Strategies for Unemployed Architects

With layoffs sweeping the profession, architects of all stripes should prepare for the worst.

By Jenna M. McKnight

Is anyone hiring? “I’m getting many more requests on the civil engineering side,” says Carol Metzner of Metzner Group, a recruitment agency for architects, engineers, and planners. Designers with resumes she would have “once drooled over” are now looking at other types of jobs; she just placed one candidate, for instance, at an architecture firm looking for a director of federal programs.

Indeed, there seems to be a smattering of openings at firms with government commissions. Firms focused on institutional work—particularly healthcare—have advertised openings, although even that once-impervious sector is now taking a hit. For architects able to relocate, there are reportedly opportunities in Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. And of course, many are optimistic that President Barack Obama’s $787-billion stimulus plan will pump life into the design and construction industries.

The reality is, though, that even top candidates might not be able to land a position right now. How do they ride out the recession?

"You have to get creative as to what type of work you're willing to do," Clark says. While few industries are recession-proof, architects might find work in fields such as graphic design, computer modeling, store branding, facility management, surveying, and product sales. Paola Tocci, president of FD+CC, a company that provides pre-construction services such as cost estimating and scheduling, recently announced at a forum in New York City for unemployed architects that her company is hiring. “Think outside of the box and learn a new set of skills,” she told the crowd. 

Facing a bleak job market after graduating from The Bartlett School of Architecture last year, Alastair Stokes, in London, chose to try his hand at project management. “I’m working for a charity that has been working on moving to larger premises,” he says. His job is to oversee all aspects of the project: finding a site, dealing with an architect and contractor, helping raise funds, providing quality control. “I have found this to be a very useful job coming out of university, going from a world where really anything is possible if you can imagine it,” he explains, “to one where there are serious budgets and people at the end of the phone. It has been intense and often painful training.”

Those forced to take a non-professional job should try aligning it with their design interests. Architects with a proclivity for hospitality projects, for instance, could get a job at a hotel. It’s not the most uplifting solution, but when the recession ends—and it will—they will have experience in their area of design expertise, rather than a resume gap. “You really have to focus on connecting the dots for people,” Clark says. “Weave the story so it makes sense.”

Stay involved

Ben Robbins, a Denver architect who has logged five years in the profession, was halfway through taking his licensing exams when he was let go from a small firm in October. He hasn’t sat idle. In addition to completing his exams and becoming a registered architect, he’s kept busy sprucing up his resume, combing the Internet for job posts, and networking. He also is volunteering at the local art institute. “What I’ve really gotten into is doing student juries,” he says. “It’s a way to stay fresh and keep my skills polished.”

For jobless architects who want to stay in the profession—and keep their spirits elevated—staying active is crucial. This could mean taking continuing education courses, preparing for exams, serving on community boards, organizing city tours, or volunteering at local schools or civic organizations. It could also mean embarking on a more personal endeavor, such as building furniture or starting a blog. Alec Heehs, a 48-year-old jobless designer in Manhattan, says he’s preparing to take the licensing exams, while also helping a local nonprofit, Friends of the High Line, manage its Web site. “It’s nice to be in a bustling office environment,” he says.

Heehs also is attending Not Business As Usual workshops at New York’s Center for Architecture, where topics include advocacy work, resume building, and improving presentation skills. Sherida Paulsen, FAIA, principal of PKSB Architects and president of AIA New York, says the local chapter wasn’t proactive enough in past downturns, when architects fled the profession. “This time we’re trying to be prepared,” she says. “We’re trying to keep people engaged, trying to keep people involved in design and construction.”

Robbins and his wife—she’s a still-employed architect at a Denver firm—often joke that they spent so much time in school, and racked up so much student loan debt, that they should have become doctors. But despite the pitfalls, and the dismal job market, Robbins says he is determined to stick with architecture. “It’s almost a curse, an affliction,” he says of his trade, “but I don’t think I would be content doing anything else.”

 

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