"Pattern Your Resume on Leaders In Your Field"

This article caught my eye because as an architecture student, I am constantly being reminded by professors that I can look to the past and see what others in the field have done and draw inspiration from them without "stealing" their ideas. I know that there is an abundance of resources out there for creative ideas concerning architectural projects and even portfolios, but it's nice to know that there are also resources out there for resumes (which are often overlooked in architecture).

I like that one of the resources the article mentions is a professional in the field. To me, that seems like the most logical place to look and luckily for us architecture majors, most architects are proud enough to show off their work and "help" you through the job hunting process. I also think the article makes a good point in limiting the advice received from those closest to you. Of course your mom and best friend think you're a genius and that any firm would be crazy not to hire you (even if it is nice to hear them dote on you every now and then). :)

I think that there is not enough emphasis put on the resume in my field. So much emphasis is put on our portfolios (which are the most important thing to an architect) that the resume gets left behind. Isn't it better to have an amazing portfolio AND resume?

Ability to Pull An All-Nighter Can Be As Useful As A B.A....really?

The title of this article immediately caught my attention. In architecture, it seems like we spend more nights in studio than we do in our own beds. I don't know if it makes me feel better or worse that companies/businesses could see this as good time management skills. Really? Most of us want to kick ourselves by 3 a.m. for not having better time management skills and getting our projects done sooner. However, I think it does teach us to work incredibly good at working under pretty intense pressure.

I think the spin that this article puts on "soft skills" is pretty interesting. It never occurred to me that Facebook could be somehow twisted into "connecting with customers through new technologies." I actually think it's pretty funny. "Completing assignments" = "ability to meet deadlines." Seriously? Aren't we expected to complete assignments in school and in the work place? It reminds me of when my parents wouldn't pay me for good grades when I was little because it was expected that I would bring home good grades. The incentive was not getting in trouble for completing the assignment.

I guess we should all feel a little bit better about entering the work-force if things that we do everyday (like Facebook) can actually be added to our resumes as soft skills. I really do think that my major is helping me in ways that I don't actually realize and this article is making me consider all the possible "soft skills" I have learned in college.

10 Years From Now...YIKES!

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about projecting my future. Some part of me knows exactly what I want and where I want to be while another part of me is scared to even begin to “plan” things out.

In an ideal world, I will be a registered architect 10 years from now. I don’t know if I necessarily want to be practicing architecture but being registered leaves me with options. I’d love to own an antique shop or restaurant that I designed myself. If I do own my own practice 10 years from now, I imagine it will be a small firm. Hopefully I’d have a partner to help with the workload. I would like to do small projects - I'm not very interested in the big, commercial projects.

I’d like to be married and settled down (to a certain extent)…in other words, I’d like to be able to pick up and move if a better opportunity happened to come along. Kids are definitely somewhere in the picture…just not sure where, yet.

I don’t really know where I’d like to live. Anywhere but where I’m from. Ha! I love going home but I don’t want to live there for the rest of my life. I wouldn't mind being in a small town that's not too far from a fairly large city. I want to be traveling with my husband and kids. I'd love to go back to Barcelona - I loved it so much while I was studying there and there's no place like it. Maybe sometime in the next 10 years I can do some sort of work abroad program. I'm also very interested in South America so perhaps I could work and study and travel down there for a while.

This is a really difficult blog for me. There are so many unknowns in my life right now that it's hard for me to project past this semester even. A lot of where I'll be in 10 years depends heavily on when I get into graduate school. So, ask me in April...then I can at least tell you where I'll be in a year.

Web 2.0: The Wave of the Future

I think Web 2.0 is, in a way, a satirical title. Everyday there is something new coming out in the world of technology and it's an up-hill battle to keep up, if not impossible. I find it scary how easy it is to access the web as well as create websites. Literally anyone with access to a computer and the internet can do it. This is very applicable to the business world - whether it is posting your resume online or having a potential employer look up your facebook or myspace profile. I think it's important for people to be very aware of how accessible one becomes once they create an e-mail account or a blog or any type of website that is publicly accessible. As far as the sharing of information is concerned, I think I have somewhat of a different view of that than many people might have. Being in architecture, we are constantly encouraged to look to others for inspiration and ideas - this is the whole premise behind the studio atmosphere. It seems plagarism is an obsolete term in this major - as long as it's passed on as "inspiration." I don't necessarily agree with this but I think the internet only facilitates this type of attitude.

As long as we keep "feeding the machine" it will only get bigger. I think it's important for people to keep a close eye on what is going on with technological advances - it only gets more personal and invasive everyday.