IDP - Intern Development Program

by Laura Thomas

Having to renew my NCARB membership recently, I decided to discuss the IDP program that everyone must fulfill in order to become a licensed architect. I'm not going to take the time to try and explain everything about the program, you can go to the website to do extended reading and become familiar with it. The main link that will take you to all the other years of work you still have to do after 6 years of school to become licensed is http://www.ncarb.org/

When you begin working in a firm, you acquire hours in one of the 17 Training Requirements categories. Factors ranging from what type of firm you work in, how large the firm is, the size of projects and what your position in the firm is will affect how hard or easy it can be to accumulate hours in specific categories.

Personally, the areas that I had a hard time accumulating hours were Site and Environmental Analysis, Building Cost Analysis, Specifications and Material Research, Bidding and Contract Negotiation, Construction Phase Office, Construction Phase Observation, and Office Management. There are not many hours in a project that touch on these tasks in the first place and then add the chance that they are going to send an intern to do it alone on an important project are slim. Then there are firms that have one person who does nothing but specs or bids because it's what their specialty is. If it's a good firm they will include you, take you with, explain and include you on everything to start building you up to doing the tasks alone.

Most firms will turn interns into CAD or Revit monkeys for a very long time, "breaking them into the real world." Don't let yourself get used as a monkey. Put forth the initiative and push for additional responsibility and take charge of ensuring that you are getting the exposure you need. Talk to your mentor and supervisors about your IDP, set goals and come up with and discuss things you can do to get time in every category on a regular basis.

Then there is the big firm versus small firm. I have worked in a very small firm of 4 people and a medium sized firm of around 30. The exposure I received at the small firm was much greater and more often than at the medium sized firm. Mainly because with only 4 people, you had to help out everywhere doing everything for the business to continue running. For the medium sized firm, I spent a majority of time as a Revit monkey. The principals and architects handled all the project management, cost estimates, designing. The office manager did all the paperwork and filing. The construction managers handled everything about the construction phase. With money being tight and work needing done there was very little wriggle room to allow "added" hours into a project by taking a tag along. Never having worked in a large office I would assume that you would probably get lost amongst all the other Revit monkeys and might get thrown some bananas now and then. Everything considered, I got more exposure in the small firm but with smaller projects and less exposure in the medium firm but with larger projects, so I suggest that you don't just run to the biggest firm but consider all your options when looking for your job.

When you interview, you should discuss your IDP and what your set goals are and that they are willing to help you attain those goals. While you are acquiring your hours, you can't quit studying. Don't lose or forget what you were taught in school because guess what? That's right, more tests. Get ARE study guides and discuss your study material with the architects, engineers, contractors, everyone of the firm and make it second nature to you so that when you are testing, it won't seem like a test. Hope this helps you start thinking about your career and what's going to happen when the world starts getting real.