i went in for a job interview yesterday, with a one-man primarily residential architecture firm. i just finished grad school, and was looking for a summer job since my lease ends in august and i don't think i'm going to stick around. i showed this guy my portfolio, some examples from grad school projects, and brought in full-size drawings from my thesis. he "seemed" impressed with everything. i also showed him a 70% set of CD's that i did about a third of for a major public transit center, which he seemed really impressed with. everything seemed to be going fine. then he wanted me to do some cad for him, to "show him what i can do," even though i already provided him with references and showed him my CD's. so i went along with it, thinking he just wanted reassurance that i know cad. anyway, i worked for a little over an hour, and he came by and stopped me, checked it out, and just tore into all kinds of nitpicky little things. i wasn't even done! i was a little disgusted that he would even ask me to do something like that. i've been to a lot of interviews, but no one has ever asked me to do that. i've never heard of such a thing. has anyone else? on top of that he had the nerve to tell me he'd seen better, and offered to let me work for him for free for a few days during what he called the 'helping period' to 'try things out.' unbelievable! does this dude think i was born yesterday? has anyone else ever done this? i just finished graduate school with a pretty high gpa, i have two years experience plus three summers of working construction. i have worked for both good and bad architects, and can tell you this guy wouldn't be the best i've ever seen [or worked for] either. i'm a little confused. he asked me about money, and said to add 25% to whatever i made at my last job. i said 17/hr [the only reason i'm still even considering working with this guy - he said he'd think about it]. do i have a chip on my shoulder? am i overreacting? i'm feel a little insulted, but i don't know if i can turn down 17/hr. also don't know if i could have a working relationship with this guy; he's already on my nerves but i need a job. what do you guys think?
I have never, ever heard of asking someone to do CAD on demand. That's obnoxious. I understand needing a job, but I'd run away from this guy as fast as possible.
definately bossman, run away as fast a possible. i've never heard of having to "perform" in an interview or even working for free for a transition period for that matter. this guy sounds like he just wants to take advantage of you.
I've heard of CAD tests before. They're usually with very small firms that don't have the resources to get new hires through the learning curve. Work environment is everything, so if you don't think you can handle him I'd look somewhere else. 17 bucks an hour isn't that great in this market anyway. On the other hand, sounds like he might be able to improve your CAD skills.
never work for free...whether you are just coming out of school or not...make sure that you are getting "something". you can offer to work for $$ and no benefits...but it is important that you are a professional. you have the education...you even have experience.
i am just so tired of people trating us like trash...if you go to work at mc donalds...they pay you...why do we put up with this CRAP??
and to any bosses out their thinking this is even acceptable...it is NOT...not only unethical...but isn't it breaking all labor laws?!? i won't get started about this "contract" working thing!!!
a lot of firms will question, or test, your cad abilities in one way or another. but do not work for free ever - unless it's intentionally pro-bono (good) or for sex (better). anyway - that's what 30, 60, or 90 day probation periods are for.
I would just beware of one person firms in general unless you know the person and know why they are on their own. I’ve run into a number of super weird guys who are too dysfunctional to work with anyone else and have wandered off on their own and gotten wrapped up in a delusional fantasy world where antics like you just described are okay.
Are you kidding me????...He probably needed to finish that drawing and put you to do it for free..I can't stand this...If we let our profession be this desperate we'll all pay for it.. Please run as fast as you can....and as Far as you can from people like this...
i think someone issuing a cad test is a true sign of what's to come. i've never been tested for cad or any other program. see my work? hear my thoughts? hear my references? that should be good enough to make a decision of whether you want to hire me or not. cad test = cad monkey.
CAD interview aside, it already seems like you have fundamental differences with the guy and since it's a small firm, there's virtually no "professional buffer" that can insulate you from all this guy's quirkiness. small firms are great, but if someone is a bit psycho, it can be hell. too many ppl i know worked for unbalanced one-man firms and they all eventually left.
i say ditch the job purely based on the fact that working with this guy could potentially be the most frustrating summer of your life.
I did a CAD test once. It was my first job, and they were hiring me for an overseas position, so they were about to make a pretty substantial investment.
Your situation seems fishier...
when i was interviewing i took several Cad tests...and my firm does them too (even though they didn't when i was interviewing!)...they are relatively easy and when we are doing big hires, its only used as a tool in decisions when people are "even" in our eyes...
we do trial periods too...but you are paid 80% of your salary for three months (this too is new and was not around when i started!)
anyway...my advice would be not to ever work for free...
