u/sosopie

I’ve been working in LA metro area for 16 years in firms where it’s a sole practitioner to multinational AE firms with thousands of employees.

I enjoyed the mid-sized firms the best. 20-50 people not including support staff. I had either got laid off because they couldn’t survive recession or I quit because there was no work in the pipeline. I really miss working in a mid-sized firm and have struggled to find the right one - if there are any. Where are all the mid-sized firms at in LA?? Is it just that they all die off because it’s hard to run a business at that scale , or are they now just getting sold off/ absorbed or grow?

And- is this your experience elsewhere either in the US or any where else on the planet?

In the US during the early 2000’s, there was a recession. Unpaid internships were pretty common. Are there still unpaid internships out there? Is it still a thing? Where are these even advertised these days?

I was in school 2005-2010. I was delayed because I didn’t meet my required internship hours because it was so hard to find even a paid job. It was even harder to land an internship without any experience. I felt like the system was stacked against me- the students who had financial support did the unpaid internships. Then they had experience to get the paid internship the next summer. Then, they got the paid jobs when they graduated. During school I had to manage a part time min wage job and then summers were full time. Just to get by on rent and living expenses and save for the rest of the year. Finally after 6 months after I completed all my coursework I accepted an unpaid internship I got on Craigslist. This is because I was financially supported by my boyfriend. Without that support I couldn’t get the experience hours to get my diploma, or even build a career. It shouldn’t be like this. I wish I could say I did it all by myself, but it really wouldn’t have been possible. I know this isn’t a unique situation and not asking for pity- just hope this isn’t commonplace anymore.

I left a job because the role description vs the pay vs reality was so misaligned I still question my reality, hence this post. For context, I have an accredited degree, 15 years experience as project manager, architect and designer in a wide variety of project types from schools, hospitals, community centers, multi and single family residential. The firm is single family residential doing very basic 1200sf homes for middle class in a HCOL.

Role description: Project Architect and project Manager. Lead DD to CD through permits. Coordinate with consultants. Client meetings. Site visits. Train and mentor staff.

Pay- $105,000. Sounds low but read the reality:

Reality- live modeled and drafted while someone points over my shoulder, permit comment responses micromanaged down to the word. Consultant coordination non-existent/ cornered out of the conversation/process, zero autonomy.

In the end, I felt like an overpaid job captain at best but still felt underpaid given my experience and abilities. It was a big misalignment of what the firm has thought they needed vs what they really needed vs how they worked.

Anybody experience this?