<p>Ever since i was a kid I wanted to be an architect.. However, the economy has made me doubt that choice. I'm very interested in the architecture program at Cal Poly (if anyone is studying architecture at Cal Poly, dont hesitate to express your opinion!). </p>
<p>So, my question is: if i do decide to major in architecture, will it be easy to find a steady, well-paying career in this economy?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance guys!!</p>
<p>This is a difficult question to answer, particularly at a time with the greatest architect unemployment since the great depression. In 2007 every top graduate we wanted to hire had at least five job offers and there were more firms at the university job fairs than students looking for jobs. This year we pretty much had our choice of the best graduates.</p>
<p>I think the long term prospect for graduates is very good. There is an entire generation of baby boomers who currently dominate the profession who are getting ready to retire. Add to that the fact that this recession has wiped out a large swath of the current profession and when we return to any kind of normal development pattern there is going to be a significant shortage of architects.</p>
<p>However there is one thing you can count on in any profession related to making buildings, and that is that you are going to see some dramatic economic cycles. If you are going to be in the profession you have to brace yourself for these. To survive you are going to have to make yourself extremely valuable. I am obviously still optimistic about the profession and did not discourage my son from studying architecture (he is now a sophomore), but you need to go into it with eyes wide open.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>I’m not an architect, but as the parent of a current M.Arch student, my observation is that it doesn’t make much difference to the employer. Candidates with either the B.Arch or the M.Arch would be eligible for the same position. The determining factors in hiring would be more based on talent, work experience, personality and fit with the firm’s creative mission.</p>
<p>Where the route chosen does make a difference is to the individual student. Some kids are ready to go into architecture immediately after high school graduation; some are not. Some want to compress the degree program to 4 (or 5 years) and get to work; some want to get a liberal arts degree first, then an M.Arch. </p>
<p>Basically the B.Arch is more focused and faster. The BA/BS + M.Arch is wider in liberal arts scope, but takes longer and therefore costs more. The five year M.Arch which absorbs the B.Arch is kind of a hybrid, but, to me is more akin to the B.Arch in focus.</p>
<p>Only you can decide which is best for you.</p>
<p>Sorry SCK, I just realized I posted in the wrong thread.</p>
<p>In answer to your question: This is a tough economy with housing and building being particularly hard hit. These things are cyclical, though, and by the time you’re ready to go to work as an architect the wheel will have turned. </p>
<p>The key, I think, is not to wait until you graduate to start building your resume. Take internships, summer jobs, attend conferences, network, connect. One work experience leads to another.</p>
<p>Architecture is not a get rich quick scheme, but it’s steady and reliable and if you enjoy it, it’s a career for a long lifetime.</p>
<p>OP: short answer is: an architect profession is less likely to become a well-paying, stable-employment, quick advancement type of career. Educational hurdles are high, licensing requirements long, and actual career at an architectural office will prove less glamorous and less fulfilling than anticipated. Do yourself a favor: go talk to several architects, and visit (better yet, intern) at several offices, and observe w/o rose-colored glasses. Architectural profession can be very interesting, and if employed at a high-profile and/or large office, involve international travel and cultural exchange too, but trade-offs will be long-hours, relatively little job stability linked closely to local/national economic conditions, and often very unglamorous tasks. Employment expectations often include long hours of overtime, near “all-nighters”, difficult personalities in team situations, design conformance to lead-architect’s specific directions, and relatively little control over work-hours, work-conditions, etc.</p>
<p>Educational requirements are extensive and expensive; do your research now before you chose to major in architecture. If enrolled in architecture school, remain open to alternate career choices (construction management and real estate development project management, for instance).</p>
<p>One area where I agree with Higgins is to go visit offices, talk to several practitioners, and make sure you understand the educational and licensing requirements before you enter the profession.</p>
<p>However when you say; “an architect profession is less likely to become a well-paying, stable-employment, quick advancement type of career”, my question is less likely than what? Talk with some recent law school, business undergraduate, or even MBA graduates and see how the market is treating them. Except for some engineering and computer technology related fields it is a very tough market out there.</p>
