Seeking Alternatives – How to become a RLA when the traditional jobs just aren’t out there?

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Here is the deal as I see it. This is a diverse profession folks. There are a lot of career paths within it and a lot of different ways to get to various points along that path.

Lorna is quite clear about her path – to return to work as a licensed LA in her family’s business. I know several people with LA degrees who went into business prior to doing their internships. They are all excellent at what they do, but they are not and will never be licensed as LAs. The license, or lack thereof, does not affect what they do in the least bit. It only has limitations on who they can do it for – and those are not many, if any, excluded in these parts.

It is no different for Lorna. She most likely has all of the education and experience she needs to be highly functional in HER chosen path. The license is just something that she is so close to getting and that window closes when she goes back to work for her family. She likely does not want to face a day when she has to decide to not complete the license simply because she needs to get on with the exact same career that she’d have with the license, but for not landing an internship.

Each state determines its criteria for licensure and we have diverse needs from state to state. I frankly don’t have a problem if Vermont determined that it does not have a compelling need to license LAs nor do I have a problem with Florida adding in a bunch of wetlands protection sections should they feel a need to add additional protection.

Some people seem to have an overwhelming desire to set the standard that is just below themselves, degrade those that don’t meet it, and complain that it is unfair if the standard is set higher.

No wonder the engineer/surveyor whom I met with today commented on a pair of landscape architects who brought a project to him recently by saying “They were great to work with. At first I thought they were landscape contractors because they were not pompous a$$holes”. …. I took comfort in assuming that he would not have said that if I matched the profile.

[Barbara Peterson]

Don’t know how most firms work up there but have you tried contract labor?  That is, talking to various firms about helping out on whatever projects they need an extra hand on at the moment: you would be considered self-employed so no benefits but at least you would get your foot-in-the-door now so that when things pick up, you’d already have connections and varied work experience. 

Depending on the firm, you may or may not need a laptop of your own.  You may not be able to design yet but you could help put CD’s together…maybe do some CA work, etc. depending on your level of experience. 

Depending on the amount of time you spend at your current job (full or part-time), you might be able to squeeze in some contract work on the weekend or evenings (esp if a firm is trying to get a project out the door).

The drawback is that the work may not be steady especially in the beginning.  But on the positive side, if you are able to find a firm or two or three that will hire you on a contract basis, you might get some of that experience that  you need…and maybe it will lead to something more permanent as things improve…and you could get varied experience as you could talk to a variety of firms with projects ranging from residential to commercial to public.  

Good luck. 

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