Place
December 2011
In November 2011 CTC conducted a survey of young Architects and Graduates of Architecture from Adelaide Universities between 2005-2010.
Survey details & limitations:
- 43 responses from Adelaide Architectural Graduates who graduated between 2005-2010
- strangely we had no respondents from 2006 Graduates but all the other years were well enough represented to provide meaningful data
- 68% were from Uni SA with 32% from Adelaide Uni
- 90% were graduates of Architecture and 10% were graduates of Interior Architecture
- experience: nearly 100% had gained within 1 year of the post graduation experience you would expect and therefore year of graduation doubled up as an accurate guide for experience level
- respondents came from a proportional spread of different sized practices
- all percentages have been rounded up or down which explains why some answers don’t add up to 100%
- every effort was made to distribute the survey through varying networks to overcome any bias which may have been evident through CTC direct contacts
- the 43 respondents is a little disappointing (we had hoped for 50+) we have consequently ignored any findings where the sample size was too small to carry any significance.
Salaries:
What is your current total salary package (including super)?
2010 Graduates: 64% on less than $45k
36% on $45-50k
2009 Graduates: 39% on less than $45k
31% on $45-50k
15% on $50-55k
15% on $55-60k
2008 Graduates: 40% on less than $50k
40% on $50-55k
20% on $55-60k
2007 Graduates: 50% on less than $50k
50% on $50-60k
2005 Graduates: 29% on less than $50k
43% on $50-60k
29% on over $60k
Hours Worked & Overtime:
On average how many hours do you work per week?
36% Under 40
48% 40-45
17% Over 45
Do you get paid overtime?
76% No
12% Yes
12% Sometimes
Interestingly the survey indicated that people working at smaller practices not only worked less hours (60% of those in practices employing 10 or less staff worked under 40 hours per week compared to 100% of those in practices over 50 strong working over 40 hours) but were also more likely to get paid overtime (60% of those in practices employing 10 or less got paid or sometimes got paid overtime compared to 100% of those in practices employing over 40 never getting paid overtime).
Appraisals
Do you get an annual appraisal?
62% Yes
26% Sometimes
12% No
The larger practices performed better with regard to annual appraisals (100% of those employing over 50 giving an annual appraisal and 100% of those employing over 10 giving an appraisal at least sometimes compared to 50% of those employing less than 10 never giving an appraisal).
Registration
At what stage are you at with Registration?
Circa 15% of respondents (with sufficient experience) had achieved full Registration within 4 years
The majority with 2-4 years experience were in the process of completing log books
30% of 2005 and 67% of 2007 Graduates had not started or had started and put on hold their registration!
Registration and your employer?
Almost 40% of respondents thought they might have to or actually have moved companies to achieve registration!
Interestingly the smallest and largest practices seemed to fair best with regard to employees perceptions about achieving registration. Almost 70% of those working for medium sized practices (employing 20-50 staff) thought they may have to leave to achieve registration.
Revit experience:
43% never been exposed to it
33% completed some form of training, including self taught
24% using it commercially
Size of practice or years of experience made little difference to the above figures.
What do Graduate Architects do?
In relation to your last 6 months, what percentage of your time have you spent doing?
The responses averaged out as follows:
Conceptual Design 18%
Design Development 19%
Documentation 46%
Contract Admin 18%
Interestingly these ratios only marginally change based on experience (2010 grads spending 52% of their time doing documentation compared to 2005 grads spending 42% of their time)
With regard to the size of practice; there was a trend towards smaller practices offering more design opportunities and medium sized practices offering more contract administration experience.
University
How has your post graduation experience matched your expectations from University?
29% Badly or very badly
33% Okay
38% Well or very well
No major discrepancy was evident between universities and respondents views didn’t vary significantly based on when they graduated or where they currently work.
How could University have better prepared you for your first few years in the industry?
This was a freeform box and resulted in some very passionate responses. We have grouped the responses and the following were the most prevalent:
30% More industry contact and compulsory work experience
24% More construction training including: costs, estimating, building legislation, building materials etc...
