Maybe Forrest Gump has said it best, "Life is like a box of chocolate." I have recently begun to think that this piece of knowledge serves us all very well.

I have been discussing moving and my work search with my wife recently to decide where we want to be and what we want to be doing. While discussing this, she brought up the aforementioned analogy. We each have our own favorite chocolate out of the entire box of mixed chocolates, our's being the chocolate almond clusters. We each try the other varieties only to turn back and have our favorite.

Sometimes I think that the way we live needs to more along these lines. We all hope that the next bite we take from a different chocolate is going to be the next best place to live, the next best job, the next best. We move from job to job, place to place either looking for the next best thing, or to find our chocolate cluster. We, my wife and I, have both decided that our chocolate cluster is Oregon. We love the mountains, the green, the great people and the people we know. We have had out best life experiences while living in Bend, Oregon. We lived there for about 6 years had jobs that we liked, friends, and great relations started for our kids. Due to the economy, we moved to the next chocolate in the box.

We were hopeful that it would be better for us. We ended up biting into one of the cream filled ones that we both try to avoid at all costs. Upon arrival there, we searched every spare moment to get back to our cluster. We have tried other locations since then, but time and again, we ended up finding more cream filled ones.

We have come to the conclusion that if possible, try to stay at your chocolate cluster. Sometimes trying new places is great and wonderful, but we try to save them for the holidays. We have learned that by leaving a place, a job, and friends that are great, even in times of economic downturn, it is extremely hard to go back to that.  We are still in process of getting back to our cluster.

If you find yours, stick to it vehemently .

So, what does it take to get noticed and stand apart from the rest of the applicants these days?  A great resume? Specialization? A great graphic Portfolio?  Being local?

To tell you the truth, I am not sure.  I have been searching for a new job for several months now, and I have had little success. I feel like I have a great resume, having worked on projects both large and small, across a variety of market sectors. I have also a well developed sense of how to make projects succeed, how to teach younger or less experienced staff, and how to get into the nitty gritty of a project. Plus many other relevant skills.

As I search for job postings, I find that nothing is more frustrating than looking for an architectural job. Most firms do not post jobs on the Local AIA Boards, or Craigslist, or even other internet sites like Archinect. The only ones that seem to do this are the large international firms or small under 5 man firms. So, if these are not your target market, how do you find a job? I have found that there are a couple of factors at work here. One of these is being local, the other is word of mouth (ie, do you know someone at the desired firm?). How do you accomplish this when you are not local or know someone at the firms? Again, I say, I am not sure. You could move to the desired city if you have the where with all to do so, and start to contact firms. If you do not, you have to stand out in some way from all the other applicants. This goes back to having a great portfolio.

Do firms really contact people who are not local? I would have say that, depending on the location, I would say this is a process to weed out those who are not local. I would love to be wrong, and would love to get your opinions on this.

I have tried every way I know how to in order to generate interest in me, both local and in other states and cities. I have moved to a bigger city where there are abundant opportunities, I have applied in areas where I have local contacts and clients, I have contacted locals to get their input (some firms are super at getting back to me and offering advice, others, not so much), and I continually revamp my resume for each employer I apply to. So, what gives?

I am interested in your thoughts. Take a look at my website, review my resume and experience, and let me know what you might suggest to improve my visibility and opportunities. I am opening myself to critique here and as an architect, expect nothing but constructive critiques.

Over the course of this Holiday week, I spent some time trying to make my resume more outstanding. I went from an all text resume to a text and graphic one. I figured that an all text resume is so yesterday and being an Architect, why not revamp the old for a new look? I did some research at the book store and online to find some outstanding examples. Based on these, I took some time to rethink how I was portraying my experiences. What better way for an Architect to show this than by visually describing my experiences. I would love some feedback from you as to whether this has been successful. Click on the Resume Option under Contact.