Becoming an Intern

Finding employment as an intern is much like getting any other job. Internships can be found through ads placed in newspapers, online job banks, college and high school career centers and personal connections (through parents, instructors, etc). Read about one intern's systematic effort to find the right job.

Typically an intern must submit a portfolio of design work, a resume and be interviewed. Like any company, hiring firms are seeking individuals who have proper experience and will fit into their culture. Because internship is so important to the process of becoming an architect, it is commonplace for firms to hire those with little experience to give them a place to start (salaries are commensurate with experience). Here are some thoughts about how to prepare a portfolio from architects that have reviewed hundreds of them.

Beginning salaries for architecture interns fluctuate widely, depending in part on geographical location, demand due to building activity, availability of applicants, and, most important, the capability of the individual applicant. The nationwide average salary for a beginning intern architect is $30,300/year (from the 2002 AIA Compensation Report: A Survey of U.S. Architecture Firms). Since those seeking registration must work as an intern for three years and pass the registration exam, the salaries are for interns, not registered architects. Remember, your entire educational experience requires approximately eight to nine years of combined formal schooling and internship. Essentially, your internship salary allows you to earn an income while completing the last two or three years of your education.

The NCARB conditions specify that no credit may be earned prior to satisfactory completion of:

• Three years in an NAAB-accredited professional degree program.
• The third year of a four-year pre-professional degree program in architecture accepted for direct entry to an NAAB-accredited professional degree program;
• One year in an NAAB- or CACB-accredited Master of Architecture degree program for interns with undergraduate degrees in another discipline;
• 96 semester credit hours as evaluated by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) in accordance with NCARB's Education Requirement, of which no more than 60 hours can be in the general education subject area.

For purposes of calculating years of education, 32 semester credit hours or 48 quarter credit hours equals one year in an academic program.

For more information, please visit: www.ncarb.org/idp/index.html