11% More Contract Administration training
10% More Documentation training
9% More Software training
The general theme was for more industry contacts and a better preparation for the realities of the Workplace. It was generally thought that the courses are too idealistic, theoretical and conceptual design focussed (6%). There should be more emphasis on construction but also on Structural Engineering, Services and the role of consultants (5%).
The following respondents made some interesting points:
“I am finding the initial training (Degree) simply demonstrated a willing for what I do now and little else. That shouldnt take 5 years!”
“I really got the impression from uni that builders were all out to do a shoddy job and that you had to watch them all the time in case they tried to get away with things. Maybe this is the case with some builders, but 90% of the ones I have worked with get work based on their reputation, do a very good job, and are a pleasure to work with.”
A full list of the unedited responses can be found below.
Staff Retention
How many companies have you worked at full time since graduation? How many of these moves have been through redundancy or lack of work?
Only 29% of 2005 respondents had worked at the same company since graduation. This compared to circa 50% of 2007 grads and circa 60% of 2008,2009 & 2010 grads. Graduates are clearly moving companies on a regular basis. Furthermore apart from the 2009 & 2010 graduates the majority of these moves have NOT been driven by redundancy or a lack of work.
How much longer do you see yourself remaining with your current employer?
31% Less than a year
36% 1-3 years
21% 3-5 years
12% 5-10 years
Further evidence of the mobility of this demographic. No significant trends were evident based on size of practice or year of graduation.
What could your current employer realistically improve to keep you employed with them for longer?
Salary, training & professional development, a wider professional experience, project diversity and a greater emphasis on design were the top answers.
If you were to move companies in the future what would be your main contributing factors?
Again salaries, professional experience, career opportunities and training and professional development were the top answers.
The future of the Industry
How would you describe your thoughts on your Architectural Career?
7% Pessimistic & may look to leave the industry in the future
33% Frustrated by certain aspects of the industry
7% Unsure
31% Broadly positive
21% Optimistic & looking forward to my future
Over 65% of the 2008, 2009 & 2010 graduates are in the positive category but worryingly close to 75% of 2005 & 2007 graduates fall into the negative category!
What advice have you got for the South Australian Architectural Industry?
This was a freeform opportunity for respondents to comment as they saw fit. The dominant themes can be grouped as follows:
38% Need to collaborate and support each other in promoting Architecture. Need to work harder to sell the benefits of using an Architect. Need to value profession before we can expect others to value it. Stop undercutting each other which further erodes fees & salaries.
17% More practical & relevant university course with a greater emphasis on construction. Greater industry / university links.
16% Push for better design, don’t compromise or be bullied by developers. Learn from interstate and overseas.
13% Invest in and believe in youth to keep the best talent in SA. Support the registration process more.
6% Keep things local – work hard to compete against interstate rivals to keep SA projects designed by SA practices.
Other points included: simplifying regulations to improve city design, respecting women in the industry, adopting Revit as standard, greater emphasis on environmental design
“As above, supporting one another to move away from developer driven design decisions, and contract types that lead to 'value- management' and disappointing architectural compromises for client and architect alike.”
“Value yourself and each other and what you do. Other people will never value this industry until we do ourselves. Stop cutting fees, stop making graduates work ridiculous hours for little pay. Why do we protect the name 'Architect' and make registration so difficult but do not protect the services we provide? You wouldn't and can't go to just anyone when you need a doctor or lawyer, but anyone can design a house!”
“It is time to start instilling some trust in the younger generations, many of the older people in positions of power, seem to hang themselves on the virtue of 'i've tried that before', and that really frustrates the young, energetic, unspoilt minds.”
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A full list of unedited responses can be found below.
How could University have better prepared you for your first few years in the industry?
They should have mandated a 1 year Architecture internship like what Melbourne University has done. They should have taught us from scratch basic drafting and design documentation techniques, which they didn't because they assumed we knew how to do those things even when I did not know them after finishing year 12.
For starters, it could have implemented training programs in software used widely in the field. Who has actually heard of Form Z for instance. There was acomplete lack of engagement between the professional field and the University. I have dont by best to bridge the gap, but after 5 years of solid training, and 2+ years of post graduate experience, I am finding the initial training simply demonstrated a willing for what I do now and little else. That shouldnt take 5 years!
