Hi, I have been working in NYC with an 8 years of experience specializing in multi-family residential buildings. It has been okay but now I am in my early 30s and the salary of an architect is just not sufficient to start a family in a way that doesn't feel like a struggle. This has taken a toll to my life as my wife is saying she feels insecure with what I am making. She is not wrong, i feels the same way as I see in the past couple years many talented people with over 20 and 30 years of experience got laid off. How do people here get started? How do you find clients? How to get the right consultants with reasonable pricing that won't scare away the clients? Which field of practice would be an easier start? I need to do something or I felt like my life will fall into crumbles really soon... I am registered and I just need to find a way to make money with it.
I regret that over the years I haven't build much connections beyond my corporate job and had a hard time getting access to clients. The clients I know from work are mostly developers that would only work with established firms. I have tried to do a 2-family house once for a connection from my wife. I did give them a proposal but didn't charge him upfront and hoping it would trigger something more but the client ran away with my drawings with bs excuses and never heard a word since then. After that I got quite frustrated and hasn't done much.
So here is my question. Even for something small like room renovations, how to go out and advertise yourself and start getting clients? Also, any tips to get the right consultants with reasonable price that won't scare away the clients? Which field of practice did all of you start for your side job?
Any feedbacks would be greatly appreciated.
OddArchitect
Nov 1, 24 12:02 pm
My advice: Leave NYC if you can. My sister is also an architect. She lived and worked in NYC for six years. My sister left NYC and moved to the Midwest where she works less house, makes more money (lower cost of living), and has higher job security.
yonl
Nov 1, 24 2:55 pm
NYC is certainly a stressful place to live, especially when you are surrounded by people who earn more when they are also working shorter hours. I don't see myself moving anytime soon due to other reasons but I do need to pickup some extra cash to sustain a proper living.
OddArchitect
Nov 4, 24 10:36 am
If that is the case then you'll have to work more hours and pick up side gigs. Others here have given good advice how to do this. Just keep in mind that working 80 hour weeks isn't sustainable.
I personally would NEVER work in NYC. The cost of living is too high and the pay too low. I have 20 years experience and make in the low six figures. That may not seem like a lot however it would equal around $325k in NYC.
reallynotmyname
Nov 1, 24 4:05 pm
If you have to stay in NYC, you may want to consider moving into an better-paying architecture adjacent job like owners' rep, facilities work, or construction project manager.
Also, make sure your current job is paying you what you are worth. Do some interviews and see if somebody out there is willing to pay you more. Often, the fastest and biggest salary growth for an architect comes from moving jobs. Some people will give you side eye about "job-hopping" or being "disloyal", buts that's all bullshit.
Getting and doing side work will probably take you a while to both get established and make enough money to improve your finances in a meaningful way.
yonl
Nov 1, 24 5:49 pm
Actually I recently moved to a new job working for a design-build developer. There is an increase(from ~95k to 110k) in pay but really not much. I tried some interviews but my impression that a lot of the traditional architect firms only want to pay ~ 100k for 8+ years of experience. From what I heard and what I see, so long as I work for a architecture firm I will probably get to maybe 160k at some point but that's simply not enough if you want to have your own place, have a kid etc...My impression from this forum is that a lot of people have been doing some side work or have started their own practice. I am wondering how they first started.
reallynotmyname
Nov 1, 24 7:06 pm
Oftentimes, the first client is someone you meet while working for your current employer. It could be one of the contractors or a realtor who needs a design project that is either too small for your employer or or not a building type that your employer does. You would do well to have your business registrations, equipment, and insurance lined up and ready before pursuing your side projects.
archanonymous
Nov 1, 24 4:49 pm
Are you morally opposed to selling pictures of your feet?
yonl
Nov 1, 24 5:49 pm
No, if those make money I would even show a bit of my ankle.
mission_critical
Nov 3, 24 11:53 am
are you part of any networking groups - even like a Facebook group? I would post content on unit layout or municipal code items, etc… that pertain to successfully developing a project. Show your expertise and offer as much value for free as you can. You can even ask if anyone wants free architectural services in exchange for equity in a project. If not, you can specialize in data facilities and get hired by Amazon/big tech as their architect/consultant. Or you can reroll your career. The only real money you can make without going into debt is tech/finance/sales. I was talking to a family friend who’s a VP at her company and she said she knows that good Power BI people making $280k here in the PNW. Check out levels.fyi and see what jobs are out there in tech you’ve never heard of - and how much they get paid. There are a lot of resources online at minimal cost to retrain yourself. There currently is a surplus of coders trying to get into entry levels jobs so I’d stay clear of the L2code meme. But if you find yourself being a good problem solver you may just excel at being a software engineer. I have a high school friend working at meta and according to the pay scale from the above website, he’s making +$700k (including RSUs).