...there has GOT to be something else out there that you are better suited for!
The McDonald's reference is funny...if i'm ever in an interview and the interviewer tells me that i have to work for free for a period of time...i'm gonna use the Mc Donald's thing...and say it (slowly) in a nicely constructed logical argument to make that person feel like an irrational ass for even thinking..
i would never work for free. i was almost more upset about the whole cad test thing, because i showed him my drawings. i am absolutely, most definitely, an autocad expert [for better or worse]. the idea that someone could possibly be unhappy with an hour of drafting is rediculous. it can take days even to draw something simple, especially a small building. also, it wasn't one of his jobs i was working on, but a simple 'test' he put together or scribbled notes that were almost unreadable.
i agree with the whole one man firm thing though. there are a lot of those guys around here, and they seem to be in this position because they are too bizarre to work for anyone else. no offense to any of you, one of the best architects i know works by himself.
dude- first off- 17/hr???? are you freakin kidding me? you should be shooting for at least 25/hr.
and the moment someone asks you to take a CAD test, kindly ask why. and if they come up with some cockamaymee (sp) story like "well all of our prospects blah blah" kindly state that if your portfolio or the cd's you've brought in doesn't illustrate your cad capability, then this position just isn't for you.
then walk out humming the tune to 'all in the family' with a JJ-like step.
17hr/cad monkey is not bad for a summer job in ann arbor. i have real contacts elsewhere in the country. i just need something to hold me over until i finish my portfolio and my lease is up.
I am a sole employee at a one man firm, and there are definite pros and cons. Not the best way to find out how things are done 'in the real world' but sometimes important decisions need to be made and nobody else is around to make them- fun and exciting trial by fire!
i had an interview where the guy was picking on the type of paper my portfolio was on. he went on to say that i should invest in a leather-bound portfolio with glossy-magazine-quality photo paper and maybe then some firms would even think to bring me in for an interview. At that point i pretty much told him that the interview was over and said good luck finding someone for the position.
usually places are impressed with my work and experience, i didn't expect anything like that (i was waiting for him to start critquing my clothes at one point)... he didn't even bother to look at the content of my drawings...
oh- he worked by himself...
there are too many people like this in our profession... why???
kyll - $25 an hour seems more off than $17. where do you get $25 or are you kidding? The interns at my office make about $17 when they rack up 4-5 years of experience. GOSH I have to get out of here. Thank god for archinect or I wouldn't even know that it's not acceptable!
i just want to say... in what has been one of the hardest weeks of my life, emotionally, school-wise and everything-else-wise:
a couple of days ago i turned down a non-paying job with a very exciting, interesting young firm. they told me i was the only person they were asking to work for them at the moment, and i was actually quite flattered. i was really tempted to work for them and find another, paying job on the side, but eventually realized that, all my life, i have lived by my ethical beliefs, and declined.
I've heard of (and even administered) CAD tests, AND a free training period before. But I've never heard of a the training period being offered to someone with your level of experience before. Usually if I saw a candidate who had your level of experience, but I still considered unsatisfactory, I wouldn't think that a training period would help. I used to work for an office who did this on occasion, but only for first-timers.
I would say that 17/hr is a good summer internship rate, 25/hr is ridiculous. You MIGHT make 25/hr at your first full-time, more-than-just-the-summer job, but don't expect it at a temporary job.
But despite the money, I'd still say to blow that popsicle stand, man. You don't want to work for someone who's that overly critical if you feel that your skills are where they should be right now. It'll just crush your self-esteem to work with someone like that on a daily basis, and that's not worth taking any amount of money to endure.
Most of the firms I've encountered that give CAD tests are actually very large firms, with layers of "CAD Managers" and IT people who want to have their say in the hiring process. I've never heard of being nitpicked on such a test though. Generally you don't get any feedback at all on them (except for the implication that you must have done alright if you are offered the job.)
I even had one of those full day "in box" tests once, where the firm (a large firm) pays you for the day, and you come in and do a whole list of tasks that are in your "inbox" in the morning. The test is partly about time management, personality and multi-tasking, but there was some CAD too.
I did have somebody want to CAD test me once in a small firm, but I told him that I had not used their software in many years (it was AutoCAD, and I have never worked in an AutoCAD-using firm and only learned it in school.) They didn't press the issue, and I was offered the job later anyway.
I work in a small firm and we've never given such a test before, though bad experiences with recent grad hires has made me consider lately that maybe we should implement some kind of test (but I was thinking of more of an all-around basic competency test than a CAD test.)
