I'm a NY architect of over 25 yrs, and am considering relocating to Seattle to care for my mother in law w/ my wife. We will be staying near Cedar Heights off Lake City.

How's the building industry and what are the job ops for architects now? I've checked craigslist and AIA Seattle and there have been very few postings in the last few months. Are things picking up?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

 

FACT.

I have seen architecture jobs pop up on Craigslist occasionally, but as a whole, the architecture/engineering job market has been pretty grim. Some other places you might want to check out though - nwjobs.com, and the usual Monster & jobcentral.com. With 25 years of experience, it seems like there'd be something out there for you.

There have been signs of improvement though. I've been looking for an entry-level engineering gig in the area for over a year, and in this last quarter I've gotten more calls/interviews about positions than I have in the past year ....if only those would turn into offers, haha.

Hopefully things work out for you. Puget sound is a nice area (err, I mean, the northwest sucks, stay away) and it sounds like you've got a good reason to move out this way.

 

My family members that work in the construction field are leaving the NW at least for a few years. Neighbor two houses down from me hasn't worked since January. My best friend that grew up here just left for the east coast. Another buddy that runs new construction projects for Microsoft was ordered to shut down current projects and not to expect them to start up again... at least until 2014.

 

Ouch! Things are lean here too in NYC as I've been out since June. It's bad all over...

 

I know the area, have been spending nearly all of my vacations in Seattle since '93.
Great in the summer, miserable Chritmas/ New Years...grey and wet gets me down.

 

The other thing to consider is the University of Washington has a well attended degree program for Architects. Pure speculation, but there are probably a large number of graduates still in the area fighting for a very small number of jobs.

 

I was just talking with an architect friend of mine. She's about to take an on-site position that will mean a rather lengthy commute for her. She would have turned it down a couple years ago, but she's happy to have it right now.