Architecture Job: Professional and Honest Advice (2018)

Architecture Job Openings Come in Many Shapes and Sizes

Architecture job opportunities come in quite a spectrum. School trains you to do many activities within the profession. You can be a Designer, a Project Manager, a Draftsman, or an Administrator or Executive in a company. Why do all these professions, or activities within the profession, make good architects? The main reason is that we’re always trained to be able to look for the solutions. We are people that always think about the possibilities.

How to Be in Demand

A solution-driven and a possibility-oriented individual is welcome in any profession. For an architecture job, focusing on all the possibilities will make you an asset in your career. Of course, when seeking an architecture job, focus on your strengths. This might mean you’re good with numbers, or design work, or drawings. Or, you might be more commanding and drawn to be in the management area. It’s often heard that architects start their own companies or their own firms. This is because they are always looking for the possibilities. Their training expands that whole spectrum. This helps with an architecture job related to running a business.

After Architecture School: Your First Steps

After college, a lot of architects don’t know how to navigate the environment. They find it hard to get an established architecture job. I recommend that future architects get a job in the construction industry. Do not go straight into designing. A construction industry job will help you understand how buildings come together. Anything to do with construction. Whether you are a Construction Contractor or working for a Developer. Even being in the field helps as you are able to see how the building comes together. Doing inspections, or site observations within a construction site is of tremendous help.

I was fortunate to work for a company that allowed me to go to the construction site. I got to see the framing of buildings, or how they came together. They encouraged me to design the structure of the building, not only the building itself. What it was going to look like. This helped me frame it on paper so I could have an idea of the possibilities. The possibility of how this building would come together. I became good framing buildings. This has served me well over the years.

How to Add Value

It is important to be able to ask good questions. And to think as a contractor thinks. For example, what are the contractor’s challenges while putting the building together? Architects need an understanding of this. Also, when making construction documents he will include what is important to the contractor. This makes it easier and more affordable. It will cut some of the headaches in the field that often end up costing more money to the client. In the end, we answer to the client on how that building will come together.

Architecture Job Opportunities at Development One

We’re always looking for a talented person for an architecture job. People that are well-versed in architecture and how buildings come together. We are always looking for good Designers. We’re looking for good Project Managers and Job Captains. Here at Development One, we don’t hire Draftsmen, because everybody draws. Everybody needs to have that skill set, to be able to draw. So we don’t call our employees “Draftsmen”. They either fall in the category of Job Captain, Project Architect, or Project Manager. Unless they go into upper management. Then their title may change.

Those are the basic areas where we are always looking for talented people. The way we operate is a little bit different than most firms. A project manager in another firm will put together contracts and proposals. They watch budgets, collect money, create invoices, track time sheets, and so forth. In most firms, a project manager’s job is to make sure that the project is profitable.

Project Managers

An architecture job at Development One involves Project Managers in everything. They track the projects and the profitability, of course. Also, we depend on them to manage the job and the design project. They coordinate the consultants and trades and have input on the design. Project Managers also have input in the detailing and respond to clients. The Project Manager position is dynamic here at Development One. We involve you and you will have a lot of fun.

Job Captains

A Job Captain architecture job has fewer and less demanding duties. You focus on the design aspect and the production of a project. Indeed, some employees prefer to be in that area.

Project Architects

A Project Architect architecture job is higher up in the food chain. They are responsible for communicating the design to me. We work together to develop the concept of how that design will come together. The Project Architect, along with the Job Captains, will develop that further. That’s how the positions at Development One work together.