It is time to look for your second full time architectural job out of college, but what’s important this time around? Preparing for an interview for that first job was fairly simple as you would have focused on projects you did in college and some internship experience. Is that still relevant? How do you show work you have done while at a firm? Do you need to spend the time creating a whole new portfolio?
This post is meant to help you define what you feel you need to show to best highlight your strengths, skills, and passions. Whether you are ready to move on to a new firm or were laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, all the same advice applies.
Key Questions
Here are some questions that you should be able to answer or explain going into an interview.
- Why are you looking to leave your current firm?
- Have a reason, but this is not the time to speak negatively or harshly about anything. Architecture is a small community where you never know who knows whom. Also everyone knows that each firm is unique. Be prepared for this question honestly while not throwing anyone under a bus.
- Why are you interested in this firm?
- In college, I was always taught to research the firm which meant knowing specific projects that inspired you. Now that you have worked for a firm you should have more specific things you are looking for. Is there a specific project type you want to learn? Is there a work culture you are looking for? Are their specific thought leaders in the firm that inspire you? Are there flexibility type options you are looking for? Is there something specific you are NOT looking for in regards to culture, projects, and people? This expands way beyond a “cool” project that you liked in their portfolio.
- What did you do while laid off? (If laid off)
- Did you get home projects done? Define what you want in your next career move? Enjoy spending time with family? Teach a child? Volunteer? This is a general question to learn more about you as a person. You should not be ashamed that you were laid off. If a company wants to hold that against you, it is not a company you want to work for.
It is important to have questions of your own for the interviewers. You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. You need to create questions that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. The questions are meant for you to gain an understanding of the company’s culture, their values, your role, their personal experiences, and so on. I have often learned things that made me more or less excited about the position based on asking good questions that required explanation, stories, or examples from the interviewers.
Resume
Keep this to one page! Period, no exceptions. No two pages. No printing double sided. One simple clean page.
- Name
- State(s) Architect Registration (if you are registered)
- Contact information
- Link to a digital portfolio (I also have mentorarchitect.com listed)
- Experience
- Company, location, month/year start and end/current
- Latest Job Title
- If you have grown to different job titles within the same company, list those out like they were separate jobs with dates and roles.
- List of project types (ie. healthcare, higher education, K-12, residential)
- List of responsibilities
- Word choice is really important here. I keep this to short and concise sentences.
- Professional activities
- Are you involved with the AIA?
- Do you hold a leadership position in an organization?
- Note: This is not about belonging to as many organizations as possible. There are only so many hours in a day. Being more involved in a few organizations is better use of your time than being just a member for 10 organizations.
| Did you…. | |
| “Lead” or “co-lead” an initiative in the office? | |
| “Start” or “organize” something | |
| “Prepare” particular presentations, documents, drawings | |
| “Mentor” anyone? | |
| “Create” something new and innovative? |
Try to find the words that speak the most to you as a person/professional and are verbs that are engaging. This is also an opportunity for the interviewers to ask you to expand upon a few other things. You need to be prepared to do so.
Work Sample
Rather than redesigning a portfolio, think about creating work sample sheets. Think of this as a one-page brochure of a single project that you worked on. Leaving it to one page means that it is simple, keeps you from providing too much unnecessary information, and can easily be a hard copy or digital presentation. The format from page to page (project to project) should be a similar format if you put multiple sheets together in one PDF or document, but each sheet can also stand alone. It is a quick and easy way to share one or multiple projects. Also, you can customize the projects types that best complement the firm you are interviewing with.
If you were laid off and don’t have access to the work you have done, it is perfectly okay to reach out to your previous employer to get examples of your work or photos of projects to help get a new job. Most employers completely understand the importance of showing your work during an interview. If they will not provide you with anything or not respond, I would definitely explain that in an interview that your previous employer refused to provide some examples of your work for them. A good best practice is saving examples of your work as you move through the design process – an awesome sketch/diagram you did, a rendering, a detail you’re proud of, photos, etc. That way you have what you need and don’t need to ask for it later.
Let me give you an example of what I put together for a work sample sheet. Each project/sheet varies in what type of information I put on the sample. If it’s a finished project I will likely have photos of the completed project. A project that was put on hold may just have renderings. For a small project, I may have a black/white 3D view or axon from Revit to show my modeling capabilities. If there was a particular concept sketch, design iteration process, or diagram I may have that in there. (If I was the creator of it.)
