Hi ! I graduated in November last year with a Bachelors of architecture and struggling to find any junior position in firms. I've been working with family for the past 10 months in a small building company in Regional NSW, doing mainly project administration but also office design, and drafting certain elements of the project (accessible bathrooms, landscape plans, parking plans etc).

And over the last 5 months I've cold emailed 50 firms from South Sydney down to Ulladulla a with cover letter, portfolio and resume, as well as applied to any relevant job postings. Yet not much action happening. I'm really unsure of how to progress and feeling pretty stuck. I know I have good software skills, relevant work experience but cannot get my foot in the door.

I think I really need some advice for getting a junior role in NSW. I would really appreciate any input and any alternate ways to force my way into a firm.

I'm also thinking of branching out to project administration roles or estimating. Is there a market for jobs in any related industry? I'm super super super open to trying anything if it means I'll be employed.

Thank you ! help

Hello! I'm currently studying my Bachelors in Architecture and Planning in the UK and enjoy my course, however, I wanted to explore other careers I could go into with this course. I've always enjoyed the balance of Maths and Creativity, however, my course has very little Maths involved in the curriculum, which I would like to do more of.

For Masters, I was thinking about potentially going into Architecture, Cinematics and Videogame Architecture, or Infrastructure Investment and Finance as some options so far.

I feel like at the stage I am at now, I should start figuring out the specific role I want to be in to set goals I can work towards. Any role suggestions would be appreciated, thank you!

Hello, and I hope you’re all having a nice day!

My name is Sato. I’m an architect from Brazil, where I currently live. I’m 37 years old and have been working as an architect for about 13 years now.

Long story short, my girlfriend is from England, and we’ve been discussing different possibilities for our future, one of them being me moving to the UK.

I’d really like to hear the perspective of people currently working in architecture, engineering, or the construction industry in the UK. I understand that the process of becoming fully registered as an architect in the UK can be quite complicated, but I’m also interested in getting a broader perspective on the job market and the industry in general.

A little bit about my career: I work mainly with retail design and construction. I have my own company, although it’s still quite early to say how successful it will ultimately be. We started the company in 2023, so this is only our third year of operation.

Here in Brazil, we provide a full service, from the initial design solution all the way through to the actual construction or renovation, guiding our clients through the entire process.

With this new company, we are also trying to move into the residential market. Although residential work is relatively new to us, our experience in design and construction has given us enough confidence to venture into this new area.

My biggest concern is probably my formal education. I have a Bachelor’s degree, but no postgrad degree or other major academic qualifications. The university I attended is well regarded here, but at the end of the day, it is still a degree from a developing country. I’m not from Europe or North America, and on top of that, I’m not particularly young anymore — I’m basically 40 by now, and starting fresh seems rather daunting.

I guess I’m just a little lost and would really appreciate some perspective from people who are actually working in the industry in the UK today.

I love what I do. I love working as an architect, and I really don’t want to give that up. At the same time, I have serious doubts about how feasible this kind of move would be for someone in my position.

Any insight into the job market, recognition of overseas qualifications and experience, registration, salaries, or even what employers generally think of experienced architects coming from abroad would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all in advance for your time, patience, and perspective.

Failed PPD twice and somehow got the exact same scaled score of 525 both times. I felt much better prepared on the second attempt, so getting the same result was pretty discouraging.

For prep, I used PPI targeted chapters, AREquestions quizzes and mock exams, the NCARB practice exam, selected Amber Book questions, and my own targeted notes/formula sheets. I also reviewed my wrong answers pretty heavily rather than just reading material.

For anyone who failed PPD and later passed, what actually changed things for you? Was it a different resource like Amber Book, Black Spectacles, Hyperfine, MEEB, Building Construction Illustrated, etc., or was it more about changing your test-taking strategy and doing more practice questions? I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who was stuck around the 520–540 range before finally passing.

What software do you use to make shop drawings? Presets, layouts, company logo. I'm having trouble accessing AUTOCAD and am waiting on response from them to give me access. But is there any other software that can do 2D shop drawings? Simpler the better.

Imagine: two architecture students helping each other grow — you give a thoughtful critique on a stranger's project, and in return, you receive the same on yours. Would you be part of this exchange?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we present our designs. With modern rendering engines, we can simulate exact light bounces, physically-based materials, and microscopic imperfections down to a grain of dust. But I wonder: when a render becomes 100% indistinguishable from a photograph, does it sometimes strip away the "poetry" or the emotional artistic vision of the design?
Moreover, as architecture students or professionals, do we actually need to chase hyper-realism just to attract clients, or can a strong artistic style and careful framing speak louder than raw technical realism?
As designers and visualizers, are we moving towards making architectural art, or are we just becoming camera simulators? I’d love to hear your thoughts on where the balance lies.

