FOR GRAD STUDENTS

1. The money, honestly

My first job offer came by phone while I was running to a dentist appointment. The salary was $32,000. I had student loans and it felt low, but I said yes on the spot. I didn’t counter, and I didn’t ask to see the benefits. Your starting salary sets the base for every raise and every retirement match after it, so that one call cost me for years. Research the range before any offer arrives, and never say yes on the call. Find resources here about salary research here. 

2. Use the time you have left

Take internships to find out what you don’t want. Mine was with a government parks & planning team, and it taught me I didn’t want to be a project manager in my first job. Start networking now. At my school, firms noticed two top students and no one else, and I assumed networking didn’t matter. Every major opportunity since has come from a relationship. Treat your portfolio as a design project, because it shows how you think. Check out my portfolio flip through here. 

3. What the three sectors feel like

I spent ten years in private practice, eight at a non-profit, and now I work in city government. Pay, pace, culture, and job security differ a lot. You don’t have to choose yet. You do need to know the options exist, because most students picture only a design firm. You can see why I am always saying that Landscape Architecture - or the design training we get as architecture and planning students - set us up for a career of pathways. Check out more of my thoughts on that here. 

4. What school skipped

On your first day on a new job/project, ask for the firm’s CAD template, layer standards, and the project’s coordinate origin. On one of my early projects, the architects used a different origin for every revision, and their building kept floating into the street. One five-minute conversation would have prevented it.

5. Loans and your first job

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) can forgive the remaining balance on federal student loans after 10 years of qualifying payments while working full-time for a government agency or eligible non-profit. If you carry debt, it could change which sector makes sense for you. The rules change, so check the current requirements before you plan around it.

6. Hard versus toxic

My first boss moved lines in my CAD files in the early morning hours at the office and then denied it. I started saving a dated copy every evening and comparing it every morning. When the same boss criticized my appearance, I said once, calmly, that I was hired as I am. Difficulty builds you and toxicity erodes you. A short stint in a bad place is understandable, but staying too long is a choice. I had made a promise to myself and after 6-9 months that boss got into a yelling match with the Associate managing HR, so my professional life dramatically improved once they were gone.

7. A zigzag path is normal

A colleague of mine graduated in 2008, when firms weren’t hiring. She went to a plant nursery, then a design-build company, and is now advancing through Denver Parks & Recreation. Those jobs gave her plant knowledge and construction experience that a straight path wouldn’t have. Many people graduated into 2008 or 2020 and started somewhere unplanned, and it worked out. I share this insight because although I have a diverse path, some are diverse in different ways.