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I work as an architect at a medium-sized firm in Boston, Massachusetts, and have worked here for five years if you include my internship and time spent as an entry-level drafter.
As an architecture firm, we are tasked with the overall design of buildings. There is an emphasis on the aesthetics, as the structural side tends to be handled by engineers.
The team I work on emphasizes the interior design and open spaces within buildings, as well as courtyards outside. We work with the exterior team as well in that capacity. Personally, I do a lot of first-run drafts and concept art for the team, which is later detailed and filled in by the rest of the team collaboratively.
My job satisfaction here is around a seven or an eight. I love building design and the artistic, creative process behind a bringing a building to completion. I enjoy that I am able to focus on interiors of buildings, as they are the most defining parts of one in my opinion. I would have greater job satisfaction if I had a stronger role in the process from beginning to end, but that is reserved for higher level architects. It is my goal to land those jobs later in my career.
I have always been a sketcher and amateur artist throughout high school. I preferred landscapes and buildings to other types of drawings as well. I started college as an art major, but realized that architecture was the far better option for me, my interests, and my career potential. I took an introductory architecture class and fell in love with it from there.
After meeting fellow architecture and design students, plus speaking with my professors, I realized that this was the field I wanted to advance my career in.
I also realized the difference between just having a job and in having a career: a job is something you just do for work and money, but a career is something that lets you define yourself and what you want out of life. I am very thankful I found an actual career and not just a job.
During my junior year of college, I applied for and was accepted for an internship at the firm I currently work at. I engaged in assisting more senior architects by doing research, basic sketches, and sometimes even just grabbing tools or coffee for them. The work let me see what a real architecture firm was like and confirmed my passion for the subject.
My supervisor was so pleased with my work that he also offered me a job after I was through with college. The rest is history, more or less. The beauty of the internship was that it let me combine real-world experience with my education and finally see where the two intersect.
I do not encourage anyone to try getting into a field that you cannot intern in and see some first-hand work in action. That is truly the only way to know if you will really enjoy it or not.
Fortunately, once you discover what you enjoy the rest of it is easy. School and work do not seem like they consume effort if you are truly interested in what you are doing, and that was the case with me. I am very proud of the work I do, and the rewards are immense.
For instance, when a building I have worked on is finally completed, the moment is almost magical. Being able to tour and walk around a space that I imagined is very special. It is almost like a dream. This, more than anything, keeps me coming back to work every day.
Of course, there are always downsides. My job can be immensely stressful when there is a lot on the line. Near deadlines or other obstacles things at the office get very stressful and some long hours sometimes must be put in. I consider this all part of the process, however. To be fair, it rarely occurs as it is. Typically, I am able to enjoy a good balance between work and my personal life.
Given the city I live in and my experience, a reasonable salary for this position is around $90,000 or more. This level of salary allows a comfortable living and I live well within my means with that kind of cash.
In addition, benefits like health insurance and retirement accounts are provided, which is very helpful. I also enjoy three weeks of paid vacation as well as a few personal days. Considering that I like to travel, the extra money and the vacation time is my favorite perk of the job, besides the job itself.
If you would like to work in this field, you will need a degree in architecture or another design degree of some kind. A typical architecture degree takes five years and is considered a professional degree, separate from most other undergraduate degrees. The coursework is very rigorous and includes a combination of art, design, and even some physics classes. I considered it very worth it, however, and I imagine you will too.
Career path architect image from Bigstock
Bigstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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