I’m looking for some realistic career and business advice from people actively working in the industry or running their own studios.

I am a licensed architect who recently switched industries to work as a BIM Coordinator for a general contractor. Because of this pivot, I rarely touch the design or visual side of things anymore, and I find myself missing it. I have extensive past experience running renders, building complex models, and doing post-processing in Photoshop.

I’m strongly considering setting up a part-time architectural visualization business to run renders for clients after hours. Since I have limited free time outside of my standard 9-to-5, I want to see if this is truly worth pursuing.

Questions I have for this community:

Is this a viable side hustle anymore?

• With generative AI rendering tools rapidly advancing, are clients (contractors, small developers, local architects) still willing to pay a premium rate for custom part-time work, or is AI squeezing out the lower-to-middle tier of the market?

How do you compete in the market with cheaper overseas labor?

• As a part-timer based in the US (Washington DC area), my rates naturally need to reflect local living costs. Is it still possible to carve out a niche against low cost, high-speed overseas teams when you only have a few hours a week to give?

Does my tech stack seem doable?

• I plan on using my PC gaming Rig that has a RTX 3060 Ti, 32gigs of ddr4 ram, and a old intel i7 processor as my work machine.
• The software stack I plan on using is then: Architecture viewer/bridge -> Blender (modeling/prep) -> D5 Render (staging, lighting, rendering) -> Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop/Post-production)

I'd love to hear from anyone who has successfully built an ArchViz side business while maintaining a full-time job. Is it worth the squeeze anymore, or has the landscape shifted too much?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

Hi, I'm a licensed architect from the Philippines with 3 years of experience in various building typologies (high rise residential, educational, commercial, etc). I am currently looking for design firms who offer full remote work setup. Would greatly appreciate any leads. Thank you!

hi currently in my mid 20s working as a part 1 and thinking of going into masters but as any other indecisive person and who has seen what life is like as a part 2 by observing my seniors, i genuinely dont see things getting any better. sleepless nights, many hours from family stolen and that's just the surface. should i continue into masters knowing this is probably not the life i want and if so what kind of alternative job can i choose with this degree and experience. and if i do continue into masters, will life actually get better?

I’m considering getting a M.Arch but I’m wondering what the job market is like? How is AI affecting entry level jobs?

Hi everyone! I’m an electrical engineering student doing some research into how people find and work with information inside their companies.

I’m specifically interested in situations where you knew the information existed somewhere, but finding it, figuring out which version was correct, understanding it, or piecing together what happened was more difficult than it should have been.

For example, maybe the information was buried in a shared drive, SharePoint, old emails, meeting notes, Slack/Teams, project folders, or you eventually gave up and asked the one person who somehow knows everything.

I’m not selling anything. I’m trying to understand what the actual problems are before making assumptions about solutions.

My main question:

If you have an example, I’d also love to know:

• Where did you eventually find the information, and roughly how long did it take?
• What made it difficult: poor search, too many systems, outdated versions, bad organization, undocumented knowledge, permissions, something else?
• Is this something that happens regularly, or was it a one-off?

Industry/role would also be helpful if you’re comfortable sharing it. No company names or confidential information needed.

Even mundane examples are useful. I’m specifically trying to understand what actually frustrates people in their day-to-day work rather than what sounds like a problem on paper.

(Edit)

THIS IS THE FIRST PAGE I HAVE MADE NOT THE FIRST PAGE IN THE PORTFOLIO - i still intend on adding other art work.

I'm planning to apply for Architecture BSc at UCL Bartlett for 2027 entry, and I'm currently putting together my portfolio, i want to get it done as early as possible.

I'm really hoping to get feedback on the first page i have completed, which focuses on my 3D/digital work in Blender. I add some space/astronomy renders, one of which is a black hole, galaxy and exoplanet, alongside with a small amount of process/development work.

I'm trying to make the portfolio feel personal and demonstrate multiple creative skills rather than making every page purely architectural. Altough i do need to demonstrate more architectual work but i do have more work experience programmes that i will be able to add to my work. I'm also planning on including photography (from my A level work) , observational drawings with pen and wash, more architectural work experience, and other digital art work.

Hey guys. Honestly, I'm looking for some support and some love. Let me start by saying that I love this profession. I love this job. I love designing and I love managing projects and providing clients with what they need. I don't mind the sub par pay or even the slightly longer days.

What is killing me though, is never being good enough. Each project has to be better than the last, and not in a "this is what I learned from the last project that we can implement here" but in a "we need to reinvent the wheel" way. I have to be faster, smarter, and more creative in each new project. Every building needs to be a new diamond, something revolutionary and innovative while also being realistic and within budget. It's not enough to just be good.

