Hi everyone, I'll graduating in May and I've received several jobs offers. But now it all comes down to two:
Option 1: Large firm, 64k, good benefits, the studio only does projects in one sector and mainly US projects.
Option 2: Mid-large size Firm, 58k, good benefits, do a variety of projects both domestic us and some international projects.
What do you guys think?
Jovan Millet
Apr 2, 22 1:36 pm
For me it would depend on the sector. Although, I have said this to young students and graduates, and I'll say it here:
I strongly recommend joining a small(ish) residential firm when you graduate for two reasons:
1. Residential work gives you the opportunity to learn design at an intimately human scale that you can't match with large office design. If you can learn to design at the intimate scale of a house, you can apply that design-thinking ability to nearly any other type of work.
2. Small firms will force you to wear a lot of hats very quickly. Within my first year at a small firm, I was doing design work (granted, it was small things like a stair, or a bathroom, or a built-in furniture piece at first), creating drawings, and sitting in on client, consultant, and contractor meetings to take notes for my boss.
Small firms will force you to develop skills at a much quicker rate than larger firms will, because there usually aren't enough hands to take care of all of the tasks, so you'll often be thrown into various exercises and meetings that you probably aren't ready for yet. This is a good thing, because you'll have to learn all sorts of facets of the profession.
At larger firms, especially as a fresh graduate, you'll likely be given mostly redlining tasks, and if it's a really large firm, those tasks will really be in one narrow aspect of the field, over and over again (e.g. ADA bathroom layouts, or multi-family lobby-elevator core and circulation).
Not that all larger firms are like this, but many are, especially if you aren't the cream of the crop for design talent (which you likely aren't; almost no one is an amazing designer straight out of school with no professional experience).
That's my $0.02.
Chad Miller
Apr 15, 22 10:39 am
I agree with most of what Jovan said. I wouldn't say you need to be in a small residential
firm though. A small commercial firm would work just as well.
thatsthat
Apr 18, 22 9:40 am
I agree with Jovan and Chad. Additionally, working at a smaller firm provides some exposure to what the levels above you do; you can see what their responsibilities are, their approach, and how decisions are made. It is great to work directly with firm leadership and benefit from their experience and mentorship.
reallynotmyname
Apr 2, 22 1:58 pm
While not always easy to discern for you, a job applicant on the outside looking in, you should pick the one with the best learning opportunities and good management.
natematt
Apr 3, 22 1:37 pm
The money isn't that different.
If you don't' like the sector or the work of one of them, go with the other.
Unless that 6k is the difference between being livable and not, it's not worth having a job doing something you don't like.
whistler
Apr 4, 22 6:45 pm
What Joven said, I agree with what he said
sofis
Apr 14, 22 3:12 pm
If you like this sector, why not? 1 option is better, I think
Sam Apoc
Apr 15, 22 1:05 pm
From a career advancement perspective, here are several considerations:
- Which one would allow more responsibility / opportunity for growth? (may be difficult to tell without actually working there)
- Which one would look better on a resume? This will very likely not be your last stop.
- Which one does more interesting work (to you)?
From a quality of life perspective:
- Are they both located in the same city? Where do you want to live regardless of the office? Would one firm result in a more time-consuming commute based on where you want to live?
- Do either/both offer opportunities to work remotely?
- At which firm do you prefer the people you'd be working with? This is so critical to whether you'll have a good experience working there.
Miyadaiku
Apr 18, 22 1:45 am
If you go with the large firm, I'd ask during the interview what their strategy is when their one sector has a dry spell. Some places have the strategy of.......suddenly not being such a large firm anymore.
For the medium one, check if they have dedicated teams that specialize in their baskets of sectors and if there's opportunity to occasionally change design teams in order to expand your experience. It doesn't do much good to have multiple project types if you end up getting stuck working on just one of them anyway.
As far as career advancement goes, note your goals during the interview. For example if you plan on getting licensed, ask specifically how they can/will support the experience requirements (IDP, AXP i think it's called now?). Some places already have employee advancement like that in mind, others may have never considered it or don't care and you'll find it difficult to complete that process.
Either way, you won't know until you start working, just take a job and do your best. If it sucks, well now 64k isn't a terrible price to.....be paid to find out.
Hi everyone, I'll graduating in May and I've received several jobs offers. But now it all comes down to two:
What do you guys think?
For me it would depend on the sector. Although, I have said this to young students and graduates, and I'll say it here:
I strongly recommend joining a small(ish) residential firm when you graduate for two reasons:
1. Residential work gives you the opportunity to learn design at an intimately human scale that you can't match with large office design. If you can learn to design at the intimate scale of a house, you can apply that design-thinking ability to nearly any other type of work.
2. Small firms will force you to wear a lot of hats very quickly. Within my first year at a small firm, I was doing design work (granted, it was small things like a stair, or a bathroom, or a built-in furniture piece at first), creating drawings, and sitting in on client, consultant, and contractor meetings to take notes for my boss.
Small firms will force you to develop skills at a much quicker rate than larger firms will, because there usually aren't enough hands to take care of all of the tasks, so you'll often be thrown into various exercises and meetings that you probably aren't ready for yet. This is a good thing, because you'll have to learn all sorts of facets of the profession.
At larger firms, especially as a fresh graduate, you'll likely be given mostly redlining tasks, and if it's a really large firm, those tasks will really be in one narrow aspect of the field, over and over again (e.g. ADA bathroom layouts, or multi-family lobby-elevator core and circulation).
Not that all larger firms are like this, but many are, especially if you aren't the cream of the crop for design talent (which you likely aren't; almost no one is an amazing designer straight out of school with no professional experience).
That's my $0.02.
I agree with most of what Jovan said. I wouldn't say you need to be in a small residential firm though. A small commercial firm would work just as well.
I agree with Jovan and Chad. Additionally, working at a smaller firm provides some exposure to what the levels above you do; you can see what their responsibilities are, their approach, and how decisions are made. It is great to work directly with firm leadership and benefit from their experience and mentorship.
While not always easy to discern for you, a job applicant on the outside looking in, you should pick the one with the best learning opportunities and good management.
The money isn't that different.
If you don't' like the sector or the work of one of them, go with the other.
Unless that 6k is the difference between being livable and not, it's not worth having a job doing something you don't like.
What Joven said, I agree with what he said
If you like this sector, why not? 1 option is better, I think
From a career advancement perspective, here are several considerations:
- Which one would allow more responsibility / opportunity for growth? (may be difficult to tell without actually working there)
- Which one would look better on a resume? This will very likely not be your last stop.
- Which one does more interesting work (to you)?
From a quality of life perspective:
- Are they both located in the same city? Where do you want to live regardless of the office? Would one firm result in a more time-consuming commute based on where you want to live?
- Do either/both offer opportunities to work remotely?
- At which firm do you prefer the people you'd be working with? This is so critical to whether you'll have a good experience working there.
If you go with the large firm, I'd ask during the interview what their strategy is when their one sector has a dry spell. Some places have the strategy of.......suddenly not being such a large firm anymore.
For the medium one, check if they have dedicated teams that specialize in their baskets of sectors and if there's opportunity to occasionally change design teams in order to expand your experience. It doesn't do much good to have multiple project types if you end up getting stuck working on just one of them anyway.
As far as career advancement goes, note your goals during the interview. For example if you plan on getting licensed, ask specifically how they can/will support the experience requirements (IDP, AXP i think it's called now?). Some places already have employee advancement like that in mind, others may have never considered it or don't care and you'll find it difficult to complete that process.
Either way, you won't know until you start working, just take a job and do your best. If it sucks, well now 64k isn't a terrible price to.....be paid to find out.