advice to a newly grad...

[romina]

hi. my name is romina and i'm 23 yrs. old. i just graduated recently with a bachelor's degree in architecture, however, i am having second thoughts whether to persue a career in this field.( i feel so inadequate and very much insecure with my ability to create impressive designs) perhaps, its the transition phase from school to the actual thing which brought about these doubts, i do not know. is this confusion phase normal? please do share your insights about this matter, i would really appreciate it.

thanks.[/quote]

[Professorm]

I felt the same after my part 1 however found the workplace a lot different & a lot more enjoyable, take time out ot find the right job & give it a good chance.

[JWmHarmon]

You wrote, "i feel so inadequate and very much insecure with my ability to create impressive designs)"

You may be surprised to find that many, if not most, college graduates feel this same way regardless of what career path they choose to follow. College classes tend to limit you to a relatively small selection of required courses for your major and/or your core curriculum classes. When you graduate you have so many options that it is sometimes difficult to decide what to do. Some people even go into fields completely different from their majors.

One often does not realize that a college graduate is trained only "to learn how to learn," with specific skills in "learning how to learn" something in your chosen field. You are not trained, in most cases, to be ready to jump right in at a proficient level. You will need a few weeks to a few years of actual on-the-job training to become proficient at what you do.

Do not be concerned that you can not design "impressive" buildings like Frank Gehry or Zaha Hadid can. How many years do you think they spent designing "regular" buildings before they created their "masterpieces?" Much of the work you will do as an architect will be support work for the principal architects in some firm where you will receive additional training and learn the ins and outs of what really goes on in an architectural firm. You will learn, through on-the-job training, so much more than you ever learned in architectural school. After 5 - 10 years of actual worklife experience you will realize how little you actually learned in college. (At least I hope you are intelligent enough to figure that out in a few years.) But your college training is a necessary step along the way. We must first learn to crawl, before we can walk; then we learn to gain our balance before we are ready to run.

Rather than focusing on your weaknesses, focus on your strengths. You do have many strengths, even if you feel that you don't. Decide how to develop your strengths and how you will market yourself in your job search. Note your weaknesses and work on them striving to improve (not overnight, but over a period of months or even years).

Also examine what compromises you feel comfortable with. You will not like every aspect of your job. The positives should outweigh the negatives; if they don't you should look for more satisfying work.

You may decide that you want to persue another line of work rather than stay in architecture. Only you can decide that for yourself. By this time you should have developed enough skill to define a project, decide how to work on the details of the project, and follow through to complete the project. Those skills will be useful in any career you pursue.

Give yourself enough time to evaluate what you want in the way of a career, figure out how you can get there, then go for it!

Best Wishes
JWmHarmon

[RWL]

Mr. Harmon has it quite right. In addition may I offer--
1. You will not be a designer in your first jobs. There is too much for you
to learn about construction, documentation, etc. Usually designer are experienced folks who prove to have the flair for design.
2. Talk to others including those in the office you work in to get their ideas and thoughts and how they pursued their careers.
3. Realize that there is a treedendous amount of information about professional practice that you have not been told about, much less instructed on in shcool.
4. It will take time for you to find your specific niche in the profession where you feel and know you can work with satisfaction to yourself and your bosses. This will be a realtively small segment of practice, and it may well work out to be something other than design.
5. Relax. Pay attention. Ask. Listen. Search
Good luck! Glad to have you aboard!

[romina]

to all those who took the time to share their words of wisdon, i thank you. (what you have written has definitely tipped the scale, so to speak) this ordeal now seems bearable. its a comforting thought that i am not alone on this one. (and quite normal, i suppose.) i'm finally getting the encouragement i so badly needed from those in the profession, and yes, i think i'm ready to give it a shot.
again, thanks.

[chewich]

romina i have a little message that may help other students before reaching the phase u r in now.

training during summer with some architects or in some firms can put a student or at least show the student what is waiting for him in the professional life and not be limited by the academic one .

i think ur teachers should warn u to where u r reaching in life and how it works right here.

[WorldBuilder]

Romina, I recommend you read this manifesto right away: Architecture is dead. Long Live Architecture. http://www.caltrops.com/article0013.php

Then, write your own manfiesto (and why not post it here? (or THERE?)). You'd be amazed at how writing down your thoughts can really bright your true feelings to light. Hope that helped!