And you thought college was hard…you ain’t seen nothing yet!!! The architectural internship is the hardest thing you will ever have to do if you want to be good at your job. Graduation has come and gone and it’s your first day in a “real” job. This is your day of reckoning. You realize that through the past five years of blood, sweat and tears in school you have learned absolutely nothing about buildings. No longer can they stand up by using Elmer’s or Sobo. And so, the uphill journey of the architectural internship begins.

In this profession we often encourage our clients to focus on long term solutions rather than just the short term. We need to take our own advice when it comes to our interns. Short term, we stick them in front of a computer to draft…draft…and, oh yeah, DRAFT! How effective can that really be? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for the “Seasoned Vets” to train these young professionals, with the goal of bettering the profession? Ultimately, whether you like it or not, we are your successors. Why not take advantage of shaping the future of architecture by teaching this generation in the way you feel would benefit the environment and its people?

Everyone can always use a push in the right direction, especially when the time it takes to teach someone doesn’t come at a convenient time, if at all. Ideally, there should be an Intern Development Program (IDP) coordinator within every firm. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that way. Why not require it? Use our resources, roll it into the requirements of the AIA firm membership. The NCARB accredited colleges and universities have laid the foundations through education. Now it is up to the firms to build upon it. Create a resource that supports the coordinators. First and foremost, keep it simple; we have other things to worry about. Set up, two all-day training sessions once a year; one for beginner coordinator training, and the second for already trained coordinators to keep up with the latest changes and news. The addition of a website could come with time. Again, keep it simple - an informational site with a question-andanswer
section that hosts a live forum now and then. Sounds easy, let’s do it.

These kids have been through one of the most complex and demanding curricula out there and they survived!!! That alone should prove what potential they have. The next three years of internship are going to be just as difficult, why not help them out so they don’t wander around alone and aimless in the dark?