

#Architectural designer jobs professional#
Professional organizations provide high-end networking that may lead to clients, and they provide continuing-education courses that can be more beneficial than earning a college degree. She's there for any questions I may have - business or personal. I get brunch with my mentor, look up at the palm trees, and it all feels so surreal. The Urban Land Institute's Los Angeles branch paired me with an amazing mentor since I've relocated to Beverly Hills. Good customer service, communication, and interpersonal skills. Strong creative design and time management skills. Excellent technical skills, particularly with CAD software. The program bridges the gap between talented minority professionals and commercial real-estate companies. Architectural Designer Requirements: Bachelor's degree in architecture. I graduated from Project Reap through the Urban Land Institute. And professional networks are going to become your best friend. I launched my own firm, and here's my advice My firm takes on fun projects from clients, such as The Atlanta Airport, Live Nation, BET, and some celebrities. We hold our interviews while eating ice cream in Downtown Atlanta or while riding the SkyView Atlanta Ferris wheel. Considering that I've worked in these environments, I get it. Many of my clients tell me that other, traditional firms feel condescending, racist, and out of touch. I started my own company, Xena Design + Marketing Firm, and life is phenomenal right now. I'd be pulled back out and put on display during the firm's holiday party as, once again, a showcase of the firm's so-called diversity. I felt like I was the Raggedy Ann doll of the office. But once the guests left, they put me back into my cubicle. When big clients came to visit, higher-ups suddenly placed me out on display as a show of staff diversity. I wanted them to leave me alone so I could simply do my work. I was asked dozens of times what an HBCU was - a historically Black college and university - and why don't we just quote integrate. Many made comments about my expensive car. It often felt like the other designers would stare at me, like they were examining my hair, my clothes, or the way I spoke. By the way things looked at the office, you'd think it was 1950.

The company, Xena Design + Marketing Firm, has offices in Atlanta and Beverly Hills, California. The following has been edited for length and clarity.Īt a previous job, I was the only Black woman at an architectural firm with hundreds of designers. The necessary certifications that architectural designers must have to succeed are AutoCAD Certified Professional and LEED AP Building Design + Construction (LEED).This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Xena Stryker, 35, an architectural designer who previously worked in corporate America, about why she decided to start her own firm. We prepared a list of an architectural designer certifications that you should consider. On the other end of that spectrum are the Yale University, Harvard University and Princeton University.įor those who would rather stay in your pajamas during the day, we prepared some online courses that can help in architectural designer education paths. If your SAT or ACT score aren't as high as you'd like, you can look at Keene State College, as the admission requirements aren't too selective. If you're interested in getting a college degree in an affordable college for architectural designers - Florida International University is an excellent option for you. Students have a great path to earning their architectural designer qualifications at the following schools: We also broke down what colleges provide the best overall education for an architectural designer. The most common colleges for students to pursue their goal of becoming an architectural designer are New York Institute of Technology and Lawrence Technological University. We found these by analyzing 4,785 architectural designer resumes to investigate the topic of architectural designer education more precisely. 62% of architectural designers hold a bachelor's degree and 17% hold a associate degree.

Architectural designers usually study architecture, drafting and design or environmental design. The education needed to be an architectural designer is normally a bachelor's degree.
