Architecture : Career areas

A 2010 HESA survey of 2009 graduates indicates that six months after graduation, 50% of architecture graduates were in employment. Of these, around 61% were working in professional and technical occupations, which include those related to architecture.

The statistics also show that a small number of architecture graduates entered non-related professions in areas such as retail, catering, clerical, marketing and sales. Just under 4% were commercial, industrial or public sector managers.

Where are the jobs?

Architecture graduates commonly become architects, architectural technologists, interior designers, building surveyors, and project mangers.

Graduates may be employed by small firms with fewer than ten employees. Public sector employers, such as local authorities and housing associations together employ a significant proportion of the profession and some large organisations such as banks and supermarkets may have in-house architectural teams.

Examples of possible jobs can be found through websites such as those of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT)  and ConstructionSkills 

Sectors relevant to architecture include:

• construction - covers a wide range of areas including public and private housing, non residential public buildings like hospitals and schools, commercial and industrial buildings. The industry is also involved in the repair, maintenance and refurbishment of all existing buildings, and the infrastructure and services to all new and existing buildings.
• property - where finance and the built environment meet, involving the buying and selling, planning and development, and management and investment of property.
• engineering - There are many opportunities in a wide range of functions in the engineering industry including aeronautical, structural, electronic and mechanical engineering.

See industry insights for further information on possibilities in other employment areas.

Statistics are collected every year by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to show what HE students do immediately after graduation. These can be a useful guide but, in reality, with the data being collected within just six months of graduation, many graduates are travelling, waiting to start a course, paying off debts, getting work experience or still deciding what they want to do. For further information about some of the areas of employment commonly entered by graduates of any degree discipline, check out What Do Graduates Do?  and your degree...what next?