Architecture Addiction. Getting you where you need to be.
Our career fair was Friday.
Before I tell you about it, let’s do some simple math.
There are about 500 of us.
(plus)
A few recent graduates
(plus)
MIT’s graduate architecture program. [First years = about 24 people]
(minus)
the 16 firms that came to the career fair
(equals)
not a whole lot for hope for anybody.
I went in the morning, dressed up, made up, resumes and design sheets in hand, and I waited in line with everybody else.
While waiting in line, I met some students from MIT. Their program isn’t large enough for their own career fair. I found out that we have the same projects.
“Do our critics and your critics have secret meetings together?” I asked.
“They’re married to each other,” the MIT student replied. Two of our critics are maried to two of their critics.
Huh.
So I waited for a total of two hours and got to speak to a total of four firms.
A lot of firms, I heard from other people, weren’t even sure if they were even hiring.
One recruiter (and I’ll let him remain anonymous) told me that he used to foresee their workload by three to four months, but with the economy the way it is, he can only see three to four weeks in advance.
Which put me, who was only looking for a summer internship and not a “real” job, in a better spot, he said.
Then he confided, “There are easier ways to make more money. If you can be successful in architecture, you can be successful in anything.”
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Know of some others I can add here? Let me know. Have you already visited some of these places...or planning on it? Let me know and I will feature your story and your photos here!
It is my dream to start a new kind of architecture school. Unlike most architecture schools, you wouldn't have to submit GRE scores or good grades or letters of recommendation. You wouldn't have to put the rest of your life on hold for 3 to 5 years. You wouldn't have to accrue tens of thousands of dollars in debt. At my architecture school, anyone could come for a few weeks and learn how to build a house with their own two hands. My teachers would take skills and concepts from some of these other workshops I've listed above... except classes would be held year-round to make it easy to fit into your schedule. I would have a number of different campuses around the country that would teach building designs approriate to the local climate. And I need your help. Can you donate land for a campus? Can you teach a workshop? Can you provide start-up capital? Let me know.
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