Brent Jacobsen

I guess it remains a “buyer’s market” for employers.  Ditto on the crazy.

Hi Jake,
Congrats – both are great options.  I have not attended either school, but now practice here in LA.  I can verify that Cal Poly Pomona is very well-regarded in Los Angeles (and beyond) and has a huge alumni network and connections in the area for potential jobs.  It is, however, still facing a lot of economic challenges due to the st…[Read more]

Most faculty don’t have a current practice, but a lot will track how their advisees do in the marketplace, especially if they are active in helping people find jobs or providing recommendations.  Usually they try to keep up to date so that they can provide good advice, but also to help market the program to potential students (i.e. our major can…[Read more]

Of the people I know who recently graduated (past two years) with an MLA that are currently working, my best guess is that salaries average in the low to mid-40’s, and range from high 30’s to high-40’s based on location, experience levels, and market conditions.  I would agree that you should reference general information if pressed for your…[Read more]

http://la-landscape.blogspot.com/

Here’s my small blog about landscape and design in los angeles. Not able to post as much as I used to (thanks to fortunately finding some work a few months back), but like to share articles and ideas on things happening in LA.

Look forwarding to reading more from everyone else. Great resource!

Brent

Great question TJ – I would be interested in hearing others opinions as well. I graduated with my MLA a year ago now, but am also interested in teaching at some point as an adjunct or full-time prof. I know that in addition to CELA and ASLA, there is a good listserv (affiliated with CELA I think) that usually has almost every teaching position…[Read more]

Totally agree with Nick – I really like Illustrator for diagramming because of the ease of drawing and manipulating lines. It can also be a decent program for doing plan graphics, although the files tend to get really large. The added benefit of using Illustrator is that that you can open .pdfs from AutoCAD in Illustrator and work directly with…[Read more]

Excellent link – thanks for sharing!

I would second that it depends on what you want to do and who you want to work for. The main ones mentioned, namely drafting and graphic programs, are standard for anybody. Other, more niche programs would be Revit (as mentioned by Zach) and ArcGIS. Will less standard, they will be highly beneficial in the future. Revit is a BIM (building…[Read more]

No problem – definitely feel free to contact me. I am happy to help if I can, and can also put you touch with the current U of A student ASLA president if you want to talk to her at all. Student ASLA can be a great resource and opportunity, though, so I highly encourage getting involved and promoting it at ASU. Admittedly, the challenge for most…[Read more]

Hi Zach – are you curious about how local ASLA chapters work with University chapters, or how university chapters function? I noticed also that you are in Arizona – are you going to ASU?

I just graduated last year from the University of Arizona, and can comment some on our ASLA situation. I felt like ASLA involvement at my university was pretty…[Read more]

I guess I am wondering more about your final project – what components of sustainable urban forestry are you studying? Tree selection, installation, maintenance, and survival? Community involvement and organizing? Effects of an urban forest on sustainability such as stormwater management, urban heat island, etc.?

Depending on your topic, I could…[Read more]

You are welcome – good luck!

Great thread and important question. I am looking for employment right now myself (recent grad), and found a lot of the replies very informative. One other angle that occurred to me today was that you could also create a “Professional Development” or “Continuing Education” section of your resume to showcase some of the activities that happened…[Read more]

Hi Larissa – contacting UC Berkeley’s department might be a great place to inquire about organizations in the Bay Area that advocate or work on issues relevant to landscape architecture. They have a great tradition of working with communities in a range of capacities, and a lot of ties to environmentally-based nonprofits in the area.

I feel like…[Read more]

Thanks for posting the synopsis of the credits Wes. From everything I have seen and heard about the SSI, it seems like a common sense approach to sustainable design that should provide a good reminder / checklist of the variety of factors to consider in site design. It will be interesting to see how the pilot projects go, though, as the…[Read more]

Thanks for posting the article Nick – I can say that a number of my fellow recent graduates are beginning to be very disheartened by the economic downturn and what appears to be a lack of viable opportunities to enter the profession in the near, and potentially, long future. It has led some of them to reconsider whether they want to continue in…[Read more]

Website looks great – just linked my land8lounge profile to the site. Had two feedback comments:

1. The email field doesn’t seem to be active for me when I edit my profile so I cannot enter an email address
2. Is the new site going to allow you to “connect” to firms, i.e. add them as friends or contacts, or at least sign-up to receive notice of…[Read more]