CompaniesTo Avoid

@DownTown wrote:

For people just getting out of Uni it can be a daunting task getting into the profession without being taken advantage of. Are there particular companies that a newly graduate should avoid?

Well, what are your expectations? For example, what do you want to get out of your tenure?

[What I do not want is a company to underpay me, over-work me, and not give a damn. I have a young family to support so they are my priority.[/QUOTE]

In the wrong profession mate. Sorry, but you’re a graduate. That’s exactly what will happen to you for the next 10 years. Or maybe I’m just a cynical sod. Good luck.

I don’t think anyone is going to be bold enough to name specific companies for you. smaller companies will generally work you harder with less in the way of rewards, overtime, and so on. bigger companies might offer a dental plan or 9-5 regular hours.

remember thought that a badly-paid, over-worked job in a small practise allows you to “be a big fish in a small pond”, and get your hands on more design work, and open yourself up to better all-round experience and the possibility that some of your own designs will see the light of day. a bigger company (big pond, you’re the small fish), will be harder to work your way up through, and you might find yourself with agreeable hours and a nice pension plan, but with the prospect of being part of a window detailing team from monday to friday.

personally, i’d rather join an up and coming practise where i can make a mark than fall into rank in a huge company. depends on what you want for yourself, and where you’d like to be in 10 years.

and ultimately, if you join a company and you’re not happy, tender your resignation and move on. the average stint for a first job in architecture is around 6 months. the days when you join a firm as a boy and stay til retirement are long over, one would hope.

My own experience was as you suggest – started in a small firm & got paid a pittance for circa 3 years BUT I got to work on all aspects of practically every job in the office – you can’t buy experience like that.

You get the chance to see every aspect of the profession from the start ( ie fecked in at the deep end) rather than spending three years in a large practice drawing up planning applications, window schedules etc ad nauseum.

Do yourself a favour – keep the purse-strings tight for another couple of years (you’re bound to be well use to it by now!) and get some exposure to the brutal reality of the business – IMHO you’ll be a far more competant professional at the end of it.

PS: If you want a 9-5 job & want to be successful (read rich), I’d suggest you look for another career 😀

Cheers

BK