In a previous post, we looked at the TOP 10 REASONS TO BE AN ARCHITECT. As we established, architecture can be a wonderful, fun, fulfilling career; but it’s not always rainbows and sunshine. In this post, we’ll peer into the dark side: the top 10 reasons not to be an architect. They are (in no particular order):
1. It takes a gazillion years to become licensed. Well… maybe not a gazillion – but a lot. On average, it takes a whopping 12.8 years from the time you start school. Think that’s hyperbole? Check this link out:
2. Relative to the work you put in through school, AXP and the licensure process, the monetary compensation can feel disproportionately low – especially when you’re first starting out. Of course, though, that situation improves over time.
3. Obtaining the degree is tough. Your formal education will be a minimum of 5 years. Some routes to a professional degree take 6 years or even longer. That’s a long time, and it’s a grueling experience. In a previous POST I talked about what architecture school is actually like.
4. Architecture is a deadline-driven field. This means that close to a deadline, you might have to spend long nights and weekends at the office.
5. There’s so much to know and learn that you perpetually feel like a dolt – or, at the very least, a dysfunctional discount sponge.
6. The entire industry suffers in a recession. Jobs across the board are wiped out, and you might temporarily have to become a freelance cat-walker or something to make ends meet until it picks back up again.
7. Contractors will look at you like you’re an idiot (especially in the beginning).
8. Your designs will constantly be criticized. This is part of the job. If you don’t have thick skin, architecture is definitely not for you. It can be scary as hell to present a design you formulated in your mind and be judged on it by outsiders.
9. Your creativity is limited by cost. You’ll often propose (and even draw and detail) something that gets value-engineered out of the project.
10. You value an easy, stress-free existence.