[Jeff]

Don’t be fooled into thinking that an grad degree will be any more helpful in finding a job as an LA if you already have a BLA. For an entry level position, it really deosn’t matter what your focus or interests are in – just that you know CAD and sketchup, etc.  I look at grad school in this field as an end and not a means – that is, it’s a good way to postpone the “real world” but at some point you’ve got to be able to pay the rent.  Perhaps the economy will have improved in a couple years (but I seriously think this is the new normal- at least in the design fields).  If you are contemplating grad school, I would think hard about a more sustainable career path (I wish someone had told me this!).  That is something non-design that could complement your design background but make you more marketable. It may be more wise to pursue a planning degree – I think there are no where near as many starving planners as LAs.

[Jeff]

I have given up all hope for this profession after being laid off (I am a registered LA with over a decade of experience).  Maybe if you are in your 20’s and naive, you can have fun in this field but once you start to settle down, buy a house, have kids, you quickly realize that landscape architecture is not a sustainable career path (unless maybe you marry someone with a stable job and can treat it as a hobby).

I was fortunate enough to have decided to get a double degree in LA and Planning and was somehow able to get hired as a city planner after nearly a year of looking for work (making more money and with better benefits). 

I suppose if I get the urge to deeply contemplate what cultivar of azalea would look best next to Ms. Jone’s patio or to design another parking lot, I can hang out a shingle and look for side work, but frankly – good riddance to landscape architecture.  I know too many friends and classmates out of work for years, with most completely finished with the field.

[Author]

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