As someone who struggled to see her portfolio ready for anything other than her submissions, finding work experience was something I wanted but found difficult applying for, especially when it was a placement for more than 2 weeks. You see it isn’t as clear-cut as it is made out to be, and it isn’t as straightforward to go find work experience. Once you leave university whether for the end of your year or for completing your degree altogether you are competing for an experience that everyone is competing for. So this is where this blog post will come in handy. Don’t get me wrong, it is extremely useful and I for one wished I had put aside my self-doubt to apply to work at some of the places that provide this opportunity. To get those opportunities you have to put yourself out there, as vulnerable as it may seem no one is going to give you a chance unless you quite literally ask for them.
And now more than ever when workplaces are in lockdown for the most part - meaning most of their employees are working remote, a lot of architecture and design firms simply can’t take on more staff. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t look for any experience and ask, you definitely should, but here are a few things you can do which will help your CV if it can’t get work experience.
Design your CV
What are you talking about? Shouldn’t that be left for your portfolio? Well if there is one way that can make you stand out is if you pay attention to the first impressions your CV can give. Don’t go overboard but also remind yourself that you are a designer, after all, might as well show it. It is a great way to demonstrate your skills in practice and your attention to layout, font and organisation. Don’t get carried away though! The CV serves a specific purpose and like your drawings and portfolio, the content is just as important as the way you demonstrate it is. Besides, there are loads of examples you can find online, so be creative but don’t let it become the sole focus of your skillset, you want your CV to give hints of your potential and not be a distraction from the projects you want to showcase in your portfolio.
Learn a new software - or master the ones you already know
I think this one you’ve probably heard before. If you have left uni - or are looking for internships in between your degree this one is great even if you don’t get employed, it makes you a better designer overall. Architecture is a multidisciplinary industry - so exploring other skills - whether it is getting better at making digital illustration on Illustrator or learning how to make photorealistic renders on Rhino and Vray, they’ll most definitely be extra skills that will make it easier for you to explore other design methods to producing your design work.
The more skills you can build over this lockdown period the better it will be for you. There are many programmes out there, and each practice is different so it wouldn’t be productive for me to tell you that you need to learn specific software but for the most part there are skills that the majority of designers use. To give you a better idea on what software to learn just browse through job postings and see what software pops up more than not. This isn’t to say learn a software because a practice uses it, learn because you want to give yourself the opportunity to produce whatever design work you want, more comfortably.
Here is a list of programmes you should learn the basics of if you are struggling to find somewhere to start.
For 2D + 3D Line drawing:
AutoCAD/Vectorworks
For design tasks:
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign
For 3D Modelling:
Rhino/Sketch-Up/Revit
For rendering:
Vray/Lumion
This isn’t to say that you need to learn all of these - or master them all but it would come in handy to get to grips with the basics of a few of these. There is so many other software out there so please don’t be limited by this list, the limit is yours to decide.
Take on another hobby - something that doesn’t have a direct connection to architecture
Now, this is where you can differentiate yourself from others and show your interests. It might be learning a new language, picking up a new hobby such as photography or craft making. The list for this is endless, but there is a reason why I said to learn a skill that doesn’t immediately correlate to architecture. You are a person, with interests and passions with soft skills and a personality, and this is where you can demonstrate this.
The important thing here is to do something that you genuinely want to learn, don’t learn something because so and so said it will look good on your CV. Recruiters are humans too and so will the people you want to work for after all. You can love architecture and have an array of skills that show you are a person, and not a printer. Besides, it is a chance to network with others too when you share a common interest - and now you don’t even have to leave your house to do it.
Enter competitions
This is a recent discovery that I wish I had realised sooner! There are so many different competitions, national and international all with various different challenges and tasks to complete. This is one of those things that will allow you to practise some of your existing skills outside of the studio. Most competitions tend to be free and some with monetary prizes. The idea of producing work for another project will push you to work on a deadline for something that might be more interesting to you than your university projects. Some of the prizes are given to the winners and if you don’t win there are honorary mentions. Now although this should be your aim - to produce great design work, the competition openness can make it difficult to win, so take this as a chance to add to your existing portfolio, whether you win or not. I’ll link some competitions below that are still open (some have just opened) in hopes that you find something that you will find of interest to you.
As for most things just be sure of the rules and requirements before you enter to make sure you can do the work that not only interests you - but will give a positive impression to those who you might design for. Who knows maybe it might be the chance that helps you get work or a to the interview stage of your applications.
Network with other architecture students
Talking to other students who are either still studying, in work or looking for work a variety of perspectives and feedback is really useful to see ways you can improve the current state of your applications. This might seem easier to have done in person but it is very possible to do in the world of social media. Many platforms, individuals and architecture organisations are currently open to interacting and helping students out. All of this is for free. Just to name a few architectural platforms such as the discord group made by Sana at To scale and the Architectural Social created by Stephen Drew.
These are places to network with other students to receive real and insightful but specific help in your portfolio making and job hunt experience. The Architectural Social Club is a new fantastic platform that connects architecture students with the help they need from others with more experience and recruitment backgrounds in the architecture world of employment. It is a great chance for employers to seek architectural graduates, it is so exclusive that you will need to request to sign up. And a chance to connect with other architecture students. If you really want feedback that is tailored to you - or to simply network with others who are looking for work too it is a great place to be. I’ve only recently joined, but so far the activity and help that is available to everyone are great so far. Getting feedback on your CV is just as important as your portfolio, and this is the place to get help in all things related to finding work. This couldn’t have started at a better time!
I hope that this article will help you remember some of the things that will help you out for your CV in making it but also adding to it whilst unable to seek work experience. When you look for the opportunity to improve yourself and showcase this on your CV you will no doubt make a better impression on everyone, including employers.
Competitions:
https://www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com/
Networking:
If discord is something you are familiar with
https://discord.com/invite/b3UCMyc
The Architectural Social:
https://www.architecturesocial.com/