, size of firm, and your office skills. Large A&E pay more than small boutique shops, but you might not get the variety of experience required for IDP.
As for your career question, well, that's a longer story. I graduated at the end of the last recession (2009) but since I worked in an arch office while in undergrad, I had billable skills that landed me a full-time job within a few weeks of graduation. Salary was on part for entry at that time but it was not as bad as some of my other colleagues making $12cad/hr in boutique firms or even $18cad/hr at the uber large offices. I was licensed less than 3 years later and the rest is history.
bowling_ball
Nov 6, 21 3:55 pm
...another Canadian architect here. I echo what Non Sequitur is saying in general. My own take:
- How is the field looking right now? Has your practice been suffering? The Canadian market tends to be less affected than the US to global recessions - the lows aren't as low, and the highs aren't as high in the economic cycle. For my firm specifically, 2020 was probably the busiest and most financially successful year on record (our firm is many, many decades old) however 2021 has been a bit of a downturn, I believe partly because material costs are still increasing on a monthly basis.
- When you graduated, did you get a job quickly (if so, how long ago)? I graduated ~10 years ago. I had a job lined up before graduation, in the middle of a recession (see above about the Canadian market)
- How important do you think what school you went to is in the hiring process? Literally zero importance, so long as it's an accredited M.Arch. There are no ivy league schools in Canada.
- What was your first job like? Did you progress in the field (ie. up the ladder) quickly? I worked at a boutique firm. First tasks were helping with facade elevations and millwork details, working with a senior architect. I didn't get a raise or move up in any way for several years, but this was likely mostly the result of working in boutique firms at the time. Since that time, I've moved on to a service-oriented firm, and have moved from intern to principal in ~8 years - but my experience is extremely atypical.
- What was/is your salary (if you don't mind saying, it's just people have different ideas about what a good/poor salary is, and it's hard to get a concrete sense of what most, non-starichect architects realistically make). Lots of people say long hours, low pay, but is low pay for an architect in Canada like $35,000 per year? $50,000? More? Does it increase quickly based on experience, or plateau? I'm sure this depends on so many factors, but I'm just trying to get a sense of the average experience. You'll probably start somewhere around 45 to 50k per year. You may move up fairly quickly, or maybe not. That's up for you to decide, more or less, by moving firms every couple of years until you've built a good reputation and a decent salary. Staying at one firm for years and years will typically hold you back from earning more income, but this is true of most industries.
- What is your work-life balance like? Do you like your job/what about it do you like? Even as a partner, my work-life balance is fairly good because I set it up that way. When I was an employee, the firm supported having an excellent balance in that nobody was ever expected to work overtime, which contributes to a healthy work environment. I have a little less choice about that these days, because I'm expected to meet and hang out with clients after hours and weekends.
Any insight you could provide for someone considering this field in the current market would be so appreciated! This is actually a pretty typical job market, despite the pandemic. Where it might slow a new graduate entering the field is that training and mentorship of junior staff is extremely difficult when working remotely. Others may have a different opinion but sitting down with a co-worker to go over drawings allows collaboration in a way that just isn't there yet in the digital realm. For that reason, I'm hearing that firms are trying to focus more on retention, and where they need to recruit, they're hiring more senior staff.
I'm wondering if any of you who have experience working in the field would be willing to provide some information about the job market/prospects for new grads/realistic earning potential (in Canada especially, if possible)? I've heard that COVID has been terrible for the architecture job market, but can't find much about first-hand experiences.
- How is the field looking right now? Has your practice been suffering?
- When you graduated, did you get a job quickly (if so, how long ago)?
- How important do you think what school you went to is in the hiring process?
- What was your first job like? Did you progress in the field (ie. up the ladder) quickly?
