Advice for a beginner in US

Lens T,

You should realize that the poor economy in the US is going to make finding a position very hard for you. Demand is very low for landscape architects right now. I have seen an increase in opportunities in the last 2 months, but there are many unemployed landscape architects in the US. Texas seems to have the best economy, followed by the Midwest and Mountain states. West coast and Northeast have the most unemployment right now. Larger cities have the most landscape architecture firms as well as planners and urban designers. In more rural areas, landscape architects are often part of multidisciplinary architecture or engineering firms. While it may seem counter-intuitive, you maybe be better off avoiding large coastal cities. While there are more opportunities there, there is way more competition. In San Francisco you might have 500 unemployed LAs for every available job, but in Madison, Wisconsin, you only have 20 unemployed for each job (better odds).

You should probably consider continuing you education. As someone who is educated as an architect, but working in landscape, I can tell you from personal experience it can be hard to get some people to take you seriously. I have actually been told that my MArch degree was not considered suficient education at some firms. I would probably not bother with an MLA, but you should consider degrees in planning, urban design, or maybe an environmental engineering degree with a focus in botany or ecology. These are all growing areas in the landscape field, especially habitat restoration and storm water management.

As a young person, the number one thing they will be looking for is impeccable computer skills. Most firms here use AutoCAD, with Sketchup or 3D Studio Max for 3D rendering. Some firms are going to Revit now, but I am not convinced this makes sense for LAs. If you want a job, be ready to show that you can crank out presentation quality drawings as well as construction documents on the computer quickly and with great accuracy.

The other thing you will be facing in this economy is prejudices. There is be many who think degrees from outside the US are not as good. There will be others that think experience in another country is too “different” to be of value. And to be completely frank, there will be many that just say, why would I hire someone from another country when I have hundreds of good Americans to choose from. There will be those that question if you would “fit in” culturally and socially. None of this is fair, but it is an employers economy right now and they are looking for cookie cutter PERFECTION for their new employees.

Best of luck to you….