As per above - more introduction to Contract Administration. Also Specification writing.
Include required time spent doing work experience, more knowledge on construction techniques to aid in doing documentation which is what a lot of graduates get laden with doing in their first few years. For those lucky enough to get contract administration experience, more Practice Managment infomation on contracts etc would have helped. The most useful subjects were the ones undertaken in final year, and even then one semester of them isn't enough! Practice managment seems boring at the time, and you don't realise how important it is unless you've worked in a practice and been involved in administration work. Keeping up with new technology too and software being used by companies is a must!
University teaches you to be an idealist in regards to architectural principles, but the reality is that almost all architects in this country are dumb arsed sellouts
Far deeper teaching of construction through the entire degree program, more targeted digital training (i.e. for industry application.
Have a work placement program that is compulsory to a post graduate course. So that students understand more of working condition and expectation.
More construction based courses, budgets etc.
Make a yearly subject of doing work experience. That the uni has to set up with offices. We needed more real life experience.
more education relating to: contract administration, construction knowledge, communication with clients/contractors/consultants.
Relationships between consultants and Architects could have been stretched to explanation of industry 'norms'.
Be less conceptual and more practical. University needs to teach students revit.
Compulsary work experience program as part of studies (similar to engineering programs) to gain contacts and real experience.
A better understanding of detailing and standard construction practices
I think a placement option would be advantageous, however, I believe that their is ample opportunity for graduates to find their own part-time experience whilst still at uni.
Work experience should be part of the course - a placement at both a lage and small firm even better
included mandatory training during the course, and conducted on-site analysis of existing buildings, exposed us to the regulations and incorporated that into the assessment tasks
Teach us Rhino and Revit, and have a greater emphasis on structure and construction.
- better idea of how offices work - required component for work experience - more exposure to contract admin/how to work with builders - i.e. I really got the impression from uni that builders were all out to do a shoddy job and that you had to watch them all the time in case they tried to get away with things. Maybe this is the case with some builders, but 90% of the ones I have worked with get work based on their reputation, do a very good job, and are a pleasure to work with.
Marking of Assignments was based only on Tutors opinions. The time spent on assignments was not measured- only the finished result, meaning slower, more thorough students often got poorer marks than the students able to display their work well graphically. Time schedules and hand-ins were far too relaxed- having work prepared on time meant nothing when the Lecturers gave extensions at late notice, allowing hard work and long hours done by diligent students to go unnoticed when other students, (who had left their work to the last minute), were allowed extra time.
Work experience and placement should have been a prerequisit for completing the degree. Also we should have been taken out on building sites to see the process 1st hand. If this had of happened I may have realised sooner that working in construction was the path for me.
Compulsory work experience.
More focus on the role of Contract Administration
Compulsory work placement / experience
I am more than happy with all facets of my education at the University of South Australia
Provide relevant projects. Something within a budget. Something with contract administration along lines of working with other consultants, more information regarding the cost and client imput. Not just design what you want, with out any costs or engineer/services relation.
I think as designers the degree was great. Architectural graduates shouldn't be employed as drafts people
We focused very heavily on creative design, but probably didn't do enough of documentation or contract administration, which would have been useful.
This is a very hard taks as both forums are very different. I would like to see some sort of partnership formed between the University and various architecture firms for manditory work experience. Maybe a certain amount of hours completed during holiday periods before graduation.
My University should have prepared me better with an extended course in Professional Practice
focus more on the technical aspects like detailing, materials, budgets, estimating, lodging for approvals (including certification approval)
giving a better knowledge of economic and legislative constraints regarding construction, and giving more information about alternative methods and materials for building.
More documentation preparation more realistic design development more client interaction assignments working to a budget - exposure to materials and finishes and their relative companies
train in more software types. Help with placement/job help
Teach you about the restrictions involved such as budget and council regulations and the development plan etc.
Work experience as part of curriculum
Compulsory work experience, more contact with working professionals -tutors/lecturers
Have lecturers and tutors who are practising Architects, not just theorists. More in depth teaching of construction methods.