Hi, I have been working in NYC with an 8 years of experience specializing in multi-family residential buildings. It has been okay but now I am in my early 30s and the salary of an architect is just not sufficient to start a family in a way that doesn't feel like a struggle. This has taken a toll to my life as my wife is saying she feels insecure with what I am making. She is not wrong, i feels the same way as I see in the past couple years many talented people with over 20 and 30 years of experience got laid off. How do people here get started? How do you find clients? How to get the right consultants with reasonable pricing that won't scare away the clients? Which field of practice would be an easier start? I need to do something or I felt like my life will fall into crumbles really soon... I am registered and I just need to find a way to make money with it.
I regret that over the years I haven't build much connections beyond my corporate job and had a hard time getting access to clients. The clients I know from work are mostly developers that would only work with established firms. I have tried to do a 2-family house once for a connection from my wife. I did give them a proposal but didn't charge him upfront and hoping it would trigger something more but the client ran away with my drawings with bs excuses and never heard a word since then. After that I got quite frustrated and hasn't done much.
So here is my question. Even for something small like room renovations, how to go out and advertise yourself and start getting clients? Also, any tips to get the right consultants with reasonable price that won't scare away the clients? Which field of practice did all of you start for your side job?
Any feedbacks would be greatly appreciated.
My advice: Leave NYC if you can. My sister is also an architect. She lived and worked in NYC for six years. My sister left NYC and moved to the Midwest where she works less house, makes more money (lower cost of living), and has higher job security.
NYC is certainly a stressful place to live, especially when you are surrounded by people who earn more when they are also working shorter hours. I don't see myself moving anytime soon due to other reasons but I do need to pickup some extra cash to sustain a proper living.
If that is the case then you'll have to work more hours and pick up side gigs. Others here have given good advice how to do this. Just keep in mind that working 80 hour weeks isn't sustainable.
I personally would NEVER work in NYC. The cost of living is too high and the pay too low. I have 20 years experience and make in the low six figures. That may not seem like a lot however it would equal around $325k in NYC.
If you have to stay in NYC, you may want to consider moving into an better-paying architecture adjacent job like owners' rep, facilities work, or construction project manager.
Also, make sure your current job is paying you what you are worth. Do some interviews and see if somebody out there is willing to pay you more. Often, the fastest and biggest salary growth for an architect comes from moving jobs. Some people will give you side eye about "job-hopping" or being "disloyal", buts that's all bullshit.
Getting and doing side work will probably take you a while to both get established and make enough money to improve your finances in a meaningful way.
Actually I recently moved to a new job working for a design-build developer. There is an increase(from ~95k to 110k) in pay but really not much. I tried some interviews but my impression that a lot of the traditional architect firms only want to pay ~ 100k for 8+ years of experience. From what I heard and what I see, so long as I work for a architecture firm I will probably get to maybe 160k at some point but that's simply not enough if you want to have your own place, have a kid etc...My impression from this forum is that a lot of people have been doing some side work or have started their own practice. I am wondering how they first started.
Oftentimes, the first client is someone you meet while working for your current employer. It could be one of the contractors or a realtor who needs a design project that is either too small for your employer or or not a building type that your employer does. You would do well to have your business registrations, equipment, and insurance lined up and ready before pursuing your side projects.
Are you morally opposed to selling pictures of your feet?
No, if those make money I would even show a bit of my ankle.
are you part of any networking groups - even like a Facebook group? I would post content on unit layout or municipal code items, etc… that pertain to successfully developing a project. Show your expertise and offer as much value for free as you can. You can even ask if anyone wants free architectural services in exchange for equity in a project. If not, you can specialize in data facilities and get hired by Amazon/big tech as their architect/consultant. Or you can reroll your career. The only real money you can make without going into debt is tech/finance/sales. I was talking to a family friend who’s a VP at her company and she said she knows that good Power BI people making $280k here in the PNW. Check out levels.fyi and see what jobs are out there in tech you’ve never heard of - and how much they get paid. There are a lot of resources online at minimal cost to retrain yourself. There currently is a surplus of coders trying to get into entry levels jobs so I’d stay clear of the L2code meme. But if you find yourself being a good problem solver you may just excel at being a software engineer. I have a high school friend working at meta and according to the pay scale from the above website, he’s making +$700k (including RSUs).