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For anyone working in China, if you get laid off I hear North Korea and Iran are hiring LA’s.  Just a tip. 

Eric,  you seem to have identified need and are filling it. Good job. Andrew is right that SketchUp is taught in most programs, along with a number of other software packages. That diversity I think is a double-edged sword. It’s great to get exposure to the technology required in landscape architecture and design offices. That exposure, however, m…[Read more]

I think you’ll find that it each job opportunity has its own set of criteria for the applicant. If sketchup is among them, it will cut off the competition from those who don’t have that experience. If it is not required, but you bring it as an extra, it will give you an advantage if all else is equal between you and other job candidates. It may…[Read more]

I have been told by several people that just as it is a good thing to switch Universities when going to grad school it is a good idea to move companies every several years to gain exposure to new ideas and different understanding of design.

I started collecting and propagation with/without rooting hormones moons ago.
However, my work, somehow significant from my perspective,  one eye man among the blind, started when I coined the concept .endemismo trasnochado and pendejismo paisajista, both were defined at the time, 7 years ago and could be found if you go to search.  Both cover t…[Read more]

actually, that is the main reason why I want out…there is NO Chinese middle class. They do not know of public golf. I grew up playing municipal courses and it has been my dream to redesign muni’s. Unfortunately, I see no possibility of that in the next 15 years.

Golf course???!! Probably one of the WORST things you can do to the environment is designing a golf course that only a bunch of filthy rich folks can play! 

Craig, be sure to read my comment above to Ida who lives in Beijing but profile reads San Fran. Did I mention, he’s also a traitor? He shouldn’t be allowed back into the States!

Ida and Craig: 
If you would Goggle “China highways” and use the images tab to show you the horrific traffic jams in the country! You live in Beijing, Ida? Follow the link below and even L.A. has never seen this bad of smog! I think all the pollution is beginning to cloud your brain cells! Nice way of making a living by being a traitor! Sure you…[Read more]

Josh,

I had an extremely similar path (arch > BS env. design > MLA), been working in golf maintenance for 7 years (while in school) and the design/construction industry for 3 years and now want to get out for LA. Glad you realized early what you wanted.

yessir! I currently work for one of those firms that is being paid by the Chinese. I’m now trying to get out and hopefully find employment with a focus on local issues.

Only 5 new golf courses constructed in the US last year. Not a bad thing, but there is not much redesigning going on either. Domestic jobs are few and far between.

Justin, how did it end up for you? (if you don’t mind me asking…)

this is great. I use very similar approaches. Sometimes even use SketchUp or Cad to help define accurate angles (sun, shade, perspective) and hand render from there. Color in Photoshop or similar to above, throw in actual imagery.

I agree. I like to hear the aforementioned comments, but I, like so many others get discouraged after years of discouraging news; changing approaches to interviewing, approaching firms/employment, etc. just contributes to confusion and does not help personal confidence. 

Hopefully there are more encouraging stories out there…

Gone are the days of employees being committed to a career in one company. A lot is made about companies not being loyal. But I have to say that during the boom (98-2006) people in all kinds of jobs left for greener pastures at the drop of a hat. There was so much opportunity opening up every day and ambitious people want to move up, so we did. We…[Read more]

Instead of having to read the legal document as to how to obtain licensure, how about a lay-man’s explanation as to the process. Presenting the possible routes to obtaining the license, what you can then do with it. How long before I can open my own business? What other options do I have until then? What else could I do if I can’t find employment…[Read more]

I have a collection of over 100 species. I have bought maybe 5 plants in the last five years in nurseries.  The landscape architects in Puerto Rico, ignorant of botany, final size of anything after five years, composition and else…Go to Home Depot, and design, install the same plant selection no matter if the residence is worth a million or 2…[Read more]

Leslie,

thanks for the advice. I have been ‘selling myself’ as returning home for family, that’s as personal as I have gotten. I have been hell bent and focused on my childhood aspiration of designing golf courses for over a decade now and all experience has revolved around that. I am trying to make the leap into the more general LA arena, with…[Read more]

Well, two types of firms have always existed. Some are just contract shops that have high turnover by design. You finish a job, and if there isn’t another one to work on, you are out the door, even in good times. I know a few places like that around here, and almost went there with friends (glad I didn’t). Then there are the firms that value…[Read more]

Back to Andrew: One of mine in the long ago qualified, and led to a desperate followup state of affairs  (kept under various recessions of past times memories)….but another popular sun-moon-stars alignment is roughly around midyear. I ought to make a list of the months of occurrences someday, including the reverse leave-takings. Widen the topic…[Read more]