More exposure to the practical work place.
Perhaps more practical experience
What advice have you got for the South Australian Architectural Industry?
Adopt Revit as the standard architectural documentation package
Many within the community are finding other alternatives to meeting their professional demands, regardless of residential, or commercial bias. Be harder on yourself to remain relevant, or alternatives will continue to be sought by clients, A savvy client willnot chose an architect over a building designer becasue of a few letters after their name, but rather on their capability and portfolio, the qualification is losing relevance.
I think it would be great if the architectural industry (and individual organisations) better supported each other. The industry generally is quite tough and competitive - we need to be more united in terms of selling the benefits of the industry to clients and people in the community.
What South Australian Architectural Industry???!! They should not allow themselves to be bullied by idiot clients and dickhead builders; stand up for architectural design instead of following the path of least resistance and compromising at every hurdle. Our built environment should reflect our designers talents rather than the appauling tastes of its moronic population.
I'm not sure of the input the profession really have into the skills taught at university, but the more "industry relevant" skills (i.e digital training and construction as opposed to history of architecture and form/place making) should be taught with a real focus on being able to allow graduates to "hit the ground running."
I believe that architectural industry will develop bigger, it just Adelaide firm needs to work harder to win competition in SA against interstate architecture firm, to open more opportunity & built confidence to skill people in the industry.
Promote diversity in design, overall the South Australian production of work is poor and generally looked down upon from interstate.
Give graduates opportunities. Otherwise we don't get much needed experience.
Stop being 'yes' men/women. Clients are not always right.
Needs to be more support for graduates, other wise they all just move interstate
provide more office-based experience during study
Try and get a wide range of experince in order to get registered CA etc
Keep up-to-date with the international architectural community on current theories and developments and apply this knowledge to bettering our own city.
As above, supporting one another to move away from developer driven design decisions, and contract types that lead to 'value- management' and disappointing archiectural compromises for client and architect alke.
Toughen up!
Reduce and simplify regulations that destroy the ability of true design statements of architecture to be built such is on offer in other capital cities.
none
1. Diversify! Some parts of the industry seem stuck in very old fashioned, and elitist. Architects seem to be considered as a luxury to the rich - this needs to change for the industry to stay viable. Collaborate! 2. Architecture and building is such a boys club! There are very few building sites I have walked onto and have not been called 'Dear.' One builder even told me he had to warn his subbies not to wolf whistle. I work in a very small office where we take turns to answer the phones - most often it is assumed I am a receptionist! This has got to change - it is no wonder females leave the industry. 3. Value yourself and each other and what you do. Other people will never value this industry until we do ourselves. Stop cutting fees, stop making graduates work ridiculous hours for little pay. Why do we protect the name 'Architect' and make registration so difficult but do not protect the services we provide? You wouldn't and can't go to just anyone when you need a doctor or lawyer, but anyone can design a house!
Needs a lot of improvement
push for work experience and placement. Encourage students to get out on a building site. i learnt more in a year on a building site then i did in 5yrs worth of construction subjects and projects
It is time to start instilling some trust in the younger generations, many of the older people in positions of power, seem to hang themselves on the virtue of 'i've tried that before', and that really frustrates the young, energetic, unspoilt minds.
IMPROVE SALARY
We need promotion as professionals and protection beyond the Architects Act
Architecture is not for eveyone. If you enjoy learning and being challenged, however, and can find a bunch of people that you enjoy doing it with, it may be for you.
Keep it local!
a problem is an opportunity.... nothing all that inspirational
be careful to have a long therm analysis of construction, and invest the work with a conviction to evolve quality and new methods to integrate environmentally friendly materials and solar passive design, because construction is today one of the biggest polluters and architects who are involved in environmentally sustainable projects are the guaranty of future generations conditions.These aspects must be use to improve urban planning as well and work together.
None
teach more about the restrictions involved when designing.
Make the registration process a little more lenient
To become more accessible, start getting the profession out into the publics' eye for more positive things (sometimes other than architecture/design)
Dont be afraid to expand, and open our architectural ideals
I think it's on the right path, economical circumstance will improve in the future.
