Six Pieces of Advice

By Jennifer de Graaf on November 21, 2012 1 Comment / 2899 views

I love how stuff comes together sometimes. I recently overheard a conversation between a firm principal and a prospective Landscape Architecture student. This principal probably spent 45 min answering questions, and gave out plenty of information about the profession. They reminded me of discussions I had when I was a student which got me thinking. Where do people get career advice? Did anyone give you good advice before/during/after your schooling to be a Landscape Architect?

Following are a couple of the best pieces of advice I’ve gathered along my journey, but don’t let that keep you from putting your two cents in the comments!

“Always assume that your client is Interested, Intelligent, and Ignorant.” – CG

“You can put up with it, change it, or leave it.” – RL (and another friend’s version of this concept was simply put “you can always vote with your feet”- JP)

“Work for a small firm for a couple of years. If you go to a big firm right out of school, you’ll get pigeon-holed and not given much responsibility. Working as close to the principal as possible in a smaller firm is where you’ll learn the most.” – BT

“Keep in touch with everybody you meet, send them a thank you card, do this every time you see them. Even if they’re not today’s connection, you never know, and they will know who you are.” – JG

“Apply for everything. Practicing interviewing is a worthwhile thing to do, especially if you know you don’t want the job.” – HT

“Don’t study/read about/think about just your profession. Get to know how HR works, read business books, blogs, cultivate a hobby or another creative outlet. Become an expert in a few things, but know a little about as many subjects as you can.” – JD

Who do you go to when you need advice? Anyone? Everyone? A Mentor, maybe? How about next time we have a chat about mentors! Yep. That’s next time. And one more snippet from a smarta** I know:

“green side up” – JS