Choosing a career is a huge decision, especially if it’s one that requires eight years of training before you can be a certified member of the industry. One of the fields on the rise right now is architecture, largely due to the type of people attracted to it. If you identify with any combination of the follow, you may want to consider looking into becoming an architect:
You’re the keeper of the peace in your friend group.
Among other things, architects need to possess certain negotiation skills. You’re going to have to communicate with many different people from a variety of backgrounds, and it’s important to get your point across without stepping on any unnecessary toes. Clients and engineers don’t always see eye-to-eye on the vision for the final project, and architects are tasked with formulating agreement between all parties.
You enjoy building things.
It comes with the territory. Maybe you were the kid who always had the impressive lego tower in your bedroom. Maybe this is a newfound passion. Either way, architects who are good at their jobs typically love what they do, which is creating structures that are both unique and functional.
You have a clear vision of how you like things done.
It’s okay to have strong preferences. In fact, in architecture, it helps if you do. You’re going to have to defend your ideas in front of other people. So as long as you can use evidence to explain why something needs to be a certain way, you’re doing your job well.
You love projects.
Architects get satisfaction from working with their hands. They love it when an assignment has clear steps that need to be accomplished in a certain order. Projects could be anything from building that model for your biology class to setting up a garden in the backyard. Nothing makes an architect happier than that feeling of completion.
You love to learn.
Architecture is not a skill that ever plateaus. It is something that you have to constantly work at. The best way to do this is to see what the people around you are doing and learn from one another. Plus, you’ll be spending a lot of time in school, so it should definitely be something you enjoy doing.
You like to draw.
Buildings start with a single idea. That’s where you come in. Are you the kind of person who doodles sketches in the margins of your notebook? Then, this may be a career worth looking into. And I’m not just talking about drawing buildings. Architecture is all about design. It means understanding aesthetic appeal. Architects are able to work out problems through drawing.
You notice your surroundings.
When architects walk into an unfamiliar building, they typically look up right off the bat. They notice the ceiling and how the entire room is held together. If you have a knack for noticing little details that others don’t see, you might be an architect in the making. Architects draw inspiration from a wide variety of places, even the small things.