Working for free is a bad idea. Taking an hour-long CAD test doesn't seem like a big deal that should make you run screaming from the firm - though if the guy is picking on the drawings so early on then I'd be wary.
$25 an hour is way too high unless this is a freelance job where you'll be paying your half of social security, etc..
According to AIA surveys, recent government labor surveys, salary.com, etc. entry-level pay in small firms is anywhere from $13.00 to $17.50 per hour in any but the largest cities.
if you are just out of school with no experience you will not be making anywhere near 25 bucks. you might make 15 in chicago and some of these places have zero benefits. good luck with those loans dude.
Nice call on the 25/hr. I am fresh out of school and am not making 25/hr. I do have benefits though. If someone is getting that rate fresh out of school I'd sure like to know where.
come on bossman, i can't even believe you indulged him. i would have used the toilet without flushing or put my finger down my throat and puked all over the sink.
Probably an old statistic, but I was told that 50% of the UK architect firms are 1 or 2 people. Don't knock them because they are small. It is a very big step for a sole practitioner to move to employing their first person. Firstly their workload has to double to have work for two people and then they are dumped on by all of the employer legislation. Payroll, employer tax and NI, pensions and H&S. They can't afford the time to employ the wrong person. But works both ways.
Working for free should be limited to work experience. A week or few days out of school to see what architecture is all about and a first experience of office life. Summer work and year out placements are work. Yes they will be spending more time training you, if they're good, but you are still working and should be producing usable output.
I've found this forum because I'm looking for a cad test to present at an interview. We want to assess their ability with the software. It is not going to be used to decide if they will get the job, but whether their description of their abilities matches their capabilities. I'm not suggesting they are lying when they tell me what they know, but that many commands and routines have deeper levels of operation they may not be aware of. We've employed too many people that have said they can do certain things, but we've asked them to do it at a more complex level that they've known and we all lose. If we know someones abilities better from the start, we can set them a suitable level of work and plan the correct training. CAD is just a drawing tool that can be learnt. Architecture involves so much more of a person.
Sadly I just let go (after one week) a very nice early career person because her perception of her skill on CAD and the actual reality of her skill was vastly different. I'm happy to teach a new hire advanced skills as needed, but I'm not running a CAD school. The new interview will have a simple - draw a plan, elevate wall and x-ref it to a sheet in scale test.
There are a lot of predatory firms around (location: USA California and Hawaii) , make sure you check all the background info, just like they check our background and test us. I have come across people that will take advantage of "young" or fresh graduates and make them work for free. Or ask them to drive around running errands and not get reimbursed...etc.
Do not ever let anybody convince you to do this, even while I was in architecture school all of our professors warned us about it and told us that is not a good practice one that expects their junior employees to work for free.
That being said, good luck and I hope you never have to do anything that you are not getting paid for.
Sorry but it makes me laugh - Just for context mind you: I'm a fair bit older than you and my hourly is multiples above yours. I got a call from an old friend - a structural engineer I know for 40 years who told me he has a client - an Architect who needs some help and would I be interested - sure why not - connect us. The guy was nuts - felt like he needed control over my life. Look I've done lots of collaborations in my life, I know how to read drawings and intentions. I've also been on both sides - either handing off work or receiving it. I'm not 14 years old and I most definitely don't need to sit on your lap while you sketch out this nonsense. Send me a design and I'll work it out. Nah every Sunday night I would get multiple messages about what to do on Monday. And it was chaos all week long. Nope not happening. After three weeks and 20 billable hours - and a day to day of not knowing what is going on - I bailed out last weekend. My last email was: Here's my invoice and don't bother calling me any more. This asshole simply has no respect. I've had enough. I'm getting my 50 year old sailboat together and sailing up the NE coast this summer. In the meantime I'm selectively speaking with perspective clients. Part of being professional is when to say: NO.
