[Jennifer de Graaf]

I just googled “cemetery design” and found these two web pages:
http://www.iccfa.com/tag/cemetery-design
http://www.iccfasupplylink.com/results.php?category=Construction/Design&heading=248

I hope those links work, I plan to spend some time this weekend plodding through them and looking for further information.
Thanks for starting the discussion, this has always been a curiosity of mine.

[Jennifer de Graaf]

dang. Well, I will keep track of this thread so I can bug you or Chris if I ever get to work on another. I did some minor work on one back in school. We had guidelines for the project that are long since lost.

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I, too, would love to know what resources people who are actively involved in the cemetery field learn the ins and outs of it. I’ve seen several books on specific cemeteries, but so far, not one book on design guidelines. Are they just ALL different? Did you learn what you know entirely on the job, or is there some resource available?

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I doubt this is what you are strictly asking about, but I recently took up quilting. I am AMAZED at how inspiring quilt designs can be if you think about them as paving patterns. I don’t sell my quilts, but I sure as heck think about paving when quilting and quilting when designing paving.

[Jennifer de Graaf]

a quick thought – don’t specialize. I’ve been on and watched plenty of sinking ships that went the ’boutique design firm’ route. I think it is fabulous if your firm is the Best Ever at a particular thing, but each of the project sectors is affected differently by different economic pressures.

Residential work responds to slightly different variables than, say, public school projects. Government projects are fully funded before beginning, private work might be funded as-you-go. A firm that has staff who can handle a broader scope should be more flexible when changes come.

I feel the same way about individual career tracks! I am currently working to re-broaden my career, I got pigeonholed in high-end residential for a few years. I think it is awesome work to do, but I find re-designing poorly done engineer’s parking lots (don’t get me started!) can just as satisfying as a fancy kitchen garden….and you can go visit it years later to take pics for your portfolio!

[Jennifer de Graaf]

LUCKY YOU! I wanted to do something like this so badly when I was in college, but I never figured out an outlet for it and paying my way through school sucked up a lot of time. Looking forward to what you come up with!!

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I pretty much never read letters. I get marketing letters all the time and the moment I know it is marketing, I toss it, sometimes without opening! Postcards are already opened, so to speak. Looking at it on the walk between the mail box and the front door is better than tossing without opening.

[Jennifer de Graaf]

Hey, Y’all – go read this article!

http://modative.web4.hubspot.com/rethink-your-resume/

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I think it is an 8. the number. just for the heck of it?

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I agree with Chad above – I use RLA because I can’t afford to be a member of ASLA and RLA means I actually am a landscape architect where ASLA does not. If I had to sign drawings, ASLA membership wouldn’t do any good.

I believe all my professors in college were licensed landscape architects. Every one.

[Jennifer de Graaf]

A place to post resumes. ASLA is $$$ and if land8lounge can do the same joblink thing cheaper, I would have a resume posted right now as opposed to not. I can’t afford ASLA’s rates for either membership or resume posting.

I disagree with Organic that it is bad to have your name attached to discussions. If users are not willing to own their opinions, perhaps they shouldn’t be sharing them?? I see land8 as a professional meeting place, not jsut a location for bitch sessions.

Having said that, archinect is interesting (also mentioned in Organic’s previous post) and I would love to hear reviews of specific firms and how they’re managed, etc, but remember that one person’s dream job is another person’s nightmare. Perhaps if there was a review function for firms, there could be some ground rules – like no slamming specific people at those companies (people do change jobs!! slander is mean), and perhaps it should operate like amazon’s star and comment system? Then again, if a user writes a review, they need to be aware that their identity will be linked to those comments and behave like a grownup….dare I say behave like a professional!?

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I completely disagree – I learn lots of new things and understand different perspectives through reading these forums. I would not be reading the forums at all if all I read was reiteration of my own views. If all we did was sit around and tell each other how wonderful we all were, there would be no reason to visit land8lounge besides pretty pictures and links.

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I agree with Chris-

I have heard some very sad stories and also some insane expectations from prospective employees. The dumbest being from a guy with 4 years experience who told me that he felt it was his boss’ job to give him opportunity to grow in the company and get more responsibility. At 4 years out, he was still only picking up redlines. duh.

I have worked for 5 companies in 12 years ranging from 1 employee to 12. Only one of those firms demonstrated what I believed to be good business management (and they are still in business, I have no worries about my friends there). All of these firms were well respected and did good work, but that seems irrelevant in this economy and when weighed against their business’ many mis-steps. I was laid off by 4 of those 5 employers due to company failure, bad business practices and utterly stupid financial decisions, lost projects, and the inability to adapt. Three of those firms still exist, but I have serious doubts about the futures of two of them. I would be AMAZED if they survived this downturn. There is only that one that I have any confidence in. Too bad I don’t live near there anymore, or I would go back….I digress….

Each of us is responsible for our own career path, no company should be expected to lay it all out for us, or make it all better. The same goes for what happens when we’re laid off, we may not be able to rely on former employers being available to give references or keep their ears open for us. I suggest getting letters of recommendation from everybody you can just in case your company disappears. In addition, consider your audience when applying for a job. The old school dudes and the younger entrepreneurs can have different values and be looking for different things in an employee.

In response to being laid off, a good friend of mine decided to open her own firm (she has no work, but at least she is acting on her own behalf). I’ve decided to try to re-train to do something else so that I will have a backup plan for now and the future.

I believe that 6 months of financial cushion is Not Enough especially right now. I have been out of work 6 months already with no interviews or prospects. I have applied to, and been favorably received by, a few companies who turned right back around and said that they lost a project or three and couldn’t hire, they’ll call me if anything comes up.

As landscape architects and as professional people, we need to be our own advocates, respect our own profession AND ourselves, and project a respectable, professional, educated image.

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I used visualcv.com to post an online hybrid resume/portfolio. However, some of the employers out there (an old school majority??) still ask for a print resume or ask for job inquiries in a format that is not as helpful to an online version. I still maintain a hard copy portfolio, but my print resume is out of date. Visualcv also allows you to make more than one version which is helpful, and to print it out as a .pdf if needed.

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I use visualcv.com and I think it is fantastic. Unfortunately, some companies still insist on a printed “resume and samples of work” so I still find that I have to maintain both. I am sure this will change over time.

Visualcv.com is a lot like this site (except for the part where we’re all LA’s!), but I feel that it can be more comprehensive and customizable / professional. In mine, I’ve loaded samples of work (that I am otherwise prohibited from putting on a website) because I keep my sharing settings strictly by e-mail addressees.

I also have the usual resume stuff including lists of projects by company, skills, awards, publications, blah blah. BUT there’s also letters of recommendation (which would otherwise never be seen), refrences, etc. You can control sharing/visibilty by individual e-mails if you want, or just take it off-line. My biggest objection is that to share your visualcv with someone, it e-mails a link to them with a message from you. I suggest e-mailing it to yourself to decide whether the format of this outgoing message is what you want to be your prospective employer’s first knowledge of you.

OH- and you can have multiple visual cv’s under your account so if you want to customize one emphasizing planning work, and another emphasizing residential work, you can do that easily. You can also keep one for yourself just to keep track of dates, etc.

[Author]

Posts