I feel really sorry for my friend. She’s just finished six years of study to become an architect and now she’s really struggling to get a job. It’s such a competitive industry and it’s really hard to break into if you haven’t got experience under your belt. But, how do you get experience when no one wants to give you a chance? It’s an impossible challenge and it sets young people up for failure (like a lot of things these days).
Back in the old days, people would be able to just walk straight up to the top commercial architecture firms and say they were looking for a job. It was that simple. If you looked the part, seemed eager and wanted work, you got work. Nowadays, you need to have five years of experience by the time you graduate just to get an interview. My poor friend – I feel so disheartened for her. It would be so hard to be in her position.
I work in a different industry to my friend, one that is also really hard to get into but not as hard as beginning work as an architect. One of the main issues with trying to get a job as an architect is that it’s so competitive. Seriously, my friend is up against candidates that have worked or interned at the most established residential architects Brighton has to offer. Yes she’s done six years of study and she’s incredibly talented, but when you have on your resume that all you have done is study and someone else has on their resume that they worked at the best residential architecture firm in Brighton, it’s kind of hard to compete.
I hope my friend is able to get her foot in the door somehow, somewhere. She’s worked so hard and she deserves recognition for her work. I’ll let you guys know how she goes.