This month we will be sharing content emphasizing ways to use summer to develop yourself. If you are a professional, summertime may not be the same, so we hope you can still utilize these while juggling everything else! We understand it may be difficult to juggle life, friends, and honing one’s craft, so please plan out your goals to avoid burning out!
Today’s topic will be discussing how to deal with feeling underqualified or apprehensive trying to land your first internship or job! It’s no surprise anxiety and overthinking can get the best of you trying to get the “first,” and by no means did the pandemic helped at all. This feeling relates to a social phenomenon called “Imposter Syndrome,” which can affect any individual at any stage of their career! We had one of our audience reach out to Ben a while back to discuss this problem area. This is why we wanted to share certain scenarios and feelings you might experience approaching the first step in your professional career and possible ways to handle them.
Be sure to visit our Youtube and check out “How I Landed My First Architecture Internship” and “How to Get Your First Architecture Job/Internship,” too, for supplementary perspective about this topic! Please keep in mind that we are not career advisors or all-knowing in this expertise, but we share our personal experiences, what we learned, and what worked for us so that it could help you in your journey!
White Lies?
Should you or should you not embellish some of your skills during the interview to get that position? For example, if a firm asked about your knowledge of a software you haven’t used before or frequently?
Stating Your Competencies!
This is always a tough position to be in, especially when your other skills make you just as valuable. Although everyone has a different opinion, I veer to the side of honesty. Especially if you are entering an entry-level position, employers won’t expect you to be an expert in any given field. In fact, they expect you to learn on the job and highly value objective analysis of one’s capacity and willingness to learn. I learned from personal experience that being honest is good, but knowing how to transition the conversation to your strengths is even better!
How to Transition?
Instead of being in a moral dilemma and awkward encounters about your expertise, be transparent about your skills and immediately transition to how you are improving. For example, if you don’t feel so confident about Revit skills, you could start by saying, ‘I have a basic understanding of BIM and how it is used to collaborate with multiple users. However, I lack practical experience in using the software in a professional environment. So I’m actually looking very forward to learning on the job and going the extra mile to get up to speed.’ There are countless ways to approach this, so this is a generic breakdown you can prepare for; problem, personal evaluation, problem-solving solutions, and extend the conversation back to the interviewer.
So, is it okay to use white lies?
Ultimately, it’s your discretion with white lies, but I hope it will not snowball into a stressful situation, causing you to cram crash courses to meet employers’ expectations. I’m sure you’ve heard of “less is more,” well, you can apply the same mentality to interviews. Don’t overshare what’s not necessary to know, like, whether you are a fast learner or not.
Knowing Yourself!
It’s quite easy to feel “imposter syndrome” getting your first internship or career position. Your mind can be riddled with thoughts about your lack of ability or feeling not good enough, but rest assured, it’s not always the case. The thing is, no one starts perfectly. Feeling insecure is definitely a natural part of the learning process. The key here is to avoid getting demotivated by this feeling. It’s important to know what you excel in or not, so you can effectively plan out how to improve or specialize in that skillset.
Here are some questions to ask yourself in advance.
- Are you a fast learner or a slow learner?
- How should your supervisors encourage you and address problem areas they may help you with?
- Are you the type of individual that requires more direction or more independence?
- Would I like to be more design-oriented or technical?
Just asking yourself some questions and answering them will alleviate any reluctance you might be feeling about your new position. How come? Rather than focusing on what you lack, you’re emphasizing what you know and developing them. Therefore, once you have identified your tendencies, you’ll be able to formulate a strategy to reinforce your weaknesses and emphasize your strengths.
Comparing Yourself to Your Peers!
As it’s important to know yourself, it’s important not to compare yourself to others. Easy to say, am I right? Today’s world makes it almost impossible not to do this unconsciously! Everyone seems to work so hard and have brilliant ideas all the time. Walking down the studio aisle, it’s not uncommon to see beautiful drawings and models. Whenever you feel like you are falling behind, remember you are a unique individual filled with different experiences morphing your perspective of design.
We lightly touched on the idea that the studio will inadvertently create a competitive atmosphere that will exacerbate this comparison ideal. Nevertheless, your architectural journey should not be about just one-upping your peers. Focus on the bigger picture and sharpen your skills to your own standards! When it comes to employment, it’s crucial to keep in mind that firms are careful about who they are accepting. If you were offered a position, you have the skills and knowledge for the job – not because you made more drawings than your classmates!
That’s all we got for today! Hope you found this article helpful, and if you have any tips for future students, please let us know in the comments below. Make sure to follow our Youtube and Instagram for more content!
Well written. It is very important to ‘remember you are a unique individual filled with different experiences’. We don’t have to stress so much on ourselves comparing to the others. Take care of your mental health, eliminate unnecessary pressure, only you can thrive for the best.
Exactly! Thank you for taking the time to read the article!
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