July 6, 2022, by layif1

Skills I’ve Learned in My Architecture Degree and How They Will Help Me in My Career

By Gabriela Florescu, architecture and built environment student blogger

As the end of my undergraduate degree ends, I find that thinking back on the skills I have acquired to be the best way to identify my strengths and pick a career path for myself based on that. But each of us will leave the same degree having acquired a different set of skills. Here are some of the skills I’ve learned during my architecture degree and how they will help me in the future.

Communication

As architects, an essential part of our jobs is communicating our ideas clearly, and often to groups of people who might be from different fields and might not speak our ‘language’. To get through my degree, I’ve had to learn how to clearly express my designs and ideas verbally, in writing, or visually through diagrams and drawings. This means that now I know how to break down complex ideas and adapt my presentations to a variety of situations.

I believe good communication is essential to any kind of job, but especially in creative fields. And I believe this skill would make a great addition to any team, and not just an architecture firm.

Quick problem-solving

During the design process, we are faced with many unexpected problems that need quick solutions in order to get the project moving forward. I think that your problem-solving skills are a key aspect that you should focus on during your degree, as this won’t only help you in your future career, but also in many real life situations.

For me, problem-solving is knowing how to look at a situation from multiple angles and quickly analysing your possibilities in order to find the best one. I know that this skill will help me save precious time whenever I am in an unexpected situation, as it often happens during design projects.

Software

The kind of software you learn during your degree is probably what ranges the most from person to person. But that is what will make the set of skills you bring to a job unique to you. Besides architecture-specific apps such as Revit, I’ve chosen to develop my skills in Photoshop, InDesign and Excel in order to aid my coursework.

I believe InDesign and Photoshop are great tools anyone working in a creative industry should know, and I know they will help me quickly put together any visual materials I may need for a future job. Excel may seem like a simple app at first, but it can perform quite complex tasks. Plus, I’ve noticed it’s a tool that can help you across many fields, not just architecture.

Research

Doing research might seem like a simple task. But three years of my degree have taught me that doing research the right way is a skill that, if acquired, can save you vast amounts of time and improve your designs. I’ve learned how to find relevant information and data for a topic I am researching, and also how to interpret findings to aid my design process.

This can be applied to many fields.  For me, personally, a good base of research before starting a design will provide a strong foundation that will help me make informed decisions, enriching my design later on in the project.

What skills have you learned?

As I’ve said in the beginning, the things different people take away from the same degree can vary, so it is a great idea to sit back and think about the things you’ve gotten better at before deciding on your next steps in your career.

Once you’ve identified these valuable skills, you can check out the Career and Employability Service webpage on making applications to learn how to present your skills to a potential employer.

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