Questions about producing an Architectural/ Design Portfolio and Resume

[Señor Popcorn]

Yet more support against plonking. ;P

[Artist]

Hi Kris,

I'm sorry but I don't understand what (GNU) means? I will look in shareware.. I have used this source before.

Can you suggest a webhost to use?

Thank you for your input. Artist.

[Artist]

To the Newsgroup:

Is there 1:1 females practicing in your firm today? Last I look at graduate schools ... in the studios... it was not 1:1. And are the female architects getting paid the same? Same benefits? Same expectations? Really... Let me help you pull the wool out of your eyes!

Female Architects are more likely to get laid off do to not being the bread winner in the family... miss conception most times but it is what it is. Female Architect have to prove themselves more and wait longer to get more responsibility on a project and are questioned all they... for example: I designed a scissors truss for an Elementary School while working for a Pa. firm. One of the Senior Associates was very excited and supportive but my equals were telling me it could not be done and it would not be more economical... I prove them wrong...

Another example was a code review for a large scale project. I was very complete but not as fast as my male counter part working on another project... the male counter part forgot to review the building for a large number of sections but it was okay with the Principles knowing a senior associate was going to review his work. That same Senior Associates call me up personally and complemented me on my work and stated I did an excellent job. Stating that my work equated to much less time for him to do his review of my work... But one of the Principles in the firm told me I was much slower then other counter parts and more or less laid me off for being an excellent skilled worker that his firm didn't want to pay for. He would rather pay for a lesser skilled and not as competent worker. The Principle would rather pay for speed and mistakes then a complete well done job... My experience is female architect are more concern with quality of there work and do not watch the clock as male counter maybe more likely to do

As fare as sexism... all of my atmospheres I have worked in have been nothing but professional... But working on the East Coast and I might add Philadelphia Area... it is still quite hard for a female architect well over and above the cat calling on the job sites.

Can't win for losing...

Artist.

[Artist]

Ron-

Are they a real business card? Really cool idea I will check them out for networking.

[RicodJour]

I read nothing in what you wrote that _any_ person, male or female, wouldn't have experienced.

If you are going into architecture for the lucre, I suggest you re- examine the situation and/or lower your expectations.

R

[Artist]

R-

Not in the profession for money... but do need to live... I am a extremely creative an innovative person... this is why I entered the profession... And if Architecture is a true profession of which it truly is, I will not lower my expectation of it only of the people practicing the profession.

Maybe ... but it was not my feeling when it was happening to me... I am trying to be objective about my passed situations and am looking forward to my future employment.

[RicodJour]

There will be many people that will either actively help or hinder your career. Some of them are in your own firm, some of them are clients, AHJs, etc. There are also many reasons that they may interfere with what you feel should be done. Professional jealousy, simple dislike of you, ulterior motives of their own counter to your objectives, etc., etc. This comes with the territory regardless of what race, creed, or gender.

It's a bell curve just like everything else. There are people that will offer you a job because you're tall and blonde, which is just as wrong as refusing it to you for that reason. It happens. Trying to legislate idiocy out of society is impossible and a stupid effort. If you're good at what you do, able to handle pressure and take care of the details and you're easy to get along with and not absorbed in office politics, you'll do fine wherever you go. If the firm doesn't appreciate those qualities, you're at the _wrong_ firm. Move on.

R

[++]

Dear Artist,

Here's a vocabulary list with example that might help you in reconstructing your story for others:

associate/associates ex. The same Senior Associate called me up, complemented me on my work and stated that I did an excellent job, stating that my attention to detail equated with less review time for him."

Women

pull the wool over someone's eyes. ex. He tried to pull the wool over their eyes, but they weren't fooled." The reverse is not used normally as a colloquial expression.

principal/principals.

counterpart

attention to detail

job well done ex. The principal would rather pay for speed and errors than a job well done.

sexism does not equate with sexual harassment. ex. "All of the environments in which I have worked in the Philadelphia area have been nothing but professional, but I have been subjected to cat calls on job sites. "

______________________________

Basically, Artist, not a sentence written in your message above approximates modern standard American English. As for what you are reporting about your last position, you stated yourself that senior associates in the firm would review the work, probably because they are registered architects/engineers. It's nice that you are so thorough that one of your supervisors didn't have much to worry about. That would ordinarily put you in a position to be advanced in the firm. But perhaps the way the project was scheduled caused your part of the process to have a negative impact upon the schedule? Perhaps not. In any case, you obviously don't have the English to write specs or to go unsupervised for even titling, I imagine. Don't think I'm putting you down. Learning deficits are curable, after all. I suggest you contact the one senior associate in your previous firm that complemented your attention to detail and ask his advice in finding and writing you a recommendation for a position in another firm. It sound as if you have at least one person interested in your career.