<p>One thing about the profession is that technology and globalization are creating a division within the profession of firms that are moving forward and firms that are gradually dying off. The firm you work for coming out of school will have a huge impact on your career. People looking for jobs right now without extensive Revit skills are at a real disadvantage. When you graduate you need to find a job with a progressive, well managed firm that pushes you to continuously develop your skills.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>Rick12: I’m speaking as a middle-aged licensed architect w/Ivy M.Arch residing and working in a major-market city. My comments pertain to my peer group, currently-employed experienced senior architects, as compared to their college peers who entered corporate business, law, medical, accounting, etc. fields. Regardless of relatively difficult circumstances for recent MBA and JD grads, recent B.Arch/M.Arch grads are likely to face a disproportionately worse job-market both for initial employment and for long-term career history. I’m hard pressed to find any middle-aged architects who are optimistic over the long-term career prospects for young architects today. (Disregarding the “star-architects” who surface with each generation, and regarding that subject I suggest reading the book “American Architects and the Mechanics of Fame”.)</p>
<p>That’s a pretty pessimistic view - but, coming from the trenches, I agree with it. My two questions tho are: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>There are other majors / fields that are impacted just as well by the housing crisis - civil engineering, construction management, real estate, and the like. Are those affected just as badly, or is it simply that aspiring developers have figured out a way to replace MArch’ers with Revit-certified 1 year draftsmen? This pretty much has been going on (you’d be surprised how many 5,000+ sq ft homes around me were not architect designed - and it shows…) for a while now for residential construction.</p></li>
<li><p>What we have right now in terms of housing will not be sustainable in 20-30 years; the suburban / exurban house with 2.2 kids, dog, and picket fence and all that will go the way of the dinosaur once gasoline and other energy sources are priced accordingly; people may return to the cities, and in smaller but more upscale houses. We already see this in automobiles ($30k for a Mini?). Wouldn’t that create a need for architects?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Just curious to run my pet theories across real practitioners.</p>
<p>higgins2013: I’m speaking as a middle-aged licensed architect w/Ivy M.Arch residing and working in a major-market city. When it comes to my peers in other professions I suspect I have made more than some, but less than others. However I have made a lot more money than I ever expected to make in this profession (I always assumed I would be broke and happy) and it has provided a nice living for my family and I. I am still optimistic about the profession and continue to hire some really bright and motivated architects coming out of school. I did not discourage my son (a sophomore at Clemson) from studying architecture, so I still think there is a future here.</p>
<p>I do think there are major changes taking place in the industry, much of it driven by technology and I am amazed at the number of architecture firms that seem to have their heads stuck in the sand. Frankly I am more worried about the 50+ year old architects who are being driven out of the profession than about the recent graduates. I saw a huge chunk of the profession driven out when CAD came along, and I think that BIM will have an even greater impact. I don’t want to downplay your concerns, but I still look back happily to the day I decided to switch from engineering to architecture.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>I will start by giving you my #1 piece of advice. A smart career is one you are happy in. That being said, you also have to make some money. You can always make money as an architect. Did you know that movie and video game companies need architects to design buildings in their movies/games? There are countless other jobs for architects, if the housing economy isn’t the best.
I will be majoring in architecture this fall :)</p>
<p>Higgins is right on the money here. I get asked a lot if architecture is a wise career choice for young people. I always say: provided you like working very long hours and provided you have an independent income. Otherwise, what’s not to like? </p>
<p>Seriously, one of the great things about the practice of architecture is the variety of tasks involved. One day you’re an attorney (code, zoning, feasibility), the next you’re an engineer, the next you’re a marketer, the next you’re an accountant, the next you’re a computer programmer, the next you’re an artist, and then you draw stair details for a few weeks ;)</p>
<p>Just go in with your eyes open. Individual results vary, but long hours and low pay are the most-common complaints among architects lucky enough to have jobs in the first place.</p>
<p>Granted the OP asks is it smart to <em>major</em> in architecture. And a BA or BS in Architecture does not preclude you from going to law school or business school or whatever. So it’s not a death sentence!</p>