How to progress to an architecture role in today's market
It’s somehow been four years since I wrote one of my first blogs (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/breaking-architecture-certifications-experience-which-ben-joyce/). What I didn’t do as part of that is trying to guide those who might want to “break into architecture”. We’ll I’m hoping I can change that.
It seems that most surveys that come out now days come to a similar conclusion, that architecture is one of highest paid disciplines in the market. This has somewhat shone a spotlight onto architecture, which has meant more people are interested in moving into the space.
That is great news, however what these surveys don’t tell you is how to get there. There are countless lists and articles out there telling you the type of characteristics one needs to become an architect, but it still leaves many wondering how they actually do it.
I’ve met with many people who have done some form of architecture in their career, they want to move into architecture full-time but find themselves unable to get a job. This is a hard one, as an industry we know that there needs to be more architects, there is generally always demand for people.
So what do you do if you want to move into an architecture role but are having no luck? I would personally identify the organisations that have successful functions and try to work your way in there, not as an architect, but in whatever function you are working in currently. As you go through your interview process, identify whether there is scope to work with the architects, to learn from them. This is a long term play, but I think that based on where the market is, it's your best shot. I'll explain why below.
When an architecture leader is needing to expand their practice, they generally have two avenues
Hire
Promote
When an org goes out to hire, they generally want someone who is an established architect that they can slot into their team. To make up for the lack of institutional knowledge their architecture skills need to be on point. It's very infrequently that an organisation will be looking to hire someone junior into an architecture role.
When orgs promote internally, they will rely heavily on someone’s institutional knowledge to help with the lack of architecture capability. The problem some leaders face is having the time and capability to upskill their team.
There are however, there are people out there, like Abhinabh Duffadar, who are trying to help grow and mature architecture as a discipline, that might alieviate some of the time and capability constraints. (Worth reaching out to him if you are interested)
So to those of you who feel like you are on the outside looking in, wondering how the hell you are meant to get into architecture, my advice is look for organisations that have a need for what you do currently, identify whether they have an architecture practice or not, and try to decipher whether they would be willing to take on people in the future.
There is no quick or easy way into architecture, and although there are certifications that you can do to become an “architect” experience is what is going to get you into the role.