- What was/is your salary (if you don't mind saying, it's just people have different ideas about what a good/poor salary is, and it's hard to get a concrete sense of what most, non-starichect architects realistically make). Lots of people say long hours, low pay, but is low pay for an architect in Canada like $35,000 per year? $50,000? More? Does it increase quickly based on experience, or plateau? I'm sure this depends on so many factors, but I'm just trying to get a sense of the average experience.
- What is your work-life balance like? Do you like your job/what about it do you like?
Any insight you could provide for someone considering this field in the current market would be so appreciated!
Token canadian arch here...
Job prospect is actually pretty damn good for most parts of the country and everyone is looking for staff to fill seats. We're significantly shorthanded (and swamped) but the problem is the same as it always is... there is simply not much talent to go around without poaching from other offices AND no one has time to train fresh grads, unfortunately.
Which province/city are you looking at? In terms of salary, you should expect 45-55k (cad) per year depending on the market, size of firm, and your office skills. Large A&E pay more than small boutique shops, but you might not get the variety of experience required for IDP.
As for your career question, well, that's a longer story. I graduated at the end of the last recession (2009) but since I worked in an arch office while in undergrad, I had billable skills that landed me a full-time job within a few weeks of graduation. Salary was on part for entry at that time but it was not as bad as some of my other colleagues making $12cad/hr in boutique firms or even $18cad/hr at the uber large offices. I was licensed less than 3 years later and the rest is history.
...another Canadian architect here. I echo what Non Sequitur is saying in general. My own take:
- How is the field looking right now? Has your practice been suffering?
The Canadian market tends to be less affected than the US to global recessions - the lows aren't as low, and the highs aren't as high in the economic cycle. For my firm specifically, 2020 was probably the busiest and most financially successful year on record (our firm is many, many decades old) however 2021 has been a bit of a downturn, I believe partly because material costs are still increasing on a monthly basis.
- When you graduated, did you get a job quickly (if so, how long ago)?
I graduated ~10 years ago. I had a job lined up before graduation, in the middle of a recession (see above about the Canadian market)
- How important do you think what school you went to is in the hiring process?
Literally zero importance, so long as it's an accredited M.Arch. There are no ivy league schools in Canada.
- What was your first job like? Did you progress in the field (ie. up the ladder) quickly?
I worked at a boutique firm. First tasks were helping with facade elevations and millwork details, working with a senior architect. I didn't get a raise or move up in any way for several years, but this was likely mostly the result of working in boutique firms at the time. Since that time, I've moved on to a service-oriented firm, and have moved from intern to principal in ~8 years - but my experience is extremely atypical.
- What was/is your salary (if you don't mind saying, it's just people have different ideas about what a good/poor salary is, and it's hard to get a concrete sense of what most, non-starichect architects realistically make). Lots of people say long hours, low pay, but is low pay for an architect in Canada like $35,000 per year? $50,000? More? Does it increase quickly based on experience, or plateau? I'm sure this depends on so many factors, but I'm just trying to get a sense of the average experience.
You'll probably start somewhere around 45 to 50k per year. You may move up fairly quickly, or maybe not. That's up for you to decide, more or less, by moving firms every couple of years until you've built a good reputation and a decent salary. Staying at one firm for years and years will typically hold you back from earning more income, but this is true of most industries.
- What is your work-life balance like? Do you like your job/what about it do you like?
Even as a partner, my work-life balance is fairly good because I set it up that way. When I was an employee, the firm supported having an excellent balance in that nobody was ever expected to work overtime, which contributes to a healthy work environment. I have a little less choice about that these days, because I'm expected to meet and hang out with clients after hours and weekends.
Any insight you could provide for someone considering this field in the current market would be so appreciated!
This is actually a pretty typical job market, despite the pandemic. Where it might slow a new graduate entering the field is that training and mentorship of junior staff is extremely difficult when working remotely. Others may have a different opinion but sitting down with a co-worker to go over drawings allows collaboration in a way that just isn't there yet in the digital realm. For that reason, I'm hearing that firms are trying to focus more on retention, and where they need to recruit, they're hiring more senior staff.