Some general advice

First of all, the job hunt comes first. Your job is to find a job. I know it's cliche, but it's cliche because it's true. I'm not going to cover the job hunt stuff much, but with all the IDP, NCARB and ARE stuff, as we work our way through it, it's vital to remember that the job hunt comes first, no matter what.

- Get out of the house. I can't emphasize that enough. Treat your day as if you were going to work. Shave, shower, wear clothes you wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in and go out and do your work someplace other than home. Coffee shops and book stores are great, libraries are even better (nobody giving you a dirty look for nursing your $6 cup of coffee for 7 hours).

- Get organized and set a schedule. Have a plan for each day and stick to that plan just as you would to a planned workday. Don't get into a rut though, always look for new stuff.

- Diversify. If you spend 10 hours a day every day of the week job hunting you'll drive yourself nuts. The job hunt is priority #1, but don't burn yourself out on it or you'll end up miserable and pessimistic about ever finding a job.

- Examine your weaknesses and use this time to improve on them. I recently spoke with my old project manager and asked him for a post-employment performance review. I told him what areas I was already working on and asked for additional advice. His feedback was very positive and gave me a few ideas of things to work on.

- Set goals. Yes, Goal #1 is Get A Job!... but set other goals with firm deadlines and measures. i.e. Get LEED certified by November, take the ARE Site Planning exam on 11/3, etc. Meeting those goals will leave you with a sense of progress and acomplishment even if you don't manage to find a job in that period.

I have a schedule laid out for my week and a routine I follow. I have a list of sites and resources I go through each day for my job hunt. Once I've finished that, which usually take about 2-4 hours, depending on how many jobs are posted and which sites post them, I work on the couple independent design projects I have for a couple hours, then I move on to IDP programs, Revit training/exploration (which also works into the independent projects) and some smaller projects, such as this blog. If my day rolls along well, I may be going from 9 am to 7 or 8 pm or even later if I'm really caught up in what I'm doing. I never spend less than 8 hours in a day "working". Barring some sort of major disruption of course.

Unemployed and dealing with IDP and the ARE

Not being able to find a job after graduating, or worse, being laid off, is an extremely difficult time in the life of a young professional. There is a huge financial burden, an even heavier emotional burden and the frustration of seeing your career stagnate. It's going to be a tough time no matter what, but there are ways to improve it so the time doesn't feel like a complete loss. Throughout this blog I'm going to cover three basic areas to address to make your time while unemployed as bearable as possible. Moving towards licensure, improving your marketability and staying sane. Today, I'm going to cover some methods of dealing with the first issue, filling the IDP requirements and getting your license. If you're reading this and have any tips or resources to add, please post and share them so we all can benefit.

For years, the system was set up so that we had to finish our IDP time before we could take the ARE exams. This is no longer true. If you have a B.Arch or M.Arch from an NAAB accredited school you can start taking the ARE once you have established an NCARB council record in most states. According to NCARB's website Alabama, Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Washington DC all allow concurrent ARE and IDP. that's 28 states out of 50, plus Puerto Rico and DC. You should check with the state board of licensing to confirm.

Now, the ARE exams are certainly expensive, but if you can get them taken care of during your period of unemployment, you'll be much better positioned to get a job.

Getting through the IDP program while unemployed is far more complicated though. The road to a professional architect's license is a long one as it is without adding in a long period of inactivity due to unemployment. As full time employees, we rack up IDP units towards the magic number of 700. When I was laid off, I was just over halfway to the goal, with 376 IDP units to my name. As we all know, one unit is equal to eight hours of work experience, so I still have 324 workdays worth of time to put in, which breaks down to about 65 weeks. How do you get those hours taken care of, or at least put a dent in them, when you don't have a job?

The good news is, there are ways of getting IDP units now (although there weren't prior to this year). The May 2009 edition of IDP E-News posted a list of approaches.

Currently Unemployed?

You can earn IDP training units if you are currently unemployed.

Community Service
Work Setting FF (Performing professional or community service when it isn't applicable to any other work setting)
Training Category D – Professional and Community Service
Maximum Training Units Allowed: 10
The program director of the activity can sign off on your training units.

Post-Professional Degree (Master or Doctorate of Architecture)
Training Category D – Related Activities
Maximum Training Units Allowed: 117
Click here for list of approved programs.

As of 1 July 2009, interns will be able to earn training units while unemployed for:

AIA Continuing Education
Training Categories A-D
Maximum Training Units Allowed: 235 (.25 training units equal one learning unit.)
A copy of the AIA transcript must be submitted to NCARB to receive credit.

CSI Construction Documents Technologist (CDT) Certification
Maximum Training Units Allowed: 5
A copy of your certificate must be submitted to NCARB to receive credit.

CSI Construction Specifier (CCS) Certification
Training Category A - Specifications and Materials Research
Maximum Training Units Allowed: 5
A copy of your certificate must be submitted to NCARB to receive credit.
(Note: this cannot be combined with EPC activities for satisfaction of minimum training units in this area.)

CSI Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) Certification
Training Category B - Construction Phase—Office
Maximum Training Units Allowed: 5
A copy of your certificate must be submitted to NCARB to receive credit.
(Note: this cannot be combined with EPC activities for satisfaction of minimum training units in this area.)

LEED Accreditation
Training Category D - Related Activities
Maximum Training Units Allowed: 5
A copy of your certificate must be submitted to NCARB to receive credit.
(Note: to earn supplementary education training units for LEED Accreditation between 1 July 2008 and 1 July 2009, interns must have been employed in an IDP work setting.)

NCARB Professional Conduct Monograph and Quiz
Training Category C - Office Management
Maximum Training Units Allowed: 2
NCARB will enter your passing score into your Record.
(Note: this can be combined with three EPC activities for satisfaction of minimum training units in this area.)

The volunteer hours existed before, but only got you 10 units or so. Meanwhile the graduate work is a VERY expensive method to get IDP units. After those two though, are some great free or reasonably affordable approaches. While LEED and CSI certifications are pricey, you not only get IDP units but they look great on your resume. The NCARB Professional Conduct monograph and quiz are available on NCARB's website and are 100% free. The AIA Continuing Ed credits are a goldmine too. While you have to dig for them, there are free seminars out there that you can attend in person and online.

More good news! As of January 1, 2010, interns will be able to do activities in the Emerging Professionals Companion with sign-off from their Mentor, rather than their Supervisor. In other words, you should be able to get credit while unemployed for up to 5 units per section.

I'll post more resource as they come to my attention. If anyone has anything to add, let me know!

As the Architect Interns - A Change

I started this blog to follow my path through the internship process as I worked towards becoming an architect. That kind of fell by the wayside as I got caught up in other stuff, but the process continued until I hit a major speedbump.

Layoffs.

The economy took a major downswing and I, along with many of my co-workers and fellow recent graduates, found myself out of work.

A layoff is a huge obstacle in the development of an architect, even if you don't consider the financial impact. I'm going too use this forum as a way to share methods, resources and ideas for getting through the layoff period without losing your mind and keeping your career moving forward.