Architecture internships
An architecture internship is a 10 to 12 week paid or unpaid placement in an architecture firm where a student does the real work of the discipline, the drawing, the model and the detail, and it is the step between the degree and the first job on the ladder. The summer internship is the standard format, the placement in June and July, and it is where the portfolio is built, the sample the student made in the office rather than the studio. The internship is the work the firm reads at the first interview, and it is the step the entry hire is often made from, the intern the firm keeps when the season ends.
Where architecture internships happen
Architecture internships happen in the 3 kinds of office that carry the work of the discipline, the private firm, the public office and the research lab, and each gives a different kind of season. The table below sets the 3 placements against the work the intern does and the part of the portfolio each one builds, the private work, the public work and the research that the season gives the student who carries them into the first job.
| Placement | Office type | The intern's work | Portfolio piece it builds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private firm | The standard placement carrying residential and commercial projects | Drawing the working set and modelling the detail the project runs on | The private work, the drawing and the model made in the office |
| Public office | The government architecture engineering office that designs the public building | Working on the school and the civic building the office carries | The public work, the civic set that reads as a steady hand |
| Research lab | The office of the school or the institute that studies the building | Working on the study that tests a method the practice will read | The research piece, the tested method with the data behind it |
The 3 placements are the 3 sides of the portfolio the season builds, and the student who fills all 3 of them shows the first reader a range of work, the private set, the public set and the research, that a single studio term could not give. The choice between the 3 is the first real decision of the season, and the student who picks the office that matches the job they want to hold after it, the drafter of the private firm or the analyst of the public office, is the one the season serves best.
What the internship pays
The pay of the architecture internship splits between the paid and the unpaid, and the private firm is the one that most often pays. The paid summer internships in the large United States markets run at the hourly rate that, over the 40 hour week, is near 18 to 28 dollars an hour, the New York and the coastal firm at the top of the range and the mid size firm at the bottom. The public office pays the intern rate the civil service sets, the figure below the private in the small market and near it in the large. The research lab pays the assistant rate, the figure the school sets for the research help, and it is the one that carries the credit for the work. The unpaid internship still exists at the small firm and the non profit, and it is the one the student takes for the placement and the reference rather than the pay.
- The private hour, near 18 to 28 dollars an hour in the large markets, is the figure the student who needs the pay follows, and it is posted at the top of the range in New York and along the coast.
- The public rate is the figure the civil service sets, below the private in the small market and near it in the large, and it comes with the public work the portfolio reads as steady.
- The research assistant figure is the rate the school sets for the research help, and it is the one that carries the credit for the study the intern works on.
- The unpaid placement is the one the student who can take it chooses for the reference and the placement, and it is the door to the small firm and the non profit the paid postings never open.
The 4 lines of pay, the private hour, the public rate, the research assistant figure and the unpaid placement, are the 4 doors of the internship pay, and the student who reads them all before applying knows which door the season opens through and what it costs to walk in.
How to get hired for one
To get hired for the architecture internship, the student sends the 3 things the office screens for and shows the 1 it reads, and the 3 are the application, the resume and the cover letter while the 1 is the portfolio. The application goes through the portal the firm posts, the careers page or the school's placement board, and it is the form that asks for the degree, the year and the availability for the summer. The resume is the 1 page that lists the courses, the software, the tools and the one project with the most detail, and it is the document the first reader screens, the one that shows the student can use the drawing software the firm runs on. The cover letter is the short note that names the firm and the project it carries, the work the student read about and wants to draw, and it is the part that sets the student apart from the others who applied to the same posting. The portfolio is the 4 to 6 samples, the drawing and the model and the detail, and it is the thing the interview is built around, because the interviewer asks the student to walk through one project in 10 minutes. The 3 and the 1, sent to the right portal before the deadline the firm sets, are what the internship hire is made of, and the portfolio is the one the season is judged by.
The application reads best when it points at the posting the student actually wants, and the student who tracks the 4 doors of the job market keeps each of them in view as the season closes. The 4 doors are the ones the entry hire is made from, and the one the internship opens first is the firm that keeps the intern it hosted.
- Architecture jobs and careers, the entry ladder of the firm, is the door the internship opens first, and the return offer lands the student on it before the general market opens.
- Construction jobs and trades is the door the portfolio opens later, the field work the drafter moves into when the set they drew goes up on the site.
- Architecture engineering is the door the research lab points at, the structural and the environmental work the study the intern helped run feeds into.
- The Architecture Diagram is the door the studio term opens, the drawing that shows the building as a system, and it is the sample the firm reads for the eye behind the work.
What the internship is worth after the season
The value of the architecture internship after the season is the conversion into the job, and it happens in the 2 forms the season converts in, the return offer and the reference. The return offer is the one the firm makes when the budget allows it, the summer intern who proved the work is offered the entry position the following year, and it is the cleanest path from the internship to the ladder, the intern the firm keeps as the drafter. The reference is the one the supervisor gives to the other offices, the letter that says the student drew the set and modelled the detail, and it is the credential the student carries to the firm that did not host the summer. The 2 together mean the internship is not the vacation of the degree but the first project of the career, and the student who treats it that way, who does the real work and keeps the sample, is the one who holds both doors open when the first job market opens. The internship is the season the portfolio is finished, the drawing and the model and the reference that the entry hire is made of, and it is the step the ladder begins with, the one the drafter rung of the architecture job is reached from.