Graduate Profiles Detail United Kingdom

Lorand is completing the professional part one of his route to becoming a qualified architect at Bristol-based architects, Ridge & Partners LLP. His work involves preparing technical drawings and modifications to building elements for a range of different projects.

Gaining that invaluable practical experience to complement my academic understanding. It’s great to learn through an architect’s practice to and understand how elements of the work function. I work alongside experienced architects and get to see how they use the latest software. The experience has also enabled me to take that step back and decide where to progress my career.

My course includes an annual exhibition that enables us to show our work to employers. Our course was able to run an online version of this during Covid, and this really helped to make my work visible to employers. My current employer saw my work through this exhibition and then approached me on LinkedIn.

The course itself enables you to undertake a range of projects of varying scale, and this helped me to define which area of architecture I should focus on and the technical skills I needed to develop. For example, the course enabled me to develop my skills on Revit, one of the most important pieces of software in the industry, and the one used by my current employer. The UWE course also has a strong focus on sustainability, which sends out a good signal to employers, showing you have an appreciation for one of the key issues for the industry going forward.

Recognise the additional skills and qualities you have as an international student and sell these to employers. For example, employers can certainly be impressed by the fact that international students have lived in other places and offer experiences that local applicants don't necessarily have. Beyond this, however, I would say that, from my experience of the employers I met on our course’s firm days, they were very inclusive, and so – as with any student – you should concentrate on developing the skills and knowledge that employers are looking for.