[Ron]

They can be labelled, picture a small disk with two edges cropped, these are what I have :

"Artist" wrote in news:z%Omi.325224$ [e-mail]:

[3D Peruna]

After reading lots of the responses in the NG, I've decided they're all bunk. We're in a hiring mode, so I know what I'm looking for:

1) Accredited Professional Degree

2) Desire to be the owner of their own firm at some point.

3) Preferred: Real office experience.

4) Proficiency in some CAD program, prefer Revit or AutoCAD ADT (or whatever they're calling it these days). If they don't do these programs, then a willingness to shut the hell up about how whatever program they know is better than Revit or ADT.

5) An ability to think, try.

6) References that can honestly answer as to what type of employee they are: work ethic, sense of humor, etc.

I really don't care about most portfolio stuff. They're not being hired to design--that's what we get to do because we own the firm. I do care if they CAN get around FTP, HTML, and some basic web stuff because we use it quite a bit.

Mostly we look for somebody with true ambition. We expect them to be here a few years, then move on. We're looking for people like us when we were employees--we provided good value to our employers.

Here's our current "Employee Manual":

1. Dress Code: Nice T-Shirt (no concert shirts, or odd, large graphics) and nice jeans OK. Dressing up nicer is also OK. This isn't a manual labor job (usually), so don't dress like you're at one. How you look in front of our clients is representative of the firm. No baseball hats at work, at client's or when you're representing the company.
2. Promptness: Be on time. If you've scheduled yourself on the "official" calendar, be here ready to go when you've said you're going to be here. If you're going to be late, call. An occasional 5 minutes late is OK. A regular 5-10 minutes late is not OK. Late with clients is never OK.
3. Effort: We expect you to put in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. This means you need to work hard when you work hard. But, we also recognize the needed break. Take one when you need one. You're old enough to know how much, when, how long. We're not your parents...don't make us act like them, either.
4. Internet: The internet is a great tool for getting your job done. It's the FIRST place you should look before asking a question. Learn to find out the answer on your own. We also understand that you might use it for personal business. Fine. See #3 if you have any questions. And, in case you have to ask, no pornography, no gambling. Period. Never. It's easy enough to avoid it. No second chances.
5. The Reason You Work Here: is to make us money. Really. Your labor is used to leverage our profits. It's a win-win game. You exchange your time, thinking and effort for money from us. If you make more money for us, we'll share some of it with you. This is true of everyone that employs you. They need to make money from your efforts. You're not here so we can give you money (if we could afford to give you money, we wouldn't anyway. That kind of charity hurts you in the long run). If you can't be productive, we can't afford to pay you. If we can't afford to pay you, there's no reason for you to be here, is there?
6. Don't Be Jealous of the Boss: He's earned whatever it is that he's doing. Years of school. Years of working for bosses that aren't nearly as nice as we are. Ten's of thousands of dollars in schooling, testing, licensing. The risk of hiring you. All of these have earned the boss whatever it is that the boss is doing at the moment. This doesn't give you license to do the same. You've not earned it...yet.
7. Own Your Problems: We expect you to complete the tasks assigned to you. We will not provide step by step instructions. We expect you to discover the issues and problems, and solve them. The old addage, "don't bring me problems, bring me solutions," applies. We would like you take that to the next step. You do not need our permission to implement solutions for the problems you discover while accomplishing a task. Please use good judgement and if you are concerned about the impact of your solution, ask.
8. Be Aware of Your Surroundings: This means that you pay attention to what is going on. If you know a client is coming by, maybe dress up a bit nicer. If you're going to see a client, dress up a bit nicer. If you see something that needs to be done, do it. Quietly observe what is going on around you. Be ever learning even when it's not a formal learning experience.
9. Your employment is always "at-will": We have no obligation to give you a job. You have no obligation to keep working here if you don't like it or if you get a better job. Of course, it's polite to give some notice (in either direction). If we think things aren't going well, we'll talk. If you don't think things are going well, then come and talk. We want to make sure you have the tools necessary to do your job (including enough information). But we also want you to see #3-7 above. Think of it this way, you're always on a 1-month probation. If things aren't going well, we'll usually give you a month to turn it around. We might even give you 2 months. But don't expect it. And, if we've given you a month, take advantage of our charity and generosity.
10. Talk to Us: If there are issues, we need to know about them. Come and talk to us. We can't help if there isn't any communication. We expect things to be brought to our attention as soon as you can. We expect an honest discussion. If we're doing (or have done something) that's a problem, you need to tell us. We can't read minds, therefore, you need to vocalize any issues in such a way that we can understand.

