Looking for a graduate role in architecture is competitive.
Especially if you want opportunities in a big city like London. Add a pandemic to the mix and competition just got more challenging when you’ve just graduated. It is hard and it is going to be hard, there is no other way to put it. But it isn’t impossible. If you’ve been looking for work, talking to friends, experts in your field and those who have secured placements you’ll know that finding a full-time job has no exact formula. It is full of experimentation with no guarantee of an outcome that you’ll expect. Someone you know may get a job right out of graduation and you might find yourself exploring an entirely new career pathway. None of it is wrong. None of it means you can’t do ‘architecture’ anymore if that is what your ultimate goal is.
If I’m being honest I’ve been battling with ‘is it for me’ thoughts myself these last few weeks.
You see it is easy to throw your hands up when things aren’t going the way you want them to. You didn’t get to the interview stage let alone a job offer altogether but you are still trying to find a path. One that somehow makes sense to you whilst you navigate yourself around this very complex and complicated industry. You’ve drafted, redrafted, and redrafted a thousand times over, you’ve tailored your CV and cover letter a thousand times over too. Not to mention the countless alterations of your portfolio to make it the best it can be, or at least better than it was the last time you sent out an application. The problem and the solution can seem like one and the same but they aren’t.
I would have hoped by this time of the year I would have been churning out content and advice about getting a job because I finally got one myself. But that isn’t the reality right now, and I know that it may be the same for so many of you right now too. Time and time again it reminds me just how complex this all is, that I can to help you, but the best thing in all of this is helping yourself and there are some battles you are going to face, and sure you don’t have to face them alone, but you will. If there is one thing you learn from this is that you can read all the articles, books, attend all the webinars, seminars, workshops but doing the work, of redrafting and adding work to your portfolio, exploring other skills, seeking ways to become better and actually doing them is where you will grow. It might not equate to an immediate job offer, but I’d like to believe that it is the steps of the staircase you are supposed to take to meet the people you need to meet, to grow and upskill where you need to and to connect with what you truly enjoy and aspire to do.
So we can sit around and romanticise about how we aren’t there yet (wherever that is) but that isn’t going to get you anywhere.
It is the moments like this where you must question yourself - what is it that I really want and although it is easier said than done you must go and chase it. Maybe you needed this time more than you think. It's going to get worse before it gets better so you might as well start because that is always the hardest part.
Your inability to secure a job at the moment is not a reflection of your self worth
If you are doing the work, the upskilling, the competition entries, the networking whichever you have decided to invest your time into just know that you are trying and that is something you can always add to your character that a CV won’t always be able to capture. Companies are struggling too, so don’t assume it is a one-ended conversation of struggle. But don’t stop just there. And certainly don’t give up on yourself. Companies will change and so should you. You know what you need to work on, so ask yourself the serious questions that you need to and have fun chasing those answers.
You’ll get wherever you need to be, just don’t place so much expectation on yourself.
It is tough, so if a break is what you need to reset, do it. Be intentional about it, and keep yourself accountable to your aspirations, you deserve to give yourself that. Your mental health is so important, so take care of that too. You can do it, as cliché as it sounds you really are only limited by what you think you can’t do, and you can do so much, don’t forget that.