What I mean by that last statement: "Part of being professional is when to say: NO." isn't arrogance - but as a professional you get to define the terms of your practice.
what the heck?
i went in for a job interview yesterday, with a one-man primarily residential architecture firm. i just finished grad school, and was looking for a summer job since my lease ends in august and i don't think i'm going to stick around. i showed this guy my portfolio, some examples from grad school projects, and brought in full-size drawings from my thesis. he "seemed" impressed with everything. i also showed him a 70% set of CD's that i did about a third of for a major public transit center, which he seemed really impressed with. everything seemed to be going fine. then he wanted me to do some cad for him, to "show him what i can do," even though i already provided him with references and showed him my CD's. so i went along with it, thinking he just wanted reassurance that i know cad. anyway, i worked for a little over an hour, and he came by and stopped me, checked it out, and just tore into all kinds of nitpicky little things. i wasn't even done! i was a little disgusted that he would even ask me to do something like that. i've been to a lot of interviews, but no one has ever asked me to do that. i've never heard of such a thing. has anyone else? on top of that he had the nerve to tell me he'd seen better, and offered to let me work for him for free for a few days during what he called the 'helping period' to 'try things out.' unbelievable! does this dude think i was born yesterday? has anyone else ever done this? i just finished graduate school with a pretty high gpa, i have two years experience plus three summers of working construction. i have worked for both good and bad architects, and can tell you this guy wouldn't be the best i've ever seen [or worked for] either. i'm a little confused. he asked me about money, and said to add 25% to whatever i made at my last job. i said 17/hr [the only reason i'm still even considering working with this guy - he said he'd think about it]. do i have a chip on my shoulder? am i overreacting? i'm feel a little insulted, but i don't know if i can turn down 17/hr. also don't know if i could have a working relationship with this guy; he's already on my nerves but i need a job. what do you guys think?
I obviously don't know the whole situation, but if it was me, I'd say that guy didn't pass the interview.
agree
I have never, ever heard of asking someone to do CAD on demand. That's obnoxious. I understand needing a job, but I'd run away from this guy as fast as possible.
definately bossman, run away as fast a possible. i've never heard of having to "perform" in an interview or even working for free for a transition period for that matter. this guy sounds like he just wants to take advantage of you.
I've heard of CAD tests before. They're usually with very small firms that don't have the resources to get new hires through the learning curve. Work environment is everything, so if you don't think you can handle him I'd look somewhere else. 17 bucks an hour isn't that great in this market anyway. On the other hand, sounds like he might be able to improve your CAD skills.
i worked for a try out period, but they still paid me for it.
run bossman run.
never work for free...whether you are just coming out of school or not...make sure that you are getting "something". you can offer to work for $$ and no benefits...but it is important that you are a professional. you have the education...you even have experience.
i am just so tired of people trating us like trash...if you go to work at mc donalds...they pay you...why do we put up with this CRAP??
and to any bosses out their thinking this is even acceptable...it is NOT...not only unethical...but isn't it breaking all labor laws?!? i won't get started about this "contract" working thing!!!
a lot of firms will question, or test, your cad abilities in one way or another. but do not work for free ever - unless it's intentionally pro-bono (good) or for sex (better). anyway - that's what 30, 60, or 90 day probation periods are for.
I would just beware of one person firms in general unless you know the person and know why they are on their own. I’ve run into a number of super weird guys who are too dysfunctional to work with anyone else and have wandered off on their own and gotten wrapped up in a delusional fantasy world where antics like you just described are okay.
Are you kidding me????...He probably needed to finish that drawing and put you to do it for free..I can't stand this...If we let our profession be this desperate we'll all pay for it.. Please run as fast as you can....and as Far as you can from people like this...
i think someone issuing a cad test is a true sign of what's to come. i've never been tested for cad or any other program. see my work? hear my thoughts? hear my references? that should be good enough to make a decision of whether you want to hire me or not. cad test = cad monkey.
EXACTLY...
i'm gonna agree with newstreamlined...
CAD interview aside, it already seems like you have fundamental differences with the guy and since it's a small firm, there's virtually no "professional buffer" that can insulate you from all this guy's quirkiness. small firms are great, but if someone is a bit psycho, it can be hell. too many ppl i know worked for unbalanced one-man firms and they all eventually left.
i say ditch the job purely based on the fact that working with this guy could potentially be the most frustrating summer of your life.
I did a CAD test once. It was my first job, and they were hiring me for an overseas position, so they were about to make a pretty substantial investment.
Your situation seems fishier...
when i was interviewing i took several Cad tests...and my firm does them too (even though they didn't when i was interviewing!)...they are relatively easy and when we are doing big hires, its only used as a tool in decisions when people are "even" in our eyes...
we do trial periods too...but you are paid 80% of your salary for three months (this too is new and was not around when i started!)
anyway...my advice would be not to ever work for free...
...there has GOT to be something else out there that you are better suited for!
keep searching!
