How to get hired at your degree show as an architecture student
It is the end of the academic year which for architecture and design students can only really mean a couple of things, final deadlines and the degree show.
Final deadlines are of course to get the actual degree at of your 3 or 4 years or to get the marks to go towards your degree not yet in your final year.
The degree show is where, mostly architecture or interior architecture final years, showcase their final work to not only their peers, but also to the general public and most importantly potential employers. So… how do you get the attention of these potential employers to get that Part 1 Architectural Assistant job or even Part 2 Architectural Assistant job?
It comes down to content of your degree show, the presentation of your architecture work and going the extra mile which I will explain later!
Continue reading!
The Content
The first thing you need to look at is your content, your actual work.
Now, obviously at this point in the academic year, the last thing you want to do or even have time to do, is go back and revise your design work. BUT I really recommend you at the very least, look back at your work and look for any elements that you feel you could of done better if you had any more time before your final deadline. I’ve been there, there’s always something! It could be something as quick and easy as changing the layout of furniture your quickly chucked in at the last minute or it could be something as long as changing your facade design to be more reflective of your project concept.
Either way, make sure what you are pinning up is your best work.
The Presentation
Your presentation is what brings people in, it gets the attention of potential employers and for this reason, it’s an incredibly important element. What you want is to catch the eye of an Architect, Principal or Architectural Assistant working at the firm from across the room, have them come over, passing all of the other work and be won over by your content, the details, your work.
Now, often for consistency across the degree show your university or degree show curator will have guidelines on how to present your work, what size to print your work at, the colour of your project books, how many models are allowed etc etc, this however does not mean that there aren’t ways to make improvements.
The main elements I expect from a degree show are as follows:
The name of the student clearly shown
Excellent work pinned up on the board
A well-made model, plus any development models,
and a project book to see the student development
Where you can really finesse these elements is attention to detail.
Your name: At my university we used transferrable stickers which we stuck to the top of the board, same layout on each presentation board. Guess which ones stood out (and not in a good way)? …
Of course the name stickers that were not stuck on correctly, where the spacing of the letters were all over the place and even worse - especially when presenting to a cohort of people trained to be observant… stuck on at an angle! Don’t be that person.
Is there a better image to show the ridiculousness of not ensuring everything is straight and lined up… I think not.
Your panels: At Bachelors level, our panels were the standard A1 portrait or landscape, when we got to Masters however, everything was square, 500mm x 500mm to be exact if you were wondering. For both Bachelors of Architecture and Masters of Architecture, all panels needed to be lined up, with the same amount of space around each one and most importantly, printed off in very high quality.
Remember, at the degree show everyone can get right up close to your work, you need to make sure that the quality is high as you can get it. (without going overboard, everyone has a budget)
Your Model/s: For your final deadline, you should (most universities expect as a minimum) a final model, with hopefully, some development models you made along the way. For a potential employer looking to hire an Architectural Assistant, a model is an excellent way to not only show your design skills but to also provide some additional interest that can be held and looked at from all angles. So, that being said, if you don’t want your model to be picked up, present it in a way that you see it from most angles or at least the most interesting part. With your design models, I would always showcase in development order to show your progression!
Last but not least, your Project Book: By your degree show, I would assume you have completed it your project book and it is all printed and ready to go…Don’t worry - I am not about to suggest that you change anything in your project book. You can however present in two different, you can either invite people to flick through - good option if you are proud of every page and are okay with different people touching your book (make sure it is not too delicate) or open it up on a particular page that you like and are proud of and secure with a binder clip or paperclip - a good option if you want to focus on a particular section of your development.
The Extra Mile
So, what I mean by the ‘extra mile’ is looking at the extras you can add to your degree show exhibition that makes your work and area not only stand out but makes it easier for potential employers to easily know what your’e about, what you like as an architectural designer and how to contact you.
Business Cards: If I am being completely honest, I would say these are an absolute essential. Business cards are relativity cheap to purchase and easy to display on your board or in your area. Make sure to include your name and contact details as a minimum plus if there is space, or perhaps on the back - an example of your best work. Employers can then pick them up, share them with colleagues and remember you!
Online Portfolio: Something I would recommend doing anyway, but is also a great addition to your degree show exhibition. Create a portfolio online using your preferred program, behance, your own website - whatever works and then include a QR code to your website at your degree show. This could be on your business card, or simply printed out and displayed next to your work!
Video Presentation: An extra extra element you could also add to your exhibition is a link to a video presentation. Visitors to the degree show can view your work yes, but they don’t get the same experience that your tutor will have. A video presentation is definitely an extra bit of work but it does give you an excellent opportunity to explain your work to people who don’t know anything about it.
I hope this was helpful for you and if you have any more ideas or comments, please feel free to leave them below.
See you in the next one!
Networking. Something that as a new Architecture Student over 10 years ago, I was definitely not aware of but I am sure if you are in Architecture now as a Student, Assistant or fully qualified, you would have noticed that 'networking' and how powerful it can be has been a frequent topic of discussion recently and over the last couple of years across social media and especially on LinkedIn. Feel free to follow/connect.