Professional Architect Interview Question:

Where do you see yourself in five years as Professional Architect?

Submitted by: Muhammad

This is always a tricky question. Since I am mainly discussing getting a job in an office a response you normally want to avoid is “I want to start my own office”. I see this quite often in the architecture world and for good reason, most architects do aspire to own their own firm at some point. While this may be a goal of yours, an interview isn't the time to share.

What the interviewer is looking for is someone to fill the position now but is also looking for a long term commitment. Admitting you would like to jump ship and go out on your own, while admirable, doesn't accomplish this goal.

Every response to these questions needs to reinforce your willingness to join the firm. A more appropriate response might be, depending on the stage of your career, “I would like to get my architecture license to expand my knowledge base” or “I want to lead a residential project”.
Submitted by: Muhammad