The McDonald's reference is funny...if i'm ever in an interview and the interviewer tells me that i have to work for free for a period of time...i'm gonna use the Mc Donald's thing...and say it (slowly) in a nicely constructed logical argument to make that person feel like an irrational ass for even thinking..
if the Titanic had the opportunity you have right now do you think it would have sunk?!
i say STEER CLEAR
i would never work for free. i was almost more upset about the whole cad test thing, because i showed him my drawings. i am absolutely, most definitely, an autocad expert [for better or worse]. the idea that someone could possibly be unhappy with an hour of drafting is rediculous. it can take days even to draw something simple, especially a small building. also, it wasn't one of his jobs i was working on, but a simple 'test' he put together or scribbled notes that were almost unreadable.
i agree with the whole one man firm thing though. there are a lot of those guys around here, and they seem to be in this position because they are too bizarre to work for anyone else. no offense to any of you, one of the best architects i know works by himself.
i agree with e...this guy might just use you as a cad monkey
dude- first off- 17/hr???? are you freakin kidding me? you should be shooting for at least 25/hr.
and the moment someone asks you to take a CAD test, kindly ask why. and if they come up with some cockamaymee (sp) story like "well all of our prospects blah blah" kindly state that if your portfolio or the cd's you've brought in doesn't illustrate your cad capability, then this position just isn't for you.
then walk out humming the tune to 'all in the family' with a JJ-like step.
17hr/cad monkey is not bad for a summer job in ann arbor. i have real contacts elsewhere in the country. i just need something to hold me over until i finish my portfolio and my lease is up.
I am a sole employee at a one man firm, and there are definite pros and cons. Not the best way to find out how things are done 'in the real world' but sometimes important decisions need to be made and nobody else is around to make them- fun and exciting trial by fire!
17 is good for a cad monkey
i had an interview where the guy was picking on the type of paper my portfolio was on. he went on to say that i should invest in a leather-bound portfolio with glossy-magazine-quality photo paper and maybe then some firms would even think to bring me in for an interview. At that point i pretty much told him that the interview was over and said good luck finding someone for the position.
usually places are impressed with my work and experience, i didn't expect anything like that (i was waiting for him to start critquing my clothes at one point)... he didn't even bother to look at the content of my drawings...
oh- he worked by himself...
there are too many people like this in our profession... why???
-to
kyll - $25 an hour seems more off than $17. where do you get $25 or are you kidding? The interns at my office make about $17 when they rack up 4-5 years of experience. GOSH I have to get out of here. Thank god for archinect or I wouldn't even know that it's not acceptable!
and we are not cad monkeys i might add.
that goes for interns and young architects
i just want to say... in what has been one of the hardest weeks of my life, emotionally, school-wise and everything-else-wise:
a couple of days ago i turned down a non-paying job with a very exciting, interesting young firm. they told me i was the only person they were asking to work for them at the moment, and i was actually quite flattered. i was really tempted to work for them and find another, paying job on the side, but eventually realized that, all my life, i have lived by my ethical beliefs, and declined.
ah. that felt good to say.
stick to your guns, guys and gals.
good for you joed. congrats.
I've heard of (and even administered) CAD tests, AND a free training period before. But I've never heard of a the training period being offered to someone with your level of experience before. Usually if I saw a candidate who had your level of experience, but I still considered unsatisfactory, I wouldn't think that a training period would help. I used to work for an office who did this on occasion, but only for first-timers.
I would say that 17/hr is a good summer internship rate, 25/hr is ridiculous. You MIGHT make 25/hr at your first full-time, more-than-just-the-summer job, but don't expect it at a temporary job.
But despite the money, I'd still say to blow that popsicle stand, man. You don't want to work for someone who's that overly critical if you feel that your skills are where they should be right now. It'll just crush your self-esteem to work with someone like that on a daily basis, and that's not worth taking any amount of money to endure.
Most of the firms I've encountered that give CAD tests are actually very large firms, with layers of "CAD Managers" and IT people who want to have their say in the hiring process. I've never heard of being nitpicked on such a test though. Generally you don't get any feedback at all on them (except for the implication that you must have done alright if you are offered the job.)
I even had one of those full day "in box" tests once, where the firm (a large firm) pays you for the day, and you come in and do a whole list of tasks that are in your "inbox" in the morning. The test is partly about time management, personality and multi-tasking, but there was some CAD too.
I did have somebody want to CAD test me once in a small firm, but I told him that I had not used their software in many years (it was AutoCAD, and I have never worked in an AutoCAD-using firm and only learned it in school.) They didn't press the issue, and I was offered the job later anyway.