It all depends on the project, what YOU did on the project, the story you want to tell, the lessons you learned, and what about this project stands out that you want to show to others. And as with any college portfolio, the work samples are not EVERY project you have ever worked on. It’s meant to be the highlights. It is also important to not fill a sheet to maximum capacity full of photos and text to make sure there is a balance of white space. Pick what is important and speak to the projects details and lessons learned. If you can’t speak in detail about a project you should NOT make a work sample for it.
Typical information I may provide on a work sample (not ALL):
- Project Name
- Project Locations
- My Role on the Project
- Typical job title, which is not a description of duties. But be prepared to answer that question as roles based on your job title vary greatly from firm to firm.
- You will likely get asked questions in your interview about your exact role on the project. A “designer” in one firm may mean more junior staff while another may typically refer to a design principal that way. But regardless it is a great way to start the conversation and have people ASK the question to learn about you.
- Completion Date (Month, Year)
- Even if it is in the future.
- Should have a general idea of the project’s timeline. Double-check your calendar, find the certificate of completion, or the final pay application
- Project size (square feet)
- This is easily found in a contract or estimate it from your BIM model.
- Project Cost
- If you don’t know it, you can find this information in a pay application, in a contract for the project, or if your firm keeps project information in a database.
- Images (photos and/or renderings)
- Always identify if you were or were not the person taking the photo or creating the rendering. If you did build and generate the rendering OWN IT! That firm may need that skill set and you need to be honestly about your capabilities. If you did not, be honest and give credit to others.
- Project Awards & Highlights
- If a project won an AIA, Master Builder Association, etc award put it on there!
- If the project was featured in a magazine, note it!
- Was this part of a design competition?
What I don’t have shown but am ready to answer with each of the projects I show in my work sample, and am prepared to talk about in an interview include:
- A challenge I faced with a project
- The biggest lesson learned from the project
- The team size, and who I was responsible for guiding/giving tasks to
- What phases of the design and construction process I was a part of
Experience Page
This is where I keep the information of all the projects I have worked on. In the spreadsheet I keep all the information listed in the work sample page. The work experience page is nicely formatted and a simple single page sheet. This is more of a marketing page for myself. I have a head shot, name, associations, education, professional registration, membership, list of work/projects, and if there is room a few photos or renderings at the bottom. If your project list doesn’t fit on a sheet I would limit the sheet to more recent projects and/or project types relevant to the position to you being interviewed for.
For me, a typical project listed has the information shown below:
- Project Name
- If it is a renovation I have that in the name. Everything else is new construction
- Project Location
- My Role
- You may be the “Project Architect” of a specific project, but your job title in the company may be different.
I debated putting cost OR project square footage for each, but for mine I chose to leave that information off. (But I have it available in my spreadsheet, if I change my mind in the future) I have a few project photos at the bottom of the sheet to show design. I do not show a picture of every project listed. The point of this page is to show the types of projects you worked on, highlight experience, and show project type diversity.
You need to be prepared to answer questions about any of the projects you list. If you can’t remember the project, it is better to remove it from your list rather than stumble on your words in an interview.
What do I keep in my back pocket?
I always have a physical copy of my college portfolio. It is a simple 8”x8” booklet format so it is easy to carry around. If yours is a really large format I’d recommend bringing a digital copy. (I typically have my tablet with me in case I need to show any digital copies and it is all loaded on my desktop in case there are any wifi or firewall issues.)
A recent project drawing set. I can say I have never brought out a drawing set in an interview, but if you are going for a more draftsman or construction-based position you may find it relevant for telling a story. More often, if you want to speak to a specific detail, put it on your work sample page.
Also digitally is my resume, work samples, and experience sheet. I always bring hard copies of those for each person in the room of my interview, but you never know what could happen. You could get stuck in a big rainstorm walking to the interview and everything gets soaked! It’s a good laugh to start off the interview and having back up shows you can be prepared if this were to happen going for a project interview or a client meeting.
Again, these are some SUGGESTIONS for you to think about when starting to prepare for the second, third, etc full time job interview. You may have something else to show during an interview that is unique to you. You may have done an installation for a festival. An AIA design competition that was never built. Don’t be afraid to bring that along if you feel it is important and relevant to showcasing who you are as a design professional.
Written by
Katelyn Rossier, AIA, LSSBB