15yr mentee wants to be an architect. Ideas?

[mangowithasqueezeoflime]

I am part of a mentorship program and my mentee wants to be either an architect or structural engineer. I would like to understand more about that space and perhaps related roles she might not have considered- like project mgt in an architecture firm, construction mgt roles etc. We are speaking about improving communication now and I will bring in a professional for her to interview. She's very excited!

Any ideas or resources that might be helpful would be appreciated. Or how you find working in that industry. My friend in a related role in a firm is burnt out and the only architect I know says "don't do it" so she won't be interviewing them!

No problem, hope you work something out.

@Qwill

Civil Engineering isn’t that well paid I’m afraid. Also the hours are very long and pretty inflexible. You can also be sent anywhere.

Not necessarily my experience. It depends on the industry.

One civil engineer I know works for a rural council and, other than pottering around his local patch, never travels anywhere. Pay isn't great, but he describes it as no stress. He has no career ambitions and just wants to earn enough to live in a beautiful part of the world. He is happy.

On the other end of the scale, my DB is a 28yr old civil engineer earning circa £55k in a well paying industry, 50%office/home working and 50%site working. But he is permanently based on a single site (large industrial assets) and is expecting a promotion this year

I think your mentoring role is fabulous and indeed was potentially going to sign up to be a mentor myself at The Girls’ Network. Unfortunately it seems their support isn’t exclusively for the female sex, which is a shame given the name!

@pliss

I think your mentoring role is fabulous and indeed was potentially going to sign up to be a mentor myself at The Girls’ Network. Unfortunately it seems their support isn’t exclusively for the female sex, which is a shame given the name!

The way I see it, it is for whoever needs a strong female role model. If that is a girl transitioning to a boy, a boy to a girl, or a girl, that is fine by me.

I've spoken to classes of students before too. I love what I do and want people to consider it as a career; I also like helping shy kids find their confidence.

If you opt out of doing this kind of thing on the political grounds that a tiny percentage of the kids might not be traditional girls, I suggest you reconsider your priorities.

I'm an architect and would never recommend anyone become one, especially with tuition fees being so high. It's high pressured, poor work life balance, exhaustingly male dominated and very poorly paid for the level of qualification and skill.

[quote Qwill]@spotcheck
It’s not to do with wage. I am in this field, and the hours are long and if you work out the hourly rate it’s not great. I loved this job, but since I’ve had a baby I realise how shit it is. I used to go to girls schools to wax lyrical about what a rewarding job it is, but since I hit 30, I now realise that people don’t care and it’s a complete boys network. I am fighting so hard, but it’s so tough. Flexibility is terrible. We work 0800-1800, but expected to be in sooner and finish later. You do 8 years of study and it works for a bit when you’re young, great social life, but it’s only with work people. Then when you have family life it’s so tough. I’d love another baby but as my partner and I both work in this field, I don’t know how we can make it work.[/quote]
^all of this.

Thanks again everyone. I told her about the thread and gave her a choice. I can share it in its entirety or I can pull out just the positive advice. She wants the nitty gritty.

I don't know if poor pay/ work life balance will put off a young person. It didn't stop me from journalism. The ability to pursue what you love- and decide if and when you leave- is freedom.

I'm a civil servant these days and had a very decorated architect come through the sift for one of my roles. I'd have hired them in a second for all the related skills.

You never know where life takes you, but that's the fun of it.

Class of Your Own go into schools are teach students about the AEC industry and how to access it. They are really good -

www.goconstruct.org/educational-resources/resources-for-teachers/class-of-your-own/

Dd is currently studying architecture. I can’t emphasise how tough the course is. And I say this as a uni lecturer in a notoriously tough course. I think if Dd had realised the hours and workload she might not have done it. The attrition rate is horrendous. At her uni only about 20 out of 80 get to the end of year 3. I don’t think this figure is unusual.

Then another 4 years on top of this to get to being a qualified architect.

From what I read there’s quite a bit of unemployment. Don’t know, she hasn’t got that far yet. I can see her finishing at the end of year 3, getting her degree but not actually carrying on to become an architect. She’s fairly broken by it.

I quite agree it wont put off a teenager. I did work experience and every single architect told me not to do it!..did it anyway. One good way of putting it into context for a teenager... you may spend a lot of time making other peoples homes beautiful but likely will not be able to afford your own on the salary.