In my 12+ years in architecture I have seen my fair share of portfolios, some amazing, some absolutely shocking.

I myself have produced some good ones and bad ones, but I have also had students send their portfolios into archistudentnotes for me to review and at one of my last practices, a shared company email meant that everyone could see each and every job application that came in.

I think it is fair to say I know what makes a good portfolio and also how employers react to the different elements that make a portfolio.

Whilst I do obviously judge a little, I do not blame the student or assistant because you are not taught how to produce portfolios suitable to send to professionals at university.. and if not then.. when are you meant to learn?

This post is to highlight elements you should definitely avoid but first, let’s look at different types of portfolios. I’ll keep it simple for this post, you have a short portfolio and a long portfolio.

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.

The ‘traditional’ journey to qualification as an Architect in the UK

Part time jobs as a university student, more specifically, an architecture student. Now I make the distinction not just because archistudentnotes is for architecture students but because the time and commitment of architecture students is, from my experience different from other university students.

Here are 3 tips to remeber when looking for a part time job as an architecture student