[Señor Popcorn]

If you like libre/free software (not to be confused with "freeware"), you'll feel like a kid in a candy shop at the world's largest free software repository:

GNU is: [see also: and you might have noticed, the pictured gnu is very philosophic-looking ;)

[Artist]

Newsgroup:

I?m a severe dyslexic legally. Dyslexia can not be cured and I will not go into it here. I am protected under ADA and can not be discriminated against because I am dyslexic. My strengths are vastly under used. And you are so correct; writing is not my strong suit. I am extremely creative and highly intelligent. I am an excellent thinker and designer due to being dyslexic. My management skills due to dyslexia are very strong because I can see the big picture clear and strong? My strength and abilities apply themselves very well to architecture. But for some reason all off you ? licensed architects? can only judge my use of the word ?detail? as in building details and specification not in design. Can?t wait till I pass my ARE and I can finally be the excellent creative architect I know I am. Most architects are too blinded to exercise my strengths for the good of their company. Never mind... no one has any idea how frustrating it is. Check out my thesis then see if you want me empting your trash cans or have me as a strong member of your team.

Link to my Masters thesis might give you an insight into my abilities. My professors at Virginia Tech called my work exempletory.

[Artist]

Don-

I designed the parameters, required span, shape of the truss but did not engineer the truss. A truss manufacturer did and you have corrected me.

It was a very unusual situation. But I guess you will pick that part as well.

I as for advice and get picked apart.

Thanks but no thanks. Artist.

[Artist]

Fine.

I can have my opinion based on what I see and hear and have experienced in the office. Always exceptions.

[animal05]

Why don't you throw some of that constructio Michigan's way......we are dying over here :-)

Do you mind if I steal this......it is excellent.

Paul F.

[++]

Excellent. Printing it out for the son going into different field entirely. Like the addition of #2 in the looking for category, cause people gotta dream, kinda don't like #9 on at-will, which relates to the "I get to design" concept. There are firms where only the kiddies design and everyone else plays backup for Bozo, but it would be nice to conceive of a firm in which collaboration allows a lot of ideas and competence form all in a great collaborative effort.

[++]

You will need to collaborate in those areas I mentioned, which involve=20 writing skills, no matter how talented you may be in design.

It is over 52 megabytes to download to read. Do you have a small visual =

sample?

[Artist]

Don:

I am approved to have a special accommodations for the ARE by NCARB and approved to start taking the exams through the state of NJ... it will not be to long now... Last hurtle. I have completed the IDP .

Thanks for your help and advice. Sincerely, Artist.

[Artist]

Don-

In a nut shell everyone with this disability is affected differently and at different levels. In general it affects my left brain skills of reading, mathematics, and writing skills. Short term memory of structural formulas is hard and I need to look up the formulas to make sure I am using the right one. I have been through years of therapy and direction for improving and gaining skills to correct my accuracy and expediency. Reading comprehension maybe be slower as in I may need to read something over a few times to get the full clear meaning, such as, reading building codes. With the assistance of a computer and the internet I can compensate quite well.

Dyslexia is also a visual gift let say. I have tremendous visual skills, organizational skills, analytical skills... it's a trade off.

This is a brief synopsis.

Thanks for asking.

Artist

[Artist]

Newsgroup:

I tried to submit the .PDF to this newsgroup but the posting has never arrived.

The small file is 4.185 kb.

If anyone knows how I can submit the file let me know, otherwise you have to download the full published version of my thesis from:

this file includes a few movie files and why it is so big at 52 MB.

I can also send the small version to your email address if you give it to me. Not sure if I can ask or suggest that. sorry if am not allowed. New to newsgroups.

Sincerely, Artist

You will need to collaborate in those areas I mentioned, which involve writing skills, no matter how talented you may be in design.

It is over 52 megabytes to download to read. Do you have a small visual sample?