Getting a job of an architect is not the most difficult task in the world. Experiencing economic expansion, new houses and halls, new streets and blocks are built everywhere. Companies need architects, and in a current state of affairs, the demand exceeds the supply. This may change with the recent virus pandemic, but it will likely be only a temporarily slowdown of the industry.
Therefor you won’t compete with dozen other job candidates in your interview for an architecture job. Sometimes you may actually be the only person who tries to get the position. Nevertheless, you still have to make a good impression while demonstrating your skills and right attitude to work. And you can do this with good interview answers. We can categorize the common questions for architect interview in three groups. Let’s analyze each group.
Most hiring managers will start the interview with some personal interview questions. The aim of these questions is to understand who you are, what you expect from your new employment, what are your strengths and weaknesses, and what value you can bring to your new employer while working as an architect.
Try to speak with enthusiasm about your role and career. Show them that you did your homework, and learned something about the company. Do not forget to ask them some questions, since interview is a dialogue (or at least it should be), and a person who is honestly interested in a place of work will always ask some questions about that place. Let’s have a look at the questions.
ARCHITECT Interview Questions And Answers! (How To PASS an Architecture Interview)
2. What Are The Roles Of an Architect?
The interviewer wants to learn whether you are aware of your duties and responsibilities as an architect. Mention to them the primary duties and responsibilities of an architect.
Sample Answer
“There are several duties and responsibilities I am entitled to as an architect. The main among the many roles are;
i) Leading and developing projects from early concept through design development.
ii) Prepare drawings, specifications, and construction documents necessary for construction.
iii) Design and document commercial and industrial building projects.
iv) Do detailed consultation with clients to determine their requirements.
v) Organize and manage construction permit documents
vi) Resolve complex design issues and modify existing plans and elevations to meet the client’s needs.
I believe that those would be my primary duties as an architect, and I have the total capacity to perform them effectively.”
Example Architecture Interview Questions:
Its important to be ambitious, but you must balance this with a realistic timescale. Try to show a genuine awareness of potential challenges and that you have an idea of how you might overcome them. If you can demonstrate that you have real loyalty to the firm you are interviewing with, then you are more likely to get to the next stage.
Tailor your response to this answer by thinking about the job you are applying to. If you were, for example, going for a company who solely focus upon residential builds, talking about commercial banking design would not be of salience or relevance. Show that you have strong motivation and clarity in terms of your future path and direction.
It is important to think about the core modules you have examined. Think about classic designs as well as new ones and use these to tailor your response. Think about the fundamentality of design, right down to the basics. It can also be useful to think about a two-sided response to the question, assessing the merits and limitations of both sides.
This question has two dimensions. It is an open question that seeks to understand what kind of architecture you like and it is also a question testing your knowledge about contemporary architecture. The best way to answer is to choose an architect that is interesting and one that you know a lot about. It would also be helpful if you do genuinely like their work as this will allow you to speak passionately about it. Highlight why you admire them – is it their philosophical approach, a unified style they adopt, or their innovations in the industry? A failure to be able to speak passionately and knowledgeably about an architect will indicate a lack of interest in the industry and lack of awareness of the community.
If you do have any experience then an academic example will be sufficient here. This question may seem to have limited scope but it gives you an opportunity to describe a whole project that you have worked on. Do make sure that you focus your question directly to the answer and restate the actual tradeoffs you made at the end, along with reasons why.
This is an open question about contemporary architecture. The best response would be to take a positive approach and say why it is important that architects continue to build. Do make sure your answer is well rounded and acknowledge the debate surrounding construction, especially environmental costs. Examine how you think this can be overcome by using clever architectural design and innovative, responsible building techniques.
5. Describe Your Daily Routine As an Architect?
The interviewer wants to know what activities you will be performing daily and what order you will use to perform them. Give them a very organized schedule of your daily activities as an architect from the first activity after arrival at the office till the last one.
Sample Answer
“The first activity after arriving at my office would be reviewing any new proposed design of a new project. Next activity, I would start my sketching on any pending projects that need to be attended to that day. I would then prepare minutes of the findings of projects I have been working on. I would then schedule a meeting with the client to make briefings on the project and estimate the cost. I would then make calls on the ongoing projects to follow up on how they are doing and if they needed any help. I would then get back to my normal work of drawing and designing upcoming projects. This would be a very busy day at work.”