I work in a small firm and we've never given such a test before, though bad experiences with recent grad hires has made me consider lately that maybe we should implement some kind of test (but I was thinking of more of an all-around basic competency test than a CAD test.)
Working for free is a bad idea. Taking an hour-long CAD test doesn't seem like a big deal that should make you run screaming from the firm - though if the guy is picking on the drawings so early on then I'd be wary.
$25 an hour is way too high unless this is a freelance job where you'll be paying your half of social security, etc..
According to AIA surveys, recent government labor surveys, salary.com, etc. entry-level pay in small firms is anywhere from $13.00 to $17.50 per hour in any but the largest cities.
if you are just out of school with no experience you will not be making anywhere near 25 bucks. you might make 15 in chicago and some of these places have zero benefits. good luck with those loans dude.
if it's for free, it's volunteering, not a job.
vado retro & eeayeeayo:
Nice call on the 25/hr. I am fresh out of school and am not making 25/hr. I do have benefits though. If someone is getting that rate fresh out of school I'd sure like to know where.
come on bossman, i can't even believe you indulged him. i would have used the toilet without flushing or put my finger down my throat and puked all over the sink.
Probably an old statistic, but I was told that 50% of the UK architect firms are 1 or 2 people. Don't knock them because they are small. It is a very big step for a sole practitioner to move to employing their first person. Firstly their workload has to double to have work for two people and then they are dumped on by all of the employer legislation. Payroll, employer tax and NI, pensions and H&S. They can't afford the time to employ the wrong person. But works both ways.
Working for free should be limited to work experience. A week or few days out of school to see what architecture is all about and a first experience of office life. Summer work and year out placements are work. Yes they will be spending more time training you, if they're good, but you are still working and should be producing usable output.
I've found this forum because I'm looking for a cad test to present at an interview. We want to assess their ability with the software. It is not going to be used to decide if they will get the job, but whether their description of their abilities matches their capabilities. I'm not suggesting they are lying when they tell me what they know, but that many commands and routines have deeper levels of operation they may not be aware of. We've employed too many people that have said they can do certain things, but we've asked them to do it at a more complex level that they've known and we all lose. If we know someones abilities better from the start, we can set them a suitable level of work and plan the correct training. CAD is just a drawing tool that can be learnt. Architecture involves so much more of a person.
Sadly I just let go (after one week) a very nice early career person because her perception of her skill on CAD and the actual reality of her skill was vastly different. I'm happy to teach a new hire advanced skills as needed, but I'm not running a CAD school. The new interview will have a simple - draw a plan, elevate wall and x-ref it to a sheet in scale test.
There are a lot of predatory firms around (location: USA California and Hawaii) , make sure you check all the background info, just like they check our background and test us. I have come across people that will take advantage of "young" or fresh graduates and make them work for free. Or ask them to drive around running errands and not get reimbursed...etc.
Do not ever let anybody convince you to do this, even while I was in architecture school all of our professors warned us about it and told us that is not a good practice one that expects their junior employees to work for free.
That being said, good luck and I hope you never have to do anything that you are not getting paid for.
For your first comment you necro'd a 68 month old thread. I smell a bot. ;)
was this originally shtposting? 17/hr was mediocre entry-level pay at best back then - even in chicago.
It is mediocre pay. Still funny that milailieva brought back a nearly six year old thread.
Sorry but it makes me laugh - Just for context mind you: I'm a fair bit older than you and my hourly is multiples above yours. I got a call from an old friend - a structural engineer I know for 40 years who told me he has a client - an Architect who needs some help and would I be interested - sure why not - connect us. The guy was nuts - felt like he needed control over my life.
Look I've done lots of collaborations in my life, I know how to read drawings and intentions. I've also been on both sides - either handing off work or receiving it. I'm not 14 years old and I most definitely don't need to sit on your lap while you sketch out this nonsense. Send me a design and I'll work it out.
Nah every Sunday night I would get multiple messages about what to do on Monday. And it was chaos all week long.
Nope not happening. After three weeks and 20 billable hours - and a day to day of not knowing what is going on - I bailed out last weekend.
My last email was: Here's my invoice and don't bother calling me any more. This asshole simply has no respect.
I've had enough. I'm getting my 50 year old sailboat together and sailing up the NE coast this summer. In the meantime I'm selectively speaking with perspective clients. Part of being professional is when to say: NO.
What I mean by that last statement: "Part of being professional is when to say: NO." isn't arrogance - but as a professional you get to define the terms of your practice.
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