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 “but whenever I do visit a site, I see problems that I believe should be obvious to my team leaders, yet seem to be missed completely”.
Are they just not seeing it, are they making a value judgement about quality which is below your standard, or do they not have the technical skills to pull it off? 
 

 Reply by Craig Anthony19 hours ago
Five years and it will be boom times again!

That’s what everyone was saying five years ago. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.

Healing Gardens in Canada  It’s becoming quite popular here.  Check out the link…

Craig,Yeah, you heard me my friend. Loud and clear too. Mano a mano. See the latest business news today? New round of market jitters, unemployment rate goes back up, consumer spending went down, new construction permit applications fell…it all spells doom for the landscape architect. Minimum of 5 years before any significant construction boom…[Read more]

You heard right about the  UofW program. I am proof positive of that. Did it increase my employment appeal ? Yes, back when there was real, positive employment in our profession.
Your encouraging naysayer.
Landplanner

They’re supposed to hit their sweet crude reserves this year (hence the backing to get the Olympics and the WC); rumor has it that their reserves may be greater than what the Saudi’s had, so that’s a lot of potential cash to be spent.  Some of the big boys have already been maneuvering to get work down there, so we’ll see.  Wouldn’t hurt to s…[Read more]

Thanks April.  Good luck to you too!  I heard that UW has an excellent program.

I agree that it is a specialty within our profession–and probably a great marketing hook.  
The largest local market seems to be “nursing homes”–especially the ones which emphasis rehabilitation vs. end of life care.  I have worked on a few of these, and it’s interesting to talk with the physical/occupational therapists…. 
I believe there is…[Read more]

My MiL is from Sao Paulo.  She really wants us to spend a few years down there so the kids can learn Portugese.  She’s connected so who knows.

It sounds like it is booming, and there’s an olympics and a World Cup coming up (I believe), so there’ll be plenty of bubble work for the next 4-6 years. 

Good luck Kim!  Texas sounds like a blast…I want to do a BBQ tour of the area some day.  That….and spend a week at a bucking bull ranch so I could draw bulls day in and day out.
The naysayers seem to have forgotten that you already have a career that gave you a skill set you could fall back on if necessary – or even possibly merge some of y…[Read more]

Earthworker, for the past 2 years I’ve been going around in circles with this “LA employment issue” and nothing ever comes of it. Every month or two, someone new post this similar question. I say let the grads and others sink or swim. Don’t bother with anymore suggestions. Let them find out the hard way! Previous comments in here by recent grads…[Read more]

Craig:
 
I am more in the “glass full in a shaky hand” category. I greatly appreciate your clear eyed, shoulder to the grindstone outlook. I share a lot of that, and that is what has propelled me back to China. We are both doing the probable, improbable and anything in between, to get through this, and we both know we are from the lighted end of…[Read more]

Roland:

This might not lead you anywhere closer to a job prospect in Brazil, but it is worth a multi-level Google search. Even though the nation of Portugal is in pretty sorry economic shape itself, chances are they have a national version of ASLA. If I were a Portugal based firm , I would have opened an office presence many year ago in order to…[Read more]

I’ll have to check whether there’s a group of Brazilian LA’s on land8. Maybe they can educate us on this.

Thanks so much for proving my point.  You’ve been ‘surviving’ for four years and I am assuming you have experience.  Do you think things will pick up enough in the next two-three years for an inexperienced mla grad to get decent work at graduation?  I am just trying to give her a little insight into the profession as it stands today and will fo…[Read more]

I’m betting all the work for the Olympics is being done by AECOM or some other big company.

Thank you!  And I agree.

Honestly, my comments are only meant to help you.  The truth is I and many of the la’s laid off with me are on the brink of losing everything.  We barely make our mortgages and put food on the table.  The longer this depression goes on, the more I realize that it is nearly impossible to support a family and work in this industry. There is no co…[Read more]