This pressure isn't just coming from within, but from the firm I work for as well. It's become a voice in my head, and it's making me a worse architect.

My location isn't really relevant to this discussion but I'm in the Nordics.

Hello, writing on behalf of my sister who doesn’t have Reddit. She wants to become an architect and is currently going to school at UNR in Reno, NV (USA). She’s a freshman studying Civil Engineering and plans to do a Masters in Architecture after graduating. As an engineering PM in the energy sector I know how important internships are to building connections in your field and determining if you like the day-to-day before graduation. What are some of the firms we should be looking at for internship applications? Are there bigger names we should be targeting? We have family is California so would prefer West Coast opportunities if possible. Her goal is to do a more “creative” engineering/architecture internship to balance out the more technical schooling she’s getting as an engineer. Is it worth it for her to pursue a Fortune 100 like Disney Imagineering? Also, are there any particular clubs or portfolio items she should be preparing for her professional resume? I know this job market is tough so we want to do our best to help her stand out. Thank you!

I've always bought fairly high spec laptops but I'm considering getting a desktop this time which will be much higher spec. I work from 2 different offices so I still want to be able to run the programs so am considering a remote desktop program. I've had a look and there seems to be some good ones but just wanted to ask the community to see if there were any particularly good ones with no lag and good display?

Hello po architects!! 🫶🏻 Need your advice and tips on this. How do you handle the scope and limitations of your design services to your clients?? (in terms sa contract agreement)

Ano manner of payment niyo sa project? Naka Honorarium based ba kayo for ocular visit fee niyo sa project? Or included na sa 15% PF niyo if percentage based fee ang payment? (Pre-design stage)

In terms of scope of services, as the AOR of the project, do you still manage to go through your scope yung sa nego/bidding phase ni client w/ contractor..? wherein being mediator between client and contractor, involved pa ba kayo??

or after completion all of the contract docs and archt'l services, final billing na kayo??

Hanggang ilang revisions ina allow niyo sa clients niyo per project?

Thank you so much sa makakapag bigay insights nila dito. 😇

I have completed 2 years of a BA Architecture course in the UK and was wondering if getting into Interior Design was at all possible, provided I create an appropriate portfolio. Is a degree in Interior Design mandatory in the UK, and if not (which seems to be the case based on what I’ve looked at), what are my chances realistically? I’m prepared for it to be very hard and with a miserable pay for the first few years.
Probably worth saying I am based in London. Apologies if this is not the best place to ask!

Currently pursuing masters degree while working a part time job at a very small "family" firm, for a little over a year already. I have no clue what I wanna do exactly in this field so right now I'm just here for experience, and my work is mostly drafting and revit. Everyone is nice, my boss is cool, i do some overtime work but not that much - office culture. Based in Austria.

My university has an abroad exchange program for one semester in south east asia and I got in. I wanna quit, do this exchange abroad, come back and look for another job, and i would be hopefully starting my master's Thesis during that time.

The thing is, I'm already bored of this job; stress, chaos and little organisation, things taking forever to get done (yes my effort and visible output are so out of proportion, so i stay longer but the work still doesn't get finished perfectly :( it's just the nature of the tasks, as my coworker says). The positive is that I'm always learning lots of things like revit tools for professional settings and construction and just how architecture projects get carried (im part of 4 residential projects), besides the friendly office environment. Although i was hoping that architecture work [that i would be involved in] would involve a bit more variety like site and factory visits or more "moving around" rather than just sitting in front of the pc 8 hours a day cleaning a messy 3d model, but this firm is like that and we all do that, so.

So i think im in a lucky position as a newbie to this field and should leverage this and not quit after 1 year... Although everything in me is screaming at me to go to south east asia because it would be eye opening :/

I'm afraid if after quitting this job and being gone for a few months, It would be difficult to find another job. It was already SO hard to find the current one, and I got the offer while looking for an internship, but they wanted 3d modellers so they hired me instead. Wouldn't it be so early to quit after a year ? And the next job might be the same boring and time consuming tasks because I'm still early in my career and that's what juniors are given.. I really like architecture but it's too broad and I can't find my "thing", because i like understanding systems and working around that, but i really know absolutely nothing nor what "job" would i be really perfect for, so im just experimenting in whatever's handed to me. I also think that i would be a better fit in a company, corporate life, with schedules and teams and different departments in a company building and cafeteria and shit, i guess that would compensate for the low pay, lol.

the money felt good. and even though i might have pulled allnighter for this project. i think money is a good motivator to get things done. I need to know what is in demand (quick learner) and where can i find more projects. I am based in India.

For those of you who graduated with an architecture degree but ended up going into a completely different career, what do you do now and why did